We can all agree 2020 was a sh*t year. Particularly for my (29M) family. We lost our dad [at the] beginning of the year after he had a heart attack, and my little brother (12) had no one to take care of him.
Our mom died when he was 3, so our dad was all we had left. I fought for custody and was appointed his legal guardian. Honestly, it hasn’t been easy.
We’re still adjusting to these life changes, and my brother is taking it the hardest.
For months he was just not himself. Bad attitude, lashing out. I got him in therapy because I knew he was just hurting, plus stress of [the] pandemic.
His behavior has improved so much since then, even if sometimes there [are] days where he’s withdrawn.
Days before Christmas, he was feeling sad since it was our first holiday [without] Dad. That day, he asked to be left alone. We had a talk to discuss his feelings and I gave him his space after that.
My girlfriend was over that day, and I went out to buy groceries. When I got back, my brother was out of his room and helping out. I didn’t think anything of it at the time.
Yesterday, my brother and I were out having some guy time before going back home to get ready for NYE.
My brother opened up about how grateful he is for everything and he hopes that I don’t change my mind about taking care of him.
I asked why he’d think that, and he told me what happened.
That day when I was out, my GF went to his room to tell him he needs to change his attitude and stop moping (her exact words) because he should be grateful I’m taking care of him at all.
And that we can still hand him over to the state if we wanted to.
I was furious about this and had to reassure him that was never gonna happen because he really was worried about it. We went home, I confronted my GF, and she didn’t deny it.
She told me it [was] true, and there was nothing wrong with telling him to stop acting like that when he should be grateful I “gave up my life” to take care of him.
And the thing about giving him up isn’t that big of a deal to her because it’s not like I’ll actually do it. I said she still scared him with that threat and told her to leave my apartment because honestly,
I was far too mad and because I didn’t want her to be near him right now.
She started crying; there was more fighting, but she left in the end. It was just me and my brother for New Year's.
Since last night, I’ve been bombarded with calls from all our friends for kicking her out knowing she has no family and nobody else to spend the holiday with.
Everyone has sided with her, and even my best friend says I may have overreacted by making her leave when she probably thought she was helping.
They’ve heard my side of the story but still think I was an a** for making her cry and spending the new year alone.
I’m having trouble seeing how I could be, so here I am looking for internet strangers to weigh in on this.
I talked to my brother because I wanted to know if she’s said anything else to him. Thankfully she hasn’t, and we had another serious chat to remind him everything she told him is completely false.
I would never in a million years give him up and that shouldn’t have been put in his head.
Another thing I told him was that I’m grateful he’s here with me. Without him, I wouldn’t have made it through the year, and I thanked him for giving me that strength to keep going.
Someone who DM’d me suggested reassuring him that he’s not somehow “ruining” my life in case he feels any guilt for what she told him. Thank you for that suggestion! Now, I know you were all waiting on this news.
Yes, I did break up with her. Thinking about what a lot of you said, talking to my brother about how this made him feel, and my own thoughts about how badly she acted, I decided that’s not someone I want around me or him.
I can’t risk her doing something like this again and ruining any progress he makes in therapy.
I know many of you think I should’ve done it on the spot, but I wanted to make this decision with a clear head and not when my emotions were extremely high.
She came by my place earlier and we talked outside. Her reaction was as bad as you’d expect, and she STILL believed she did nothing wrong, even after I explained it all to her.
There was just no making her understand, and I told her it was over. I gave her a couple of her things that were lying around my apartment, and she left.
My phone started going off like an hour later, so I had to put it on Do Not Disturb.
That’s all the drama I could handle for one night. I’ll deal with my friends some other time. Honestly, I’m exhausted. Mentally and emotionally drained right now.
I think this weekend we’ll do something to get our minds off this. I definitely need it after everything, and I know my brother does, too.
It’s been a hard year already without all this extra drama. Anyway, sorry for the really long update, you guys, but I didn’t want to leave anyone hanging. I’m sure more comments will keep coming.
I probably won’t be sleeping much tonight, so I’ll keep my mind busy by reading and replying to more of you. Thanks again for the support! What a sh*tty way to start the new year, but here’s hoping for better things :)
/gfkickedout/