Hi Rose. Thanks for your input. I respect that you disagree with my feelings on the matter. Perhaps you could have been less judgmental of me though. In my original post I said we are a small family. I guess because of that I place a higher value on family interactions. That does not make me abnormal for feeling anger at my brother's shallow opinion of the importance of a family get together like a high school graduation. And yes, many kids graduate from high school. Does that mean my daughter's day means nothing and should be thought of as just another day? Well, perhaps to you. But not me. From this day on I will lower my expectations of my brother. I will place less importance on family gatherings with him. I'll move on from this and enjoy the party with my daughter and he can enjoy the beach. And I'll no longer feel the burden to be at all his family events ( I've never missed one of his). And when his daughter graduates and he expects me to be there....well, I may be at the beach and that will be okay.