My niece left. She's gone. She turned 18 October 2nd and decided she was moving out of the house. My family is dumbfounded. She met a guy at school (she is senior in high school, but opted for the post secondary option... she takes college courses at the community college and when she graduates from high school in May, will actually have finished her sophomore year in college), dated him for 3 weeks and decided to move in with him. My niece is smart, beautiful, and has common sense (or so we thought). From the outside looking in, you would have thought S had it all... ufortunately, she didn't think so. She won't return her dad's (my brother) phone calls and has flat out said she wants nothing to do with him or his side of the family. That stings. A lot.
At first I felt bad for her. I have always had a major soft spot for my oldest niece. We share a lot of similarities. Her mom and dad were engaged, but never married. Growing up wasn't exactly easy for her. She lived with her mom and visited her dad every other weekend. It was clear that her mom didn't care much about her. Her mom was always moving from boyfriend to boyfriend. At one point, she told S that all she was to her was a child support check. There are other awful things, but I don't care to mention them here. My brother fought and fought for custody of my niece (at a time when things were pretty tough for him financially) and finally won. She always seemed much happier with my brother and sister in law, but at the same time, had the normal chores, rules, etc. and sometimes, she wasn't very happy with it. But isn't that typical? S would still visit her mom from time to time. When her mom actually made time to see her. As a matter of fact, her mom never even called to tell her Happy Birthday... on her 18th birthday! My sister in law has done more for S than her own mother ever has.
I say I felt bad her because I know what it's like to go back and forth between two households that are so completely different. I, too, lived with my mom growing up. I had no rules and basically did what I wanted. On the other hand, at my dad's house, there were rules and certain things that were expected of me. It's conflicting and can be confusing. So as far as that goes, I can sympathize with S.
But now? I'm just pissed. I'm angry that she won't give her dad the time of day after all he has done for her. He calls S every day and every day she ignores his calls and won't return them. I'm angry that she told her mother that she doesn't want her dad's side of the family "bothering" her. Are you kidding me? You mean all of the people who have done nothing but go out of their way to make her life a little easier... the only people she could really count on? All because of a boy. S was mad that she had a curfew and chores at home, so her solution was to leave so she could be with the boy ALL of the time. S was perfectly fine (and still is) with just walking away from her family. I don't get it.
Then there's my youngest niece, E (she will be 4 next month). This is what makes me the most angry. E and S are half sisters. Although, you would never guess that. They have always been tight and E absolutely adores S. As you would expect, E misses S. Lately she has been saying that sissy left her, because she doesn't understand. This Breaks. My. Heart.
I would have never guessed that my niece would ever do anything like this. At first I thought she'd be back in a few weeks. Now I'm pretty sure she's not coming back, at least not for a while. Especially after the comment about her dad's side of the family bothering her (no one even knows what she is referring to).
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