I had dinner on Wednesday with my brother's girlfriend, Anne.* This was only the second time that I hung out with just her. I figure, she's the closest thing to a sister-in-law that I'll ever get. Might as well savor the almost while I can.

Anne IMs me every now and then. The moment her IM windows pop up, I know something's wrong with her and and my brother, JR.* She's been more chatty this year, moreso since my brother moved down to San Diego.

Their 3-year, drama-full relationship is still a secret from my parents. The relationship has been rough lately. From what I know, it has always been rough.

My brother is a nut.

And Anne is finally going to see a therapist.

There's a lot about the two of them and the situations they are in together, as well as individually, that I thought I wanted to blurt out here yesterday, for the sake of documentation. I'm overwhelmed with frustration and anger every time I think about them and the mess that is their lives. It's probably a good thing that I allowed a day to pass before I said anything about it here... a day to let my righteous indignation subside.

I've already asked myself many times why I bother to listen to Anne's woes, why I bother to sympathize with her and allow her to befriend me, despite the question of her agenda, why I bother to worry about JR when he has such a negative opinion of me (according to Anne) based on erroneous assumptions and unfounded accusations, and why I bother to try to help them both at my own expense and risk.

As a fellow female, I can't help but want to protect Anne from emotional abuse by a boyfriend, who is related to me by blood. As a sister, I can't help but want JR to snap out of his craze and become a more well-adjusted adult, unbound by the kinds of bitterness and resentment that I used to harbor towards the other family members. If I wash my hands clean of both of them, I may lose a brother. If I step in too far, I may lose a brother.

JR suddenly showed up in town today. Mom and I didn't expect to see him in months. Mom said today that she is going to try to get him to open up... We're similar in that we don't ask that many questions. With my brother, we know it's ask questions or get nothing at all from him.

I'm not finished talking about this... but it's time to start the weekend, and I don't want to waste another minute here at work.

(* names have been changed to protect the already-tarnished reputations of the people involved)