She Won’t Help Her Stepbrother And His Struggling Family Financially Because They’ve Never Had A Close Relationship And She Doesn’t Feel Obligated To “Bail Them Out”
This 30-year-old woman’s parents divorced during her childhood. When she was 14, her father remarried.
Her stepmother had a son, then 12, from a previous relationship. Right away, she got the feeling that her stepmother didn’t like her too much, and rather than having a close bond, they both have only been cordial with one another.
Luckily, her father never pressured either of them to connect, but she eventually stopped going over to her father’s house. After this, her father never tried reaching out to convince her to visit him like she used to.
“Fast forward to today, and my relationship with my dad is pretty much the same–distant and obligatory. He almost missed my wedding because he forgot the date,” she said.
Throughout the years, with the support of her mother, she has found a lot of success, including financial success.
Her father is aware of how great she’s been doing, and he contacted her a while ago because her stepbrother and his wife have fallen on hard times, and he asked her if she could financially help her stepbrother and his family.
The couple has a child who’s pretty young, and she hadn’t even known her stepbrother was married in the first place. She also hadn’t been aware of her stepbrother’s money problems.
When she told her mother about what her father asked, her mother told her that what she did with her money was her own personal decision.
Her husband weighed in and didn’t think she should give any money to her stepbrother’s family, and she agreed.
cherezoff – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only, not the actual person
“I don’t have a close relationship with my stepbrother or his family. My stepmom never made me feel welcome, and my dad’s lack of involvement in my life hasn’t helped, either,” she explained.
She doesn’t feel emotionally close to her father or his family, and they’ve all been distant from her for years.
In her view, it’s strange that all of a sudden, they seemed to think she should feel compelled to financially help her stepbrother’s family,
“On the other hand, there’s a part of me wondering if I’m being selfish. I did find out through a mutual friend that my stepbrother is legitimately struggling,” she shared.
After thinking it through, she still doesn’t want to give her stepbrother’s family any money because she’s never been close to her stepbrother and doesn’t think that she should be guilted into helping him just because he’s technically a part of her family.
What would you do if you were in her shoes?
You can read the original post on Reddit here.
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