I always felt like I'd have nothing to contribute to this thread. My FIL and BIL can be lazy and entitled, but for the most part, they're harmless. My MIL is great and a huge help with my kids. We get along really well with my side of the family which is where we spent Thanksgiving this year.
My parents and my only sister live in New Braunfels. My sister's husband is a good dude. He can be a bit loud and obnoxious, but takes good care of my sister and their kids. They NEVER spend time with his family, and my sister is always pretty quiet about them. I met them at their wedding 10 years ago, but have only seen them a few times since then. Well, he finally opened up to me this week.
My nephew came down with a nasty stomach bug, so they took turns at home with him. He's had digestive issues since birth, so he actually spent Wednesday night in the ER. My sister came over for Thanksgiving, then went home to relieve my BIL so he could come see the family and eat. He explained to me that his dad is giving him a hard time because he's getting married Saturday (7th wedding, 6th wife), and he told him he wasn't coming to the wedding because his son was sick. His dad told him, "Kids get sick. I'm not sure why that means you can't be there to support me." Support a 65 year old man getting married for the seventh time.
BIL then proceeds to tell me that his 89 year old grandfather called him that morning to tell him that he found his mom passed out in her own vomit / shit / piss because she borderline OD'd on pain meds. That's after my BIL gave her $1,000 earlier in the week b/c she "fell while walking the dog, sprained her ankle, had to miss work and didn't have enough money for her bills" which means she took the cash to get fucked up like Elvis. He felt so guilty for enabling her and felt bad for his elderly grandfather dealing with that alone. He said he offered to drive to Houston to help, but his grandfather had it under control by then. Sounds like best case scenario is he foots the bill for rehab. Worst case scenario is... worse.
I completely understand why he:
A) enjoys spending time with our family
B) doesn't talk about his family