My nine-year-old nephew smashed my $8,000 vintage Gibson guitar just to see if it was real. Even worse, he admitted his father, Derek, had encouraged him to do it. Instead of holding Derek accountable, my sister and parents defended them, dismissing the five years I had spent saving for that instrument. When Derek offered $10,000, I explained that the guitar was irreplaceable. The next morning, I made a terrible decision and drove his Mercedes into the lake. After lawyers got involved, we reached an agreement: Derek would repay the guitar’s value, admit his role, and drop his lawsuit. Months later, my family began apologizing, and I learned that setting boundaries also means taking responsibility for your own mistakes.
