“I tried to be there for my kids, but Sara remarried and my spot was taken by her new husband. After a while I stopped calling on bdays and holidays, stopped giving gifts, stopped trying to be involved in their lives. It hurt almost as much as the cancer when I realized I didn’t mean anything to them. I ended up marrying Jane and we have 2 kids. It still hurts but I love my new family and they actually give a sh-t about me.
“Anyways, Sara recently got diagnosed with terminal heart disease and they are struggling financially. My kids called me for the first time in over a decade to ask me out for lunch. I didn’t want to go but Jane said they’re extending an olive branch and to at least hear what they want to say. At lunch they didn’t even [bother] with pleasantries, they immediately jumped into asking me to help out their mom with medical bills. I said no and got up to leave, but my son said that even if I didn’t love their mom, they did and if I loved them I needed to help. I asked them what their half siblings names were, when the last time they called, who they spent the last 2 decades worth of father’s days with, why tf I should give a sh-t about a woman who took everything and left me alone while facing my death or about the kids who wouldn’t even see me before my surgery or at any point when I was dying. They were silent. So I said, ‘I don’t care about your mom, nor do I give a single sh-t if she dies. And I don’t care how bad her dying hurts you guys because I care about you all as much as you care about me, not in the slightest. I won’t help because I don’t love her or you guys’ and left.
“I have been getting calls from my ex’s family telling me how awful I am for saying that to my own flesh and blood. I wouldn’t care but my wife told me that even though I’m right, I was too harsh on them. AITA?
https://toofab.com/2023/11/22/dad-gets-overwhelming-support-telling-kids-doesnt-care-sick-mom-dies/
