I went no-contact with my immediate family (parents and sis) in 2016. Years later, 2020-ish, I was rescued by my neighbors when my ex became physically dangerous. Since then, I saw those neighbors as my chosen family. They are the family members I visit during the holidays.

Later, I reached out to another set of neighbors (back when I lived in another part of town) and they told me that my ex attempted to get them on his side after we broke up, but he revealed his toxic opinion on a specific sort of people, which I belong to. Without hearing my side of the story, the neighbors chose to support me bc they don't approve of such toxicity. They also became my chosen family and now I can spoil their kid with delicious baked goods. They also invite me to family game nights or when their kid has a piano recital.

One last thing... Just because I went no-contact on my immediate bio family does NOT mean I'm no-contact with everyone. Once a month, I call my maternal grandpa and my paternal grandma, and I occasionally text my aunts on my dad's side. These relatives knew about my parents' favoritism towards my sister, but couldn't convince them to change their neglectful behavior. So these relatives did what they could to make my upbringing as pleasant as possible during family events. I'm grateful for that.