Hi Reesie. My sister and I were very close during a couple years of my illness. I don't know how I would have gotten through some of the tough times without her support. She turned on me at one point, though. It seemed to come out of the blue. She stopped talking to me for 8 months. It was fuelled by her own mental illness -- depression and low self-esteem, so I do understand that. It was like she reverted back to her childhood behaviour. It turned out she was jealous because she felt like our parents were paying too much attention to me (I was sick and needed help) and she said some very hurtful things about me. I was shocked and very hurt. She ended up apologizing profusely and I forgave her, but the feeling of betrayal hasn't gone away. I felt like she abandoned me when I was at my lowest and took the opportunity to kick me when I was down. She was my only family member in the city, so having her eliminate me from her life for that period of time was painful and lonely. I would never do something like that to her. So, even though we're still quite close, I will never trust her in the same way I did before that happened. I'm not angry with her anymore, but I won't ever open myself up to be hurt by her in that way again. There are other people in my life whom I trust implicitly.

You're right EJ. Confidence is a wonderful thing. I think it's one of my greatest resources when I'm dealing with difficult stuff.