When You Assume…
I found out I had an older half-sibling when I was in my 20s. Apparently, my father had a secret affair before I was born. The only way I learned is because this half-sibling sent me a long, very angry message on social media berating me. I was shocked to say the least. The message basically said how they had always hated me because I must’ve “lived such a privileged life, full of opportunities they never had, with a loving father who spoiled me”.
It explained how they had searched for me for years, to expose him. But they didn’t know the truth. That’s when I had to explain to them that our father had also left me when I was just a small child, and that he had never been a part of my life either. I explained that he was a heavy user and complete loser who had been physical with my mother.
I told them that I never wanted him to be a part of my life, especially as an adult. They were in absolute shock for holding onto false anger towards me, and hating me all those years. They explained how it had affected their entire personal life, and how they had been in years of therapy, through multiple divorces, etc. etc.—all over these false assumptions.