Phil W. reconciled with only sister after decades of estrangement. Here, he identifies the reason he distanced himself from his family. Reading Brother, Sisters, Strangers has caused me to think about my decades-long estrangement from and reconciliation with my younger sister. Often, there isn’t one dramatic cause of a ruptured relationship. In my case, estrangement was the result of a long-ago event that shattered our family and left all of us broken ...