In beginning were showcased her only niece and family member which gives off that the brother has passed away.
Do they mention what happened to him? Guessing after they're separated as kids, they reconnect somehow for her to know the niece. Usually it's hard for siblings to locate one another being in the system.
Sorry for long rant but so much I've noticed.
Ebony and her brother (Ronnie) were taken away by CPS (Grandmother turned in father) and were separated. The ghost of Christmas past showed Ronnie coming back when Ebony was a teenager to take her home as the father had stopped drinking and was getting his life together. Ebony refused to go. The grown Ebony while watching the scene says that her dad started drinking again and her brother took off, got married right out of high school, had Olivia and then died of an aneurysm.
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Meddle not in the affairs of dragons for you are crunchy and good with ketchup