Hi Brooke. I got a letter today from my brother, expressing concern for me and hope that I will return to the religion that I was raised in. He and my mother have both expressed concern for me over the years. I understand that his letter was meant to be loving. I am happy with my spiritual life (which I keep mostly private) and I get that it’s unlikely that my family members will accept or understand it. I don’t really wish to engage in explaining myself, although if someone was really interested and open-minded that I the way I’m living my life might be okay, then I would be more interested in having a conversation about spiritual lives with that person. I know that it’s his feelings taht are making him worry or feel concern for me or what have you, but I am not sure if I should be willing to explain myself more in an attempt to give him some relief. I don’t particularly want to explain myself, and come to think of it, he hasn’t really requested any insight from me. He has simply told me that he hopes I will return to his faith and that he wants me to be able to connect with the family in that way.I guess my question is, should I just write a brief, loving letter back, thanking him for his prayers and telling him that I’m happy? Or should I kind of gloss over it and ignore the letter? I do feel that they are judging me and feeling sorry for me, and I do believe that I’m okay with that to a degree–that’s how they are–but I’m not really sure how to respond anymore. It almost seems inappropriate–like if they kept expressing dismay over my choice of husband (he is an atheist, so they probaby are dismayed!). And I am okay with getting the occasional letter expressing loving concern, but on Christmas Eve he called to ask me to go the Church with my mom, saying that was the only thing he wanted for Christmas. I was planning to go with her anyway, so it was easy to do and he was happy, but I am not going to do all things that he requests. What do you think?