My mother-in-law, Ellen, had always made it clear she didn’t consider me “family enough.” Even after Peter and I married, she tried to exclude me from the Christmas Eve family photo, saying we were “too newly married.” Thankfully, the rest of the family stood up for me.
This year, I decided to turn the tables. I sent out holiday cards with Peter, me, and the rest of the family — deliberately leaving Ellen out. As expected, she stormed into our house, furious.
Her anger quickly turned into a confrontation, but this time, I wasn’t alone. Peter and his father, Frank, backed me up, making it clear that Ellen needed to respect me as part of the family. Ellen was stunned and speechless, but eventually, she stormed out — and, over the following weeks, her behavior began to change.
By Christmas Eve, she was actually trying to include me. When the family photo was taken, she even stood beside me, smiling genuinely for the first time. It wasn’t perfect, but it was a start — and after years of feeling like an outsider, it finally felt like I belonged.