# Dear Abby: A single graduation party invitation has torn my entire family apart

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/dear-abby-a-single-graduation-party-invitation-has-torn-my-entire-family-apart/
- Published: 2026-11-12T08:00:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-12T08:22:10+00:00
- Original publisher: New York Post (publisher lean: Right)
- Original article: https://nypost.com/2026/11/12/lifestyle/dear-abby-a-single-graduation-party-invitation-has-torn-my-entire-family-apart/
- Topics: World

## Key points

- A graduation party guest list led to a nine-month family rift.
- Abby says the sisters should apologise for trying to dictate the invitations.
- Neighbourly waves are optional if they feel uncomfortable.

## Summary

Two readers seek advice from Dear Abby about family and neighbourhood etiquette. In the main letter, a woman says a disagreement over her brother’s graduation party guest list has split the family for nine months, keeping siblings apart and upsetting their parents.

The brother invited his sister’s ex-husband, despite knowing she and another sibling did not want to see him. After one sister asked to attend at a different time, he told both not to come and later cut off contact with them and his children. Abby advises the sisters to apologise for trying to control the guest list, saying the hosts were entitled to invite whom they chose; she also tells a second reader that waving to neighbours who do not wave back is optional.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.