The next morning, I met my dad, sister Elizabeth, and family friend Molly Russell at our financial planner's office. John Shepherd, Molly, and I were going to use this appointment as an intervention for my dad and sister. They were spending far more money than was in their accounts and had thousands of dollars in credit card debt. I knew it would be hard to persuade them to go on a budget because Dad and Liz feel they are entitled to have everything they want.

Back in the late seventies and early eighties, my father Walter Elliot played guitar in the rock band The Bloody Savior. He enjoyed fame, fortune, and plenty of young women. If it wasn't for the band, Walter would never have been introduced to the drummer's sister who became his wife. After seven months of dating in between tours and recordings, Madelyn Horner and Walter Elliot eloped. My older sister, Elizabeth, was born nine months later on New Year's Day, 1979. I followed fifteen months later on April 6th, 1980 and Mary was born two years after me on June 15, 1982.

Soon after Mary's birth, Walter was kicked out of the band. Nobody else but the band knew the real reason, but I suspect it was because of a fallout between my uncle and father. I know my uncle Robert disapproved of the way Dad always went out at night when the band wasn't touring. Walter was most likely with other women when he should have been home with his wife and daughters. The Bloody Savior found another guitarist and went on to achieve international fame.

Dad was bitter after being kicked out of the band. He wanted to spend all the money he had on things he wanted, but Mom kept tight reins on him and the finances. I never knew what Mom saw in Dad. I guess it was because he was handsome and famous and charming when he wanted to be. They always say love makes you blind.

Mom was an English professor and I inherited my love of books from her. My earliest memories of her are of her reading to my sisters and I at bedtime. She encouraged us to read and learn and ask questions, but Liz just wanted to play with her Barbies and Mary wanted all of Mom's attention. So I read all of the books she bought for us.

When I was nine, Mom went to her first mammogram. They found a large lump. She had a biopsy. She had breast cancer in the fourth stage and the cancer had already metastasized to other parts of her body. Dad and the doctors wanted her to go through chemo and radiation, but she refused. There was nothing to be done and all she wanted was to die in peace.

The next seven months were some of the hardest of my life. Within three months, Mom no longer had the energy to teach or play with us. Liz always went over to a friend's house or went shopping. It was during this time she and Dad became close and bonded through shopping. This is also the time when Mary's hypochondriac tendencies started. Mary had always wanted attention, but she wasn't getting as much as she wanted. She started faking illness at school. Molly Russell or Dad's sister, Lily, would pick her up from school and baby her and cater to her every whim.

I spent most of my free time with Mom. I would read to her or we would just talk. It felt nice to be needed when no one else would pay attention to you because they were focused on Liz, Mary, or my parents. I loved making my mom happy during the last months of her life. I suppose this is where I got my people-pleasing tendency.

Mom died in January 1990. It was a small, quiet funeral with Mom's family, friends, and colleagues. We all tried to return to our normal lives, but things were never the same.

Dad and Liz became preoccupied with their looks and having whatever is in style. Dad's looks have gone downhill in the past fifteen years and he spends an inordinate amount of money on keeping up his looks. Along with the money he earned with the band, he inherited a small fortune when his father passed away and I'm sure it's gone now. Dad would have no one else but Liz have the money because she is just as vain and selfish as he is.

Elizabeth looks like, to be honest, a Paris Hilton wannabe. She has the orange tan, bleached blonde hair, trendy, expensive clothes, and even the chihuahua in a handbag. If she kept her natural looks, she would be stunning. I told her that once and she told me to fuck off and shut up because I didn't know what I was talking about. I wasn't pretty anymore and still single, so I had nothing worthwhile to say to her. Since she is now thirty-one, she's already started botox injections. By the time she's forty, I except her to have skin cancer or that her face will have more wrinkles than they should. I also expect she'll keep dressing younger than she should.

Mary has been married for six years and has two little boys. Jack is five and Nathan is three. She is pregnant with her third child, a girl, and doesn't know what the baby's name will be. Mary is due in early August and is excited to have a girl. She had wanted her sons to be girls and was disappointed when they weren't, but I know she loves the boys. Her husband., David Musgrove, is a executive in his father's publishing business. He is climbing the ladder in terms of responsibility and salary, but wants to be home more with Mary and the kids. Mary wants David to make more money and to have more time at home. It's a constant source of tension between them. David does the best he can and I wish Mary would appreciate him more.

As for me, I'm just a high school English teacher who lives in a one bedroom apartment with my cat, Burnsy. I am thirty years old and not married or even dating anyone. I have a few friends and a quiet life and little debt. I help my family with their problems and like to feel needed. I'm not living the life I wanted, but it's not a horrible one.

I saw Dad and Liz coming into the office and took a deep breath. This was going to be a long day.