His Wife Called Him Selfish For Going To Their Daughter’s High School Graduation Alone After Their Son Relapsed Hours Before

Ivan - stock.adobe.com - illustrative purposes only, not the actual person
Ivan - stock.adobe.com - illustrative purposes only, not the actual person

This 51-year-old man and his 48-year-old wife have two kids: a 23-year-old son named Jake and an 18-year-old daughter named Jess.

He and his wife never treated Jake and Jess differently, yet Jake chose the wrong path. He hung out with bad people, and in the later part of Jake’s teen years, he made some poor life choices.

Ever since Jake was 17, he’s struggled with substance abuse issues as well as alcohol. He’s been to counseling on several occasions.

Frankly, he’s lost track of the number of times that he or his wife have had to make personal sacrifices in order to help Jake out.

Right now, Jake lives in a Recovery Housing Program, and he and his wife have been hoping this would help Jake improve.

Due to all of Jake’s issues, Jess has been the one suffering. He and his wife don’t give her the same amount of attention.

“This has caused understandable issues for Jess. I’ve missed hockey games and choir performances because I had to go tend to Jake, as has my wife,” he explained.

“We try and make it up to her at the time, but I don’t think missing important milestones really makes up for it; it’s heartbreaking for me personally.”

Jake has shown some improvement recently, and over the last couple of months, he hasn’t had any relapse incidents or problems.

Ivan – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only, not the actual person

A couple of days ago was Jess’s graduation ceremony, and he and his wife were thrilled to watch her walk. Jess will be going to college and maintained an excellent GPA in high school, which he and his wife are proud of.

Right before the graduation ceremony, the staff at Jake’s Recovery Housing Program called them up to say Jake relapsed and wasn’t doing well.

“My wife was hysterical and immediately started telling me we had to go there and help,” he added. “I refused.”

“I said that we’d missed enough events in Jess’ life, and I wasn’t missing her graduation. Although my wife told me how sad she was to miss it, Jake’s health and well-being would take priority. I wasn’t changing my stance.”

“She got increasingly agitated and said she’d go herself, called a cab, and went. I took the car and watched Jess’s graduation. It was one of the proudest days of my life, but when I saw Jess at the end, I could tell she was visibly upset that her mom wasn’t there. I explained, and you could tell her frustration.”

His wife managed to make it to the celebration dinner after the graduation, and although she said sorry to Jess, the mood was awful. While what happened with Jake was urgent, it wasn’t an emergency or something that threatened Jake’s life.

Further into the evening, his wife treated him coldly and insisted he should have rushed to Jake’s side with her.

His wife called him selfish for going to Jess’s graduation instead, but he called his wife rude for ruining a special moment for Jess. He and his wife argued for some time, so he gave up and went to sleep on their couch.

“I still feel I made the right decision, but I know I hurt my wife, and Jake’s recovery is obviously of paramount importance as well,” he concluded.

He’s curious if his wife is right, and he should have missed Jess’s graduation to check on Jake. What do you think?

You can read the original post on Reddit here.

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