Oh For Crissake.

It now comes to light that my brother has 'mislaid' over $1000 of bonds meant for his daughters.

How can you do something like that? We were raised in the same home, by the same people and yet somehow, he thinks that stealing from your kids is acceptable behavior. And I think it's sociopath's behavior.

The other thing is that I recently moved to the other side of the country from my brother and his habits, and I can't believe I didn't do it years ago. It is much easier to separate from someone when you have an entire land mass between you.

I had no idea how tense I was, until I moved and suddenly I was more relaxed than I had been in years.

I spent most of my life being my brother's secret keeper- his partner in crime. I thought we were close, but the reality is that he used me for years, told everyone I was crazy and not to be believed or trusted, that I was paranoid, all while telling me he trusted me and cared about me.

Today, I don't believe anything he tells me. I refuse to loan him money or to intercede for him with other people. And the physical distance means that for almost a year now, not one person in my daily life has asked me to explain his behavior.

It's a kind of bliss, this not being involved in the day to day, crisis to crisis of my brother's life. I am so much happier.