My aunt half raised me when I was growing up. One of her sons (my cousin) is the same age as me, and we've been friends all our lives, so we'd often hang out with each other. We lived down the street from each other back when I still lived in Ohio, and we'd often take turns spending a weekend at each others' houses, week after week.
Being my mom's sister, my aunt has some "issues", just as my mom does. She can be dramatic, and has a tendency to hold grudges. She was always nice to me when I was growing up though, and honestly I preferred being around her more than I did my mom.
All of that changed when we moved to Florida.
Within the first year we were down here, my aunt decided that she was furious with my family. I've heard so many reasons for why she was mad that I can't even tell you which one was correct or actually happened. Many of the reasons are completely illogical. But she was mad.
From that point on, my aunt blacklisted us. Well, my parents, mostly. My cousins would still talk to me and my parents, but my aunt and uncle wouldn't. They didn't want to talk to us, and they didn't want to see us. Ever. They wouldn't accept any kind of reasoning or talking it their problems. They just decided they were done with us.
Considering my aunt was like a second mother to me, you can imagine that this was kind of a big deal for me.
Over the years there were a few situations where she was (more or less) forced to be around us. At my sister's wedding.. a family reunion.. etc. These events were few and far between, and even then, she'd ignore the problem and keep her distance from us.
Up until a couple months ago, I'd always thought that my aunt was just mad at my parents. All of the reasons I'd heard up to that point had to do with them, and she still acted nicer toward me than she did toward my parents.
Then my mom told me that (at some point or another)... my aunt was mad at me because I met my boyfriend.
According to her, I was using my boyfriend to replace my cousin as my best friend. That I was tossing away the friendship I had with my cousin, just because I found someone who made me happy here. Which is insane. I'm still best friends with my cousin, but he can't be here. He couldn't be here for any of the crap I've dealt with over the past seven years. It's not his fault, but it's like she's unhappy that I didn't end up completely miserable and alone after moving...
I haven't talked to or seen my aunt since knowing about that, and I don't really know how I feel about seeing her tomorrow. I don't even know if she's still mad at me, or if she even was all that mad to begin with and my mom just exaggerated it. But anyone who tells me that I shouldn't be with someone who cares about me and makes me happy... just isn't worth my time.