Dee, my heart goes out to you and Larry. The only way to lessen his hurt is to physically remove him from harm's way -- that cruise for the two of you on Christmas, for example. The brats will not call him anyhow, so you may as well provide them with an excuse. And while you're at it -- why not extend the practice to THEIR birthdays as well? "Oh sorry, we forgot to call/card/gift -- we were having such a great time on vacation!" Or send them a postcard if you must.

When they learn that Larry is not bending over backwards to accommodate them, maybe they'll come around. Or not -- but it won't be any worse than the situation now.
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