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aprile_clermont

I feel horrible but it feels right.

Aprile
8 years ago

This is going to be a long story. I haven't really spoken to anyone about it and I need to get it off my chest.

I had to write my father out of my life recently. I feel terrible but I believe it is the right thing for me to do for me and my sanity.

My father and mother were married and got divorced after I was born. I think I was around 2-3 years old. My poor mother was mentally ill and by all rights should not have been left with a child. It was not her fault she was the way she was and I know that she loved me with all of her heart and did the best she could. When I was younger unfortunately I did not understand her illness as I do today and many times have wished I could tell her but she is gone and has been gone for 14 years now. She died when I was 30.

When my mother and father got divorced he left and I did not hear from him until I was around 17 or 18. He never paid child support, never sent a card for holidays, never called and never visited me ever! My grandmother his mother kept in contact with me and if it weren't for her I would not have known anything about him or what he was doing. My mother and grandmother ( my moms mom) would tell me things about him and they were all negative. Which looking at it from their point of view and the way things were I can not blame them.

When I was 16 my mother got much to sick to care for me and I was emancipated at just 16 and made a legal adult left on the street to care for myself. I had never had a job before. I did know how to grocery shop and be alone because I had been left a lone numerous times from the time I was about 10 and my mom would go in the hospital for weeks at a time and I left home alone to fend for myself. I would take taxi cabs to the grocery store to buy food with checks from her check book until the money ran out. My great grandmother would also try to bring me food but was no allowed at my house because of something her husband did to me when I was younger.

Anyway fast forward to when I was 17 I had gotten pregnant and had my son. So now I was not only out on my own I was a single mother with a new child. I worked and had a place to stay, continued to go to school even graduated on my own. My mother's mom offered to take my son but did not want me. I believe she always hated me because I was part of my father and my mother who was mentally ill and my grandmother could never accept her child was not perfect.

I was scared and alone and asked my dads mom if he could get in contact with me as I had no one else. He called and we got to talking. He ofcouse had an excuse as to why I had not seen or heard from him and he blamed my mother and her family. I listened to him but in the back of my mind things just didn't make sense to me and since he had abandoned me once that thought was always in the back of my head. We talked back and forth for years, my son and I would go see him and he would come see us. But he lived in Az and I in Ma so we were never around each other on a regular basis. I thought I knew him now and I felt bad he was out there alone with no one there if something happened.

So when I got divorced last year, I was very fortunate that my ex husband gave me a rather large settlement so I could buy a house and never be left out in the cold again. I decided to move back home to Florida and I asked my father if he would like to come live with me and my son. He was thrilled at the opportunity. So I came down here to find a house that would work for us. He offered to pay for half of my mortgage since he would be living here and half the utilities. I thought win win. I'd have help and get a chance to spend sometime with my father and get to know him. I got us a nice 6 bedroom home with a master upstairs and a master down stairs so he would have his own room with bathroom and not have to climb the stairs since he is over weight, diabetic and has knee problems. I thought I did good. He did not get to help pick out the house because he could not afford the trip to Florida with the move coming up which I understood.

Since I knew the move was going to be expensive for him to move from Az to Florida. I gave him $1000 in cash and told him not to worry about paying on the mortgage for 6 months so he could pay off the expense of moving. Which in total added up to about $10,000. I paid the down payment on the house and for my move on money that I had to borrow from my mother in law because my settlement was taking longer than anticipated. We all get here and I have no furniture yet because I had to wait for the settlement. He thought I guess that I was going to buy him brand new bedroom furniture, new computer and TV for his room. I had never ever said that infact told him to keep his things and bring them with him. He chose not too.

So I got here end of July and my settlement did not come until Sept. My son and I basically camped in the house for those few months, slept on air mattreses. I did buy a TV and some basics but not nothing major. My father on the other hand went out and financed all new bedroom furniture, TV, computer and set him room up. Then proceeded to tell me and my son he felt awful he was all settled and my son and I were roughing it over and over he would say this. I would remind him he had to pay for those things he bought and he would say well I have money. Yes, because I am letting you be here mortgage free for 6 months. I brought my car which was fully paid for and no car payments. The car is 10 years old with 50,000 miles on it. My father had no car because he lived in the city before and did not need one. He would not drive my car and kept calling it a hunk of junk. Decided he was going to go buy a brand new $30,000 car with $600.00 a month payments on top of the other stuff he had financed. Told my son and I we were not allowed to use his new car. That was fine I had my own no big deal.

