A Reddit user took a bold step when his son rushed for a second marriage before finalizing his divorce. Instead of attending his son’s wedding, the father chose to spend the wedding day with the family his son had left behind (aka his ex-daughter-in-law and her children). Did he make the right choice?
The Background
The Original Poster (OP) started by talking about his son’s first marriage. After high school, he moved out of state to attend college, where he soon met and fell in love with a girl. At age 19, they got married – a decision OP had tried to dissuade him from making. In his opinion, his son was too immature. Regardless, they went ahead and dropped out, then moved back to OP’s hometown and had two children over the next couple of years.
Their Daughter-in-Law Didn’t Look Happy
Not long after they had their first child, OP’s daughter-in-law (DIL) started to seem unhappy. At first, they put it down to PPD. But that changed when his son and DIL separated following the birth of their second. She’d bring the kids around to visit and started telling OP what had been happening.
OP didn’t give specific details, but whatever she’d revealed was serious enough that he confronted his son multiple times to talk with him about the marriage. His son refused to accept responsibility for whatever had happened.
He Got a New Girlfriend
His son and DIL entered counseling, which seemed to make a difference on the surface. But a year later, she filed for divorce, and three days after that, OP’s son announced his new girlfriend on Facebook. They got engaged a month later.
They Helped the DIL
OP went on to reveal that his son had essentially forced his first wife to become a permanent stay-at-home mom. But she didn’t know anyone – she’d moved there to be with OP’s son and had no friends or family. Knowing her predicament, OP and his wife went behind their son’s back to help her. They got her an apartment and gave her financial support when she needed it.
They Received the Wedding Invitation
OP’s son didn’t even wait until the divorce was finalized to send out invitations to his second wedding. OP decided not to attend and told his son that he didn’t have his blessing for it either. He even stopped his son from bringing his fiancé to their house.
He Didn’t Go
While his wife chose to go, OP and his daughter both decided not to attend the wedding. Where did they go instead? To spend the evening with his son’s ex. OP hated the thought of her being alone while her kids went to their dad’s wedding. Instead, they went out for the evening, tried to keep her mind off what was happening, and reassured her that they still saw her as part of the family.
Mixed Opinions
As you’d expect, his son’s ex was incredibly grateful for their thoughtfulness. His son, on the other hand, was furious. The day after the wedding, he phoned to tell OP what a horrible father he was for not going. Later on, when he found out where OP had been, he said it “was the ultimate form of betrayal.”
OP’s Happy with His Decision
Despite the problems with his son, OP’s confident he made the right decision. The only thing he regrets is that his wife did choose to go. After posting the story on Reddit, which went semi-viral at the time – it soon became clear that everyone else was firmly on his side, too…
Reddit Agrees
Unsurprisingly perhaps, people on Reddit thought his son had behaved horribly and that OP was firmly in the right. In response to the part of the tale where the son announced his new girlfriend just 3 days after the divorce was filed, the most upvoted comment said, “Eww. The best children are the ones you choose.”
Another wrote, “He’s honestly giving me either narcissistic or even potentially abusive vibes unfortunately. I feel bad for his ex wife. I think it’s good that he’s seeing boundaries from OP and his sister because he sounds like he needs more experience being told no or that he’s wrong.”
His Son Doesn’t Value His Relationships
One Reddit user was confused. “Why would anyone care to earn a relationship with someone who clearly puts no value on the relationships he already had? He didn’t care when OP said from the get-go he wouldn’t attend, because he just assumed he would get his way in the end. The only relationship this guy values is the relationship with that guy in the mirror.”
OP Doesn’t Respect the Son
Someone else chimed in with a one-sentence summary of the situation: “The whole post is basically OP describing why his son is someone he doesn’t respect.”
What Do You Think?
Can you empathise with OP’s son at all? Or is it obvious that he’s the bad guy? Should OP have attended the wedding to support his own kin? Or was he right to take a stand and show his disapproval? Drop a comment to let us know!
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Source: Reddit.