Cousin ghosted me on Rakshabandhan

So, yesterday was supposed to be all about sibling bonds, but it turned into a reminder of how complicated family can be. You know how some holidays just don't live up to expectations? Yeah, this was one of those.

I've got this tradition of reaching out to my guy cousins for Rakshabandhan since I don't have brothers. Usually, it's a nice little exchange - nothing fancy, just a quick "Hey, thinking of you" kind of thing. But this year? Radio silence from one of them. Let's call him Dev.

At first, I brushed it off. People get busy, right? But then I saw him commenting on stuff in our family group chat. Ouch. Talk about being left on read.

The weird part is, Dev and I generally get along fine. He even made this sweet post about his sister today. It just hit different, you know? Like, oh right, I'm not actually part of that sibling circle.

Mom dropped some truth bombs later, mentioning how this isn't exactly new. Apparently, back in the day when we'd send actual rakhis, they'd never even say thanks. I'd totally forgotten about all the heartfelt letters I used to write too. Guess they're still collecting dust somewhere.

I'm trying not to let it get to me, but it's hard not to feel a little... I don't know, forgotten? Unimportant? It's just a text, but sometimes it's the little things that speak volumes.