The worst thing in life is to end up with people that make you feel all alone.
–Robin Williams
Reliability is the essence that family is founded upon. We are born helpless and dependent. If the family is predictable and reliable, we can become healthy functioning adults. If not, we tend to develop insecure attachment styles. This is the theory that the way we bond with our parental caregivers affects how we attach to others in our adult life. There is nothing more heartbreaking than a little boy waiting, and waiting, for his absentee father on visitation day. Or a little girl alone on the curb outside of school waiting for her mother who forgot her again. Sadly, a child cannot easily change their circumstances. In adulthood however, if there is still a family tendency toward lack of reliability, we can make informed choices. Like Charlie Brown not kicking the football held by Lucy, we can learn to avoid those situations.