Fast forward 28 years. My brother's daughter is getting married and us siblings (my 2 sisters and I) have received a bridal shower invitation containing registry information. (back story: our SIL has kept her children (our niece and nephew) away from our family affairs for unknown reasons for three decades). We all feel kind of strange that we were never good enough or whatever, all of these years, but now we get invited to a specific gift giving event? How odd because they never even so much as replied to decades of invitations from us, no RSVP, no acknowledgement, nothing. Mind you, they live about 20 minutes away and we know virtually nothing about our niece. We do know, that whether we attend the bridal shower or not, we won't suddenly become the family unit we never were in the past as we are virtual strangers. History often dictates what happens tomorrow, so there really is no hope of anything changing. This niece has been an adult for 10 years and never bothered with any of us. We are considering sending a gift, rather than going to the bridal shower. What would you do in this case? We all have a fantastic relationship with our brother. We go out to lunch and he does attend family events (without his wife and children) None of us were invited to the engagement party to meet her fiancé. So strange. The question was, would YOU go or just send a gift? We already decided not to go but will send a gift. My SIL has severe issues with every single one of our family members, since day one, and none of us know why. It is a mystery to us all. Our SIL and her daughter are extremely close, and we surmise that is why our niece never bothers with us either.