Just Ranting

I am going to be self-indulgent again and rant about The Family. This is just a warning to those who would rather not read my selfish goings-on.

One of The Nieces is getting married on 2 September and her bridal shower is this weekend. Naturally, I have been invited to said shower. I will be expected to give a gift for this, as well as for the wedding. Ordinarily, I have no problem with giving gifts and I usually go above and beyond the call of duty when it comes to purchasing special gifts. This would be the time for me to give very special gifts. Except...

My youngest just got married and had a celebration party 'back home' (where The Niece lives, will be married, and will live after she is married) two weeks ago. A and her husband got some nice gifts and a nice amount of money as gifts--just as they should have! This was a party for, mainly, relatives and I have given THEIR kids gifts for years and it was time for them to give something to one of mine. And they came through nicely, EXCEPT...The Brother, his wife, their THREE adult, working daughters, one fiance of one of the daughters, and their school-aged daughter, all gave ONE card and ONE check totaling $50. Six working adults came up with $50 for The Brother's ONLY sibling's child--and all but the fiance live in the same house. I feel as if this was a slap in my face--this amounted to less than $10 per person--and don't forget: THIS IS FOR A VERY CLOSE RELATIVE!!! My husband and I give AT LEAST $25 (usually more for a close relative) for a graduation gift--and we are a single-income household! To top it all off, our closet friends gave A and her husband that same amount of money as a present, but THEY ALSO GAVE HER A SEPARATE GIFT! And these people are not relatives!

Now, my question is: Was this a slap in the face? Do I have a right to be hurt? (I only know about this because A, very sheepishly, told me about it while we were talking. I had asked her, point-blank, what they had given her. And, she was hurt.) Is this a 'tit-for-tat' situation? I know I can't get away with NOT giving gifts for this wedding, but do I just give a token gift and be done with it? I really am leaning towards the 'give a gift, but nothing too special and DEFINITELY not expensive' idea. Anyone with any ideas? (And, yes, I know there is the 'taking the higher road' way of being, but with The Family I am too tired to do that anymore--it doesn't work and it is just plain exhausting.)