When you watched the news this morning on TV, you knew that she'd never be coming back. She was gone for good.
Of course, you should've seen this coming. You might look at me in anger and shoot back: "How dare you. How dare you blame this all on us! She should've known better. Why didn't she think with her brain?"
Excuse me? Of course, it was your fault! She'd told me all about how you'd always treated her, ever since she was a little girl. So she was rather chubby like her old man. So what? What was so bad about that?
Why did you have to keep comparing her to her older sister? Why did you let them do that to her too? Worst of all, you'd never backed her up, supported her. You told her to lose weight, so people would stop making such nasty comments about her body.
So she started doing whatever she could, just to seek your approval. She ditched foods. She threw up. However, when she fell sick, you still blamed her for not looking after herself well. You never asked. You never wondered why.
"Why can't you be like your sister more?" Well, what kind of a stupid question is that? Of course she couldn't. She was never her. She was who she was, like the person she'd always been. Why didn't you see that?
Why wouldn't you? If you had, she might still be here today.
Do you know why she'd become an overachiever - both in school and at work? She knew she was never as bright as her older sister was, but at least she'd tried. She'd been making more money and a great career, in hope that you'd have seen that and just been proud of her. She'd hoped that you'd have overlooked her not-so-ideal, physical features (well, according to you) and just loved her.
Instead, you never did. You kept reminding her of what she hadn't got yet: a boyfriend...or better yet, a husband. She was 34, but then again - so what? Shouldn't you at least have been grateful that she was alive and well, that she was still willing to care for her family?
"You need to lose weight. Don't you want to have a boyfriend?"
"Don't get too picky. Know your age."