I’ve always felt extreme sympathy for people who feel they were abandoned by their parents as children, whether it was physically, emotionally, or both.
One man recently denied his estranged parents the opportunity to get to know him after a rough childhood where they sent him to live with his grandparents when he was 13.
He’s 29 and had a complicated childhood. His parents divorced when he was seven years old, and he initially lived with his mom and spent weekends with his dad.
However, two years later, his routine was already uprooted when his mom decided to move in with her boyfriend and sent him to live with his dad.
“At first, it was fine because my mom would regularly meet with me, but over time, those visits became less [frequent],” he said.
“When I was 12, my dad introduced me to his girlfriend, who I could tell didn’t like me. I didn’t understand why. By then, I was only seeing my mom once every three months or so. My dad told me to get used to his girlfriend, but we never really got along. A year later, my dad told me I would be living with my grandmother from now on because his girlfriend was pregnant and wanted a ‘calm house.’ I was angry and caused a scene.”
When he found out he’d have to live with his grandmother, he told his mom he didn’t want to go and asked if he could live with her. She told him no, as she’d be doing some traveling with her boyfriend, so he was stuck at his grandmother’s.
Thankfully, his grandmother came through and was very supportive during his teenage years.
“My grandmother had to go back to work to support me,” he explained.
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