My Brother Had Been Married for Five Years, But We’d Never Met His Wife. Then He Told Me They’d Be Staying with Me for Two Days—They Arrived, and I Simply Couldn’t Stand That Woman

My brother, Thomas, moved to a distant city after finishing university to take up a new job. His plan was to stay there just for a year, save up, and then return to our hometown to buy a flat. But fate had different plans. While he was away, he met a woman and they decided to get married. So Thomas stayed in that city. None of us really knew his wife. As it happened, during their wedding I was nine months pregnant and due to give birth any day, so we decided I would stay put. My father wasnt able to take time off work, so only my mother was able to attend the wedding. She didnt form a particular connection with my new sister-in-law, just met her briefly. After the wedding, they went off on their honeymoon, and my mum returned home a few days later. She said the girl was pretty, smiley, and pleasant enough. Years passed, but we never actually got to meet my brother’s wife.
This year, however, Thomas shared with us some wonderful news. He had organised a multi-stop trip. First, he and his wife would visit us. Then, they were set to attend the wedding of one of his school friends, take part in a school reunion, meet their parents at the seaside, and eventually return home. They planned to spend two days with us. I saw no issue with it. Admittedly, our flat is small, but we did have access to my in-laws summer cottage. My mother-in-law kindly offered it for us to use. It wasnt recently renovated, but the place was certainly good enough for a few nights. I was in good spirits that day and looked forward to welcoming our guests. They arrived, and from that moment, things began to go awry. Thomas introduced me and right from the start, my sister-in-law began grumbling, saying the journey was too hot, too loud, uncomfortable, and so on.
We reached the cottage and I decided to show them around. She looked at the shower and loo as if a tramp had just sneezed on her. She pulled Thomas to one side for a private word, and afterwards, Thomas asked my husband to take them back into town. My sister-in-law declared shed never use that shower. So off they went, she freshened up at ours, put on her makeup, and then returned. Next, it turned out she wouldnt eat a thing wed prepared. We honestly tried our best with the food, but apparently it was full of gluten, fat, and goodness knows what else. She ended up eating nothing but vegetables, and even then she eyed them with suspicion. Then, she refused to sleep in the room wed prepared and insisted on going back to our flat in town. The following day, when we went for a walk around the city, she was fussier than my three-year-old son. She was either too hot, or her leg hurt, or she was simply bored. I was honestly relieved to see the back of them. I wonder how Thomas has managed to cope with her all these years. She managed to wear us all out in just two days.
Sometimes, people dont always meet our expectations, and even the best efforts to welcome them may not be enough. But I realised that life is often about accepting differences and learning to let go, rather than holding grudges. In the end, graciousness and patience go further than frustration.