(This post will be long so I apologize in advance, I might make mistakes while writing since English isn't my first language so I'll do the best I can)
Me (17f) and my sister (13f), who we'll call Lily, have divorced parents.
They've been divorced since 2020 and dad moved out during the summer of the pandemic. It was hard at first. Really hard. I was in that awkward period of life where I was starting middle school in September, and my sister was still in elementary school.
The first bad sign was when dad left without even saying goodbye, one morning we got up and noticed that his stuff that was near the door was gone, and mom said he'd left. Apparently she thought he'd at least said goodbye to us but he didn't and we had our first issue.
Dad moved into a one bedroom apartment that was incredibly tiny, and I (as a probably depressed teenager with everything that was happening in life) often stayed closed in his bedroom with my tablet and headphones while my dad and sister stayed in the living room/kitchen but I would occasionally come out and spend time with them because I loved my dad and wanted to stay with him.
The feeling definitely changed once he moved in with his girlfriend.
For some context, my dad and his girlfriend (let's call her Karen since she's as bitchy as one) had "been dating for only a year" when he introduced her to us, but it's possible that he was actually cheating on my mom with her since that was one of the reasons for the divorce. Now, when I met her I was 13. Still having a very rough time and she didn't give me a good feeling. She was being way too nice, was trying to make me join in childish things but I didn't complain since she was trying to be nice (literally the first thing we did to meet her was go over to her house and she made us do a Christmas letter box).
Things got worse quick.
Karen lives in an apartment with 3 bedrooms +1 couch/bed and lived with her younger son (21) and his girlfriend, her mother (70ish?), and occasionally her middle child who was 25 or something would come stay over.
Now, as you imagine, that was NOT a nice place for an introvert. So I began staying a lot in Karen's and my dad's room when we were staying over since me and Lily had no room of our own. Once again, I was a kid who had been thrown into a house of people she didn't know in a particularly delicate phase of life. No one had noticed what I was going through and the only time I actually felt a little better was summer 2023 since I was finally finished with middle school (in Italy it's 3 years) and would never see many of my awful classmates again. A little side note, I was not a pleasant kid. I was easily angered and I did resort to throwing hands a lot and I suppose I was even a bit of a pick me. My dad has always wanted me to be strong and I thought that meant being like him (no, he never hit us but he was good at ignoring us when he was mad and he often told me that if someone bothered me I should hit them).
I realized during 8th grade just how fucked up that was and how bad it was making me feel and promised myself I would be a better person. Which I am and I'm really proud of myself for that because it wasn't easy.
But during those 3 years of middle school, I kid you not, I'm sure Karen had a personal issue with me.
Some examples:
\\- wherever we'd go she'd insist on going to high places (suspended bridges, ferris wheels, gondolas, towers, etc) when she, and most importantly my dad, knew I have vertigo. I was even left alone at 12 with my little sister who was 8 while they went on a gondola and I was scared because my sister would rush anywhere so I was constantly grabbing her shirt and making her stay still. Another time we went ice skating but she just had to go to that ferris wheel right then and there so my dad left us alone in the ice rink. Another time they took us to a suspended bridge that we had to cross to go where we had to and I swear I was so scared and nauseous I could barely walk straight. At one point my uncle (who was with us along with my aunt and cousin) made fun of me for that so I just kindly raised my middle finger at him while they laughed. I then told my dad it was not fucking funny expecially not in that moment considering I really didn't feel good.
\\- she always had to intrude on a conversation between me and my dad. Always. One time we were at Primark (a cheap store with literally anything in case you don't know what it is) and I asked for two pjs instead of one because that way I'd get a pajamas for home where I stayed and one for his house where I slept. Dad initially said yes but then his girlfriend said something to him and suddenly it wasn't ok anymore. Later she even said to my sister that our dad already payed child support to our mom so we shouldn't need anything else (bitch what? We're still his children).
\\- she would always make snide remarks about her being fat. For context, Karen is a stick. Literally, she had a cancer to her thyroid and they had to remove it so she ate a lot less but she was also very thin before. Now, suddenly, when I'm around she's "so fat" and "seriously needs to loose weight". I talked to my sister to know if she made those remarks when I wasn't there and she said she didn't think she did. Now, I might not be thin but I too have my health issues and unfortunately telling me that I'm fat won't fix this.
