I ended up staying a total of 11 days. I started this thread talking about a sister who called me before my trip. Well, I stayed with her a total of only 4 days. We were getting along fine. Then when she had me alone on the drive from the cemetery to her house, I got another mini-lecture from her.

She said she was very depressed over my brother's death. Added to that, she said, was the tremendous anxiety I caused her by flying out on a one-way ticket. She said, "You may like to be a free spirit and just decide from day to day what you want to do, but I don't live like that. I need to be able to make plans. I like to have things on my calendar." That was a Friday. I was out of her house on Sunday.

I do realize that some posts above warned me that my one way ticket might not be well-received. I didn't get the one way ticket because I'm a "free spirit" who feels I should be able to blow in and out of other people's homes, as my whims dictate. That was a false narrative.

My other sister drinks and can get difficult. The sister above knows that. She knows what I went through last 2 trips with my sister who tends to get either rowdy or belligerent when she drinks. So I wanted to be able to leave, if something like that started up again. I realize the way I planned things wasn't ideal. Sometimes there is no ideal way to do things.

I didn't plan for my brother to overdose on meth and die. I made arrangements for him that minimized stress on this sister. Our family does not do cremation, which I personally dislike. But I suggested the cremation, here where I live, partly to reduce the pressure on her. She didn't want a wake. She didn't want a funeral Mass. She wanted no other family notified, until it was all over. I went along with all her preferences. I managed to find a priest to come to the cemetery. She got off rather easily, in terms of expense and time and trouble. I scheduled the committal when it was best for her and her husband. They had other things pending that I worked around. I was the one flying thousands of miles to get to a veterans' cemetery near her, when there is one an hour north of where I live. I didn't notice her shedding any tears over my brother. It seemed nobody but me did. I hid mine because my family does not like emotional display.

I feel like I was in a no-win situation. I was trying so hard to accommodate and please everyone. While we were together as a group, both my sisters praised the job I had done in planning. Only when she got me alone did my sister read me the riot act over my one-way ticket. Her husband ignored me, while I was at her house. It sure was a pleasure to get out of that home.

Next she had to drive me to my other sister's house. I had thought of renting a car when I came out, but she urged me not to do that. Transporting me was becoming a problem because she didn't know how she was going to deal with "beach traffic." It ended up that she would drive halfway to my other sister's house, who would meet us half-way. Which day to do that had to get kicked around because of the quandary of how to cope with the nightmare of - oh no - possible heavy traffic. (We weren't going thru NYC. It was from one suburban area to another.) Then her husband came because he didn't trust her to drive in the rain. I felt like such a burden to her. I don't think I deserved that.

I feel like writing her a letter saying I did the best I could to not inconvenience her and that I'm hurt that she said I caused her so much anxiety. Most likely, I would end up deeply regretting that, so I probably won't.

I've gotten depressed thinking about this trip. I'm sure I'll get over this . . . to some extent. I just have to not do anything impulsive, while I feel this bad. She hardly ever talks to me because she told me she hates talking on the phone. She's been in the habit for years of having an expensive floral arrangement delivered to me on my birthday. I feel like telling her not to bother.

I had hoped to visit my sisters about once every 18 months. I'm not young. So I probably wouldn't have all that many visits left, before I may be too old. Now I wonder if I should plan any more visits. I'm very sad.