This is so true. One great sadness I have is that I did not promote more companionship and support among my 4 children. They barely speak to each other today and have no idea what each other is doing. They don’t seem to understand reciprocation. They want to ignore one another but if they have a party or event they wonder why the rest don’t come. I guess I have to accept it. DS could actually pull a family together in many ways. The desire to protect that sibling could help form bonds not otherwise necessary. In my case my oldest daughter brought a lot of shame to our family and it drove us apart little by little. Thanks for an interesting and enlightening article, Maria.