I haven't posted in a while, but since few people read this anyway, and i need to vent, I am going ahead...

I have two aunts, Eleanor and Joan. Eleanor is my mother's brother's wife, and Joan is my father's sister. They both live in Boca Raton, Florida, as do my brother, sister-in-law, and nephew. Joan is one of the finest human beings I know and I have always been close to her. She has always been there for me and recently had a heart attack which she miraculously survived.

Eleanor is the worst person I have ever met. I will attempt to describe her, but it would take a Dickens, Jane Austen, Tolstoy, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Philip Roth or other great writer to do her justice. Also, there is quite a bit of family history/lore which would take some time in the telling.
The pertinent facts are these:
1) She has no friends because she is mean, hypocritical, manipulative, controlling, dishonest, and subject to whims.
2) She considers my other aunt (Joan) to be her best friend but really hates her because she is jealous of Joan's close relationship with me. She also dislikes me. (Hate might be too strong a word.) The reason Eleanor thinks Joan is her friend is that Joan and Buddy (my uncle) go to dinner 3-6 times a year with Eleanor for the sake of my brother Joe, whom Eleanor has employed for the past 10 years at her company in a form of indentured servitude bordering on slavery.
3) She holds my brother, sister-in-law, and 8 year old nephew hostage to her whims because they might not be able to survive financially without her paycheck.
4) Everyone in my family has always kowtowed to her. No one has ever called her on her vile behavior.
5) My brother, always an anxiety-ridden, hypochondriacal, easily controlled and intimidated person, has worsened since he became an employee at my aunt's now-defunct company. (She still has him on salary to work on her pet projects)
He feels he has to account for his every move to her, so every time I visit, he tells her I'm coming (even though she would not find out if he did not tell her) and I am browbeaten into having "just one dinner" with this woman who has made my brother's life a living hell, has always hated my father and mother, dislikes my other aunt and uncle, and doesn't even like ME.
6) Did I mention that Eleanor is a multi-millionaire who sold her company a few years back for $28 million?
7) Need I mention that she wields the money as a weapon over people? I worked for her for about 3 months when I was just out of college, but quickly realized that a career with her would be a deal with the devil. I was already suffering from depression at the time, and she made it so much worse that I quit and returned to Boston from Maryland without any new job to go to. My brother, unfortunately, did not realize this and got himself dug in pretty deep.
8) This holiday trip, I resolved not to see her no matter what. I am exhausted from hypocritical make-nice behavior all these years. I do not have the guts to tell her off because of repercussions to my brother's family. (This is starting to sound like a letter to Dear Abby!) My brother told her I was coming (he apparently can't help himself but swears he will never do so again) I told him I would not see her, and he immediately
jumped on me saying I had no concern for his poor nerves, just like Mrs. Bennet in Pride and Prejudice. (I told you this is a story worthy of Jane Austen.) He also called my father and told him I would not see Eleanor, even though he is a) not involved and
b) hates Eleanor also. The idea was that he would convince me to see her. I pointed out that Joe was engaging in manipulative behavior and I refused to be budged. My brother railed at me and I finally had to tell him I would not visit him either if he could not treat me decently and stop being mean. He then turned to my sister-in-law. She called me begging me to see E. as a favor to her. She was suffering (and by extension my nephew) so much that I agreed, even though I doubted E. would cut them off if I did not
go to dinner. To her credit, sister-in-law was not only relieved but very grateful that I submitted and swore that this was the last time I would ever have to do this. She also finally understood how painful it is for me to be in the presence of this woman who has done so much to pit one family member against another and who always loudly proclaims herself as an advocate of "families being close." (She drove one of her sons to suicide, had a fist fight with the wife of another son, and tormented her daughter to the point of psychosis.)
9) I will not subject readers to the dreadful meal I attended last night until the next installment: the weather has finally cleared here in Florida, I have 4 days left of my vacation and I can finally enjoy it.
10) Upon reflection: This is a story for Tennessee Williams. I can see a movie with Bette Davis, perhaps Orson Welles, and Olivia de Havilland in the title roles. I don't know who would play me. I watched "Streetcar" and "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" again recently. The latter story in particularly demonstrates Williams' brilliant ability to portray evil manipulation of a family. Though I unfortunately identify the most with Blanche DuBois
in "Streetcar" because I fear I will end up as a mental patient as she did at the end. (Eleanor as Stanley Kowalski!)
Ha ha ha!!!