My half-sister and I barely spoke growing up. Same dad, different moms, weird vibe from the start. Our parents didn’t help much either, lots of passive-aggressive stuff, comments at holidays, the usual. We went to the same high school but acted like strangers. I always felt like she hated me or blamed me for stuff that had nothing to do with me. I avoided her, and she avoided me, and we just kind of kept it that way for years.

Fast forward to now, my dad’s not doing great health-wise. Seeing him like that made me realize how short life is, and I started feeling weird about how things ended up with her. I reached out. Just a “hey, hope you’re doing good” kind of text. She replied. It was short, but she replied. We met for coffee, and it was awkward, but honest. She told me some stuff about her childhood I didn’t know. I apologized for not trying harder when we were younger. She cried. I cried. We’ve been talking more since, and even hung out a few times.

But now some of my cousins and my full sister are saying I’m being “fake” and “disloyal.” Like I’m betraying the “real” side of the family. I don’t get it. I didn’t switch teams or anything. I just don’t want to carry around this weird bitterness forever. My full sister says I’m only doing this to make myself feel better. Maybe I am? But isn’t that still better than nothing? AITAH?