My Niece and Sister Need My Help

I got a call from my niece saying she needed to have major surgery on her heart, and she didn’t have any place to go after the surgery. She needed to get out of Florida. Her name was Ryah. She told me her mom had said she would be going to her house in Pennsylvania, but my niece said, “Debbie, you know my relationship with my mom,” and I said, “Yes, I knew.” So I told Ryah I would call and speak to her mom. At this time, when I offered to bring Ryah to my house, I would drive down and stay there till she was ready for the drive home to Shelter Island. I thought my sister was such a different person. She told me that no one had ever done anything for her like this in her whole life and that I was the best sister she ever had. That sentiment, however, didn’t last. I stayed in Florida for about three weeks, then we headed home.

As time went on, I got things set up with social services, and she was doing really well. Then there was a lady on the island who needed just someone to be there for meals and at night. Ryah offered to help her out as much as she could. This seemed to be a really good match until a neighbor, not really knowing what role Ryah was there for, interfered. Everything went downhill. The police got called, things went crazy, and she moved out. Then she moved in with my mom. My mom wasn’t sure, but she said she would try. This arrangement worked for the two of them until Ryah had an accident, and she lost her life. That’s when my sister turned on me, going from the best sister in the world to blaming me for Ryah’s death. I know I’m not responsible, but they needed someone to blame. This is really when my sister changed, and all I said to her was, “After all I did for your daughter, you’ve become a different person.” There’s a lot more to this story, but this just touches on the highlights of what happened.