Her Dad Gambled Away Her College Fund, So Now That He Lost His Job, She’s Not Giving Him Any Money
She worked hard to get where she is now; late to graduate, tight on money, and doing her best to stay steady after years of false starts.
Not because she lacked ambition, but because the person who was supposed to protect her future quietly took it from her.
Now he’s calling, not to apologize, but to ask for help. And as she weighs his request, she can’t help but think: when someone drained your future and never said sorry, are you really the one who’s supposed to save theirs?
This 28-year-old woman has just graduated from college and found a full-time job. She lives alone, and money is quite tight, but she’s managing to get by.
A week ago, her dad phoned her to say that he had lost his job. He was brimming with emotions and admitted he was unsure how he would pay his bills and mortgage.
Her dad wanted to know if she could give him money until he’s able to bring some in himself, but she didn’t want to volunteer to help.
“The thing is, when I was 17, I found out that the college fund my mom had been saving for me for years was completely gone,” she explained.
“My mom died when I was 13, and she’d left a decent amount of money in a trust for my education. Turns out that my dad had access to it and drained most of it over time. I later found out through a friend of his that he blew it gambling.”
“Poker, online betting, and even scratch tickets. He never told me the truth himself. He just kept saying things got tight and he had to use it for bills. Because of that, I had to take out a lot of loans, work multiple part-time jobs through school, and skip out on experiences other students had.”
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Her dad never so much as apologized to her, and to this day, he pretends like she should be sympathetic and understanding.
She graduated on a timeline she considers far ‘too late,’ as she had to frequently quit college, as she couldn’t manage to afford it.
So, getting her degree was a struggle, and her dad sat by and did nothing. Last week, when he asked if she would lend him money, she informed her dad that she had spent years in debt and, considering she was just getting on her feet, she couldn’t give him anything.
She added that he never took accountability for taking that money she needed for her education away from her.
“He got really quiet and just said that I am not grateful for everything he had done for me. He’s still my dad, and he’s struggling,” she continued.
“But I honestly feel like he set me back years in life, and I’m finally starting to recover. [Am I the jerk] if I stand with my decision of not helping him out because of the past experience that I had and for stealing my college fund??”
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