At the age of 10, my mom and dad sent me to my grandparents. I believed it was just a regular visit, but they left me there and never came back. Instead, they decided to focus on my younger sister’s sports career.
Being still just a child, I couldn’t understand why I was suddenly left with my grandma and grandpa and why my parents didn’t take me back although they claimed my stay with my grandparents would be just a temporary one.
Years had gone by, and my grandma’s health declined. She was old and frail and couldn’t take care of me any longer. Even then, my mom and dad didn’t take me back home. They were too busy accompanying my sister to all the competitions she attended. They spent all of their money on those trips and couldn’t afford raising another child.
Luckily, my aunt and uncle stepped in and welcomed me in their home and their lives.
I was loved and cared for, but I sometimes felt unworthy because my sister was given everything, and I was simply abandoned by my parents for her.
But you know what they say, life has a way of returning the favor.
I graduated from college and landed a high paying job. In fact, now at 22, I earn more than my parents combined. And they? Well, after my sister’s career ended abruptly due to an injury, my mom and dad suddenly remembered they had another child.
Some time around Christmas, they tried to reconnect. They waited for me in front of the church and I could hear my mom’s voice cutting through the peace the holiday brought. “Melody,” she yelled. “It’s been so long.”
I looked her straight in the eyes and asked, “Sorry, do I know you?”
Suddenly, my dad got mad. “Watch your tone. You know who we are. We are your parents.”
I smiled and said, “You must be wrong. My mom and dad are at home, wrapping Christmas gifts,” referring to my aunt and uncle. “And you must be Anthony and Carmen, the people who abandoned me, but you are definitely not my parents.”
As I tried to walk away, they accused me of not being respectful. My mother had the audacity to ask for money because she heard I was doing well and they had already spent everything they had on my sister Chloe.
“We are family, you owe us that much.”
I just smiled and said, “No, I don’t owe you anything. I am who I am because of my grandparents, my aunt, and my uncle. They are the only family I’ve ever known of, and they are more than enough for me.”
That Christmas, as I was sitting at the table with the people who raised me and provided me with every opportunity, I felt blessed. These people were my true family—the ones who stayed, not the ones who left.
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Bored Daddy
Love and Peace
