Chip Chick
This 35-year-old woman recently separated from her husband of six years. Unfortunately, he relapsed into alcoholism during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic after he had been sober for eight years.
Recently, he decided that rather than going completely sober again, he was simply going to manage his drinking, but according to her, the environment was not one that she wanted to live in.
So, she decided to move into her mom’s house about a month ago until she begins her new job in a different area next month.
“I’m shattered. I’ve been struggling to function and have just been trying to go to the gym once a day before returning to isolation. I haven’t even wanted to see my closest friends for more than a couple of hours,” she explained.
While her mother understands that she is going through a very difficult time and wants her space to be respected, her 75-year-old father doesn’t respect it as much.
Her parents have been divorced for a number of years, and while her father deals with trauma by wanting constant attention, he doesn’t understand that some people want the exact opposite when they are going through a rough patch.
While she’s used to her father’s behavior and mannerisms, she has a bigger issue with his 60-year-old wife, who has always been petty and rude to her. His wife’s comments are often disguised as compliments but are so backhanded that it’s easy for most people to see through to her true colors. However, her father is unable to see the rudeness hiding behind what his wife says.
She told her father that she was okay with seeing him but really didn’t want to see his wife until she had to during the holidays. However, her father lectured her about how his wife wanted to see her, how they were going through a hard time being estranged from his wife’s 33-year-old daughter, and that they would really appreciate this family time.
“After almost a month of this, I acquiesced and agreed to lunch, but I told him I was unhappy to go, could barely function, and wouldn’t be able to pretend to be happy to see her. He said okay,” she said.
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