Logan County Woman Seeks Closure With Estranged Sister; R. Eric Thomas Advises

“I guess I don’t know how to let it go,” the reader wrote, describing a rift that began more than 10 years ago when a visit with her sister’s grandson descended into blame and the sister cut off contact. The situation intensified this year when the family’s “beloved sister passed,” and the writer says that when she called to notify the estranged sibling, the sister “grunted and hung up.” The letter, signed “, Baffled,” asked how to have “one more conversation before we both leave this earth.”

R. Eric Thomas, author of the syndicated Asking Eric column, offered a direct but cautious path toward closure. “In lieu of a conversation, consider writing down your feelings in a letter,” Thomas advised, urging the writer to “express your love for her, your sadness over the split, your grief about your other sister, your disappointment about the way things have turned out. Anything that’s on your heart.” He instructed the writer to “use ‘I’ statements so that it doesn’t sound like you’re blaming her,” and reminded readers that “settling the score isn’t the goal. The goal is simply to be heard.”

Thomas also delivered a reality check about expectations. “I want to warn you: you may not get a response from this letter. But if you send it knowing that this might be a possibility, you’ll be in a better position to say what you need to say. Then you can release it, and this relationship, from expectations,” he wrote. In variations printed across republished editions, Thomas added that “in addition to clarity and connection, you’re also seeing closure” and in other copies that “you’re also seeking closure. The latter may be the easiest to come by as it can start internally.”

The column reached Logan County readers as part of a wider syndication. Tribune Content Agency copyrighted the piece (©2026 Tribune Content Agency, LLC) with a syndication timestamp of Jan. 25, 2026 in at least one reprint; many local outlets republished the column on or around Jan. 27, 2026. The advice ran alongside other reader questions in some editions; for example, a separate letter printed by the Boulder Daily Camera in the same column run described an estrangement between an 85-year-old sister and her 80-year-old sibling that began roughly five years ago. Those letters are distinct cases but together point to a common experience for readers: long-term family estrangement among older adults.

For Logan County neighbors navigating similar fractures, Thomas’s guidance is practical and immediate: put feelings to paper, prioritize being heard over revenge, frame statements with “I” language, and be prepared that reconciliation may not arrive from the other side. Readers who want to follow up with the columnist can send questions to R. Eric Thomas at P.O. Box 22474, Philadelphia, PA 19110, or email eric@askingeric.com; print editions also noted social channels and a newsletter subscription option for the columnist.

The local takeaway: when families in Logan County face long-standing splits, a carefully written letter can be both a bridge and a way to claim internal peace. Whether reconciliation follows or not, the act of expressing what’s on the heart can change how a resident carries a long-running hurt.