\\- if I ever said anything about not liking something it'd become a big deal. We were out at a restaurant once and I saw her put up one of her biggest performances yet. My uncle said that he wished my aunt would like cruises and I said "Well, I don't like them either. Some people just aren't for boats, besides they're way too crowded" and suddenly Karen started a whole speech about how we can't all be the same and thank God everyone isn't like me. She was talking so loud that the tables around us looked over. I felt ashamed.
So yeah, as you can see, Karen had it out for me even before highschool.
And let me tell you things did NOT get better with highschool.
I have chronic migraines. I didn't know that until I was 15 and saw a video saying that not everyone has pain everyday and I was very much flabbergasted. I had been having migraines ever since I had memory and I actually really beat myself down for that first year of highschool for not being able to keep up with everyone and wondering how people had the energy to work/go to school, socialize, go back home to keep studying, sports, cooking and all over again the next day.
I was having a terrible first year in highschool: too many absences, a teacher that couldn't care less that I was sick (she was the class coordinator so we had asked her to also let the others teachers know that I was having issues and we were trying to figure it out but she never did), teachers started thinking I was purposefully skipping tests, everyday became a nightmare because no one actually believed me...
I was incredibly close to taking my own life.
I'd started writing letters.
Then mom had enough of that teacher and the school so we interrupted the year (which I obviously failed), sent me to a therapist because I really fucking needed it and changed schools.
And where was my father you might wonder, well, with Karen obviously! Such sweethearts!
He had kept insisting that I was just being lazy. He doesn't believe these migraines are real (he just thinks it's some anxious disorder or whatnot), he never came to my visits, never asked to know how I was, sometimes I wonder if he'd have given a fuck if I actually attempted (my parents don't know I've ever wanted to take my own life).
Now I'm doing better emotionally: I'm not as sad, school isn't terrible since teachers actually listen to me and help me out, I have amazing friends that understand my health conditions, and I'm still seeking out a proper diagnosis, but surprisingly enough, I made it past 15.
This is my 3 year in highschool ( I think it's 11th grade...?) and during the summer I kept my usual routine of going to my dad's house and going into a room to basically not exist (at this point we have had extensive conversation where I even ended up crying and basically begging him to take some time to stay with just me and my sister but nothing ever worked).
Unfortunately Karen was pissed that day and decided she'd had enough and started lecturing me, saying that my dad is hurt that I don't spend time with him (yeah, no shit, hurts me too), that I never go out with them anymore (y'all always drag me places I don't like and don't believe me when I say I'm feeling bad, tf?), and that if I had to stay in that room every time I went over then I wouldn't be staying over at all.
I wrote to my mom about it, she asked me to try talking to my dad and I did. It ended with him saying the same stuff: this is my new family, I don't have time (mind you this man sees us 4h on Mondays and Wednesdays, and less than a day on weekends since we don't sleep at his house since 2024), why would I separate two things I love when I can stay with all of you together, and even dragged money into the discourse (he is in no way rich but mom is basically raising me and Lily on her own, we're three people living with one paycheck).
I never went back to that house.
I hardly ever see my dad now and the last times (2) it was nice. We went out to get an ice cream, actually talked, he took me to horseback riding (I started volunteering there in the summer and thankfully the lessons aren't too expensive so I get to do it as a sport this year).
Unfortunately we found out I've got some issues with my sugar levels, something like pre-diabetes or smt, so I have to take the famous ozempic thing (not exactly ozempic, but that med) to help me even it out, start a new diet and loose the extra weight. My dad (who NEVER bothered to even ask about a visit and didn't come with me even when I went to the hospital) said no because it's expensive.
Me and my mom are both mad at him and are trying to make him change his mind. We even told him we'd figure out a different way to pay but that he should at least consider it's actually for my health. This definitely also came from Karen since she's always been concerned with him spending money on me and Lily for anything.
I'm tired of this and don't know if I want to stay in contact with my dad. It's been 6 really hard years for me and I don't think I can peacefully stand more, I'm usually an avoidant person and I've already had two serious arguments with my dad in just four months. I think I'm at a breaking point.