N+1 is burning a hole in my pocket!

[zoom-zoom]

How did your parents manage to get out of going, and can't you do that, too? What are you afraid she will do if you don't go? Are those fears rational? She sounds like a selfish bully.

Because my folks are really broke-down poor (as is my sister's BFF, who is also not going to be in the wedding due to finances and having an infant at home). They have 1 ancient, falling apart Dodge Neon, don't own a home, barely have a pot to pee in, next-to-no retirement savings. Relative to most of my family (except my brother) we're very comfortable. But money for us is still semi-tight. We spend any "extra" cash on nice bikes, rather than taking family vacations. I'm sure my sister views us as well-off, but we just spend our money differently. Our mortgage is dirt-cheap ('cause we live in a dumb old house, rather than having gotten sucked into more house than we could afford when that was a popular thing to do), but we still live on one income, thanks to MI's especially crummy economy and my unwillingness to spend 2+ hours in my car commuting to make peanuts. We make ends meet and have a little leftover for fun, but that's it.

As far as what I fear she will do...I don't know. She has proven in the past that she will lie to paint people in a bad light. She's on FB...lord only knows what she would do with that medium. I don't think people would believe anything she could come up with, nowadays, but who knows the lengths she would go to.

Mostly I fear that she'll make things ugly within our family and will keep me from seeing my nephews, which would break my heart. I don't get to see them nearly enough because of distance, as is. Her eldest son and my son are very close and her boys are the only cousins my son has.