Finally in Sept my settlement came in. I went and bought brand new furniture, TVs, dishes and all the needed stuff I did not have. He would not participate in helping to pick anything out. He complained about everything I bought even though I tried to get him to help us pick stuff out because it was our house. Nope! to this day 7 months later the man will not use anything I bought. Has his own dishes, stays in his room, does not particiapte in anything. Complains he doesn't like his room and that he got told where to stay blah blah blah. I got him what he wanted a room downstairs, nope he wants to be upstairs, nope doesn't want to go upstairs will stay where I put him sigh. He complained about his TV in his room. It was new I'm not buying him another one, tells me and everyone how he is broke now because he moved here. I did not ask him to buy a new car, new furniture and all the other things he bought.

He then tells me he isn't going to share groceries anymore. I buy things he doesn't like so he will buy his own and I can buy my own. Fine, I cook and when I cook offer him what I make. He happily ate that but would not help me clean up. Would never load or unload the dishwasher, nothing. I told him only thing I ask is you clean your room, your bathroom and help me clean up around the house. I asked him one day if he had did his bathroom and bedroom. Yes. I said you cleaned those? He says yes. I said how you have no cleaner. Oh, I bought cleaner. Oh ok, can I use it I ran out. Oh well I thought I bought it but I didn't know what you liked so I put it back? Soooo you didn't clean your room and bathroom then? I'm not getting into this with you he says. I'm retired and I don't do domestic work! Oh really? My mother had said he was lazy and lied a lot. Proof right there! I hired a housekeeper. This house is almost 5,000 sq ft I am disabled and can not clean it alone with just me and my son. He starts calling me a spoiled lazy princess with a drug problem. I have told people on here before I suffer from a neurological condition that requires me to take narcotics. He tells everyone I use them to get high. I have had 7 heart attacks and 2 heart surgeries and I am lazy because I wont do my domestic duties and hired a house keeper. My ex husband spoiled me. He calls my son a lazy bum. My son helps me around the house and does the lawn work. My father does nothing.

Then comes the final straw. We decided the house was much too big for us. I got offered a nice profit on the home if I sold it and we were going to go down to 4 bedrooms instead of 6 since we aren't using them. About that time his time to start paying on the mortgage comes up and he starts telling me he can't afford it. Shocker! I had paid a year in advance when I got my settlement so I could have a nice cushion for awhile. I said well with a smaller house and the profit out mortgage will be much cheaper. He said we should use his VA loan to get the new house since no down payment. I said ok. Dumb mistake on my part but I still held out hope this would work.

We find a house, get the financing started using his VA loan. The finance people said since he had racked up so much debt could I give him $10,000 to put in his account for reserves and he could give it back to me after close. I said sure. He asked about putting me on the mortgage. They said since it was a VA loan I could not go on but we could have legal papers drawn up with my responsibility. He said fine.

Next day he comes to me tells me the finance people called him and I needed to give him another $40,000 on top of the $10,000 I had been told. I asked why? he made up some lie and I almost fell for it. He also asked me if I could get financed on my own? My son said here we go he is going to back out on you. Sure enough when I hesitated on giving him the other $40,000 up front he comes in my room tells me my son and I treat him like crap, he is just a roommate to us and we just want him here to pay bills. Remember he has not paid a dime to me since he moved here. He said he fears I will screw him over with the mortgage in his name and he has decided to move out. I was like wow!

So I call the finance company tell them what happened and tell them I need to get financing on my own. I told them what my father had told me about the other $40,000 the guy said I'm sorry dear he is scamming you we did not tell him that. You are fine on your own and I can write you a pre approval letter right now.

I went to my father and tried to address his complaints about him feeling like a room mate and all the names he has called me and my son. I told him to participate in acting like a family and we will treat you like family. You are the one who stays in your room, seperates everything, wont go with us anywhere when we invite you, wont watch movies or anything but will eat what I cook and not help. He said he would try. Two days later my son and I are the spawn of Satan and we are aggressive and abusive. Oh here we go again. I tried one more time to make peace. I wrote him a letter and told him everything I felt and that just because him and my mother had sex does not automatically earn him the title dad. He needed to work on our relationship, show me that what people had said was wrong and 7 months was not long enough to make all my hurt go away from the past. I wanted him to show me he wanted to be my parent. By participating and acting like one. I told him it was my last ditch effort to work things out as a family. He has not spoke to me since. He will not look at me at all. Yet continues to live in my home. Well one more time. I tell him house has sold. I will be closing on a new house soon and I need to know what he plans to do because I need to know what size house to get. He never said a word still wont speak to me. So I have decided that he wasn't in my life really ever. I gave it a chance he doesn't want to work on it, calls me and my son names and tried to scam me out of $40,000. I'm done. As far as I am concerned I have no parent. My son and I are the only people left in family. When I move to my new house in June he is on his own. I feel awful that I am doing this but I just can't do it anymore. I tried.

Thanks for listening. I don't have any family to talk to about it and my best friend is going through something very similar with her mother and I don't want to burden her.


Do you think I made the right choice?

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