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He Didn’t Attend His Great Uncle’s Funeral—Now His Family Is Questioning His Choice

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There comes a time in most everyone’s life when they realize that not every single person they’re related to is worth keeping in touch with…

And that goes double for folks who feel like their family members don’t respect them or their lifestyle.

At the end of the day, you gotta do what’s best for you!

And if that means giving blood relatives the cold shoulder, then so be it!

Check out what the guy who wrote this story had to say about why he decided not to attend a family member’s funeral.

AITA for not going to my great uncle’s funeral?

“I (24M) have had an odd relationship with my family ever since I was a teenager. The vast majority of my family is very religious and traditional, meanwhile I’m gay.

The thing is, I’ve never once told my family that they have to change their beliefs for me, I’ve only ever told them that I want to be treated the same regardless of my identity. But alas, for them that’s too much to ask. I get along well with my three siblings but that’s about it.

So anyway, my grandpa (who passed away a couple years ago) had a very wealthy little brother, my great uncle, who just recently passed. My great uncle spent most of my life living abroad and only moved to my state after his wife passed away.

He then developed dementia, which landed him in a nursing home. So even after he moved here, he didn’t really know who I was. That being said, I had nothing against him.

Funny how this works, huh?

Despite my family swearing up and down how virtuous they are via being religious, they were all in a feud even before he passed away about where his remaining money was gonna go, how much everyone would get, that kinda thing.

I have recently stopped attending family functions because I’m simply not close with 95 percent of my family. It has nothing to do with being bitter or angry, it’s just that I know if I actually needed something or someone to talk to, I could only really rely on my siblings, and I definitely make time to see them on my own accord.

Anyway, my great uncle’s funeral was this past Saturday. I did mean to go but the night before I traveled with some friends to another city about two hours away.

You can’t make all of ’em!

Was supposed to come back that same night to attend the funeral in the morning, but I fell asleep and woke up way too late to feasibly make it. When I drove back I had to go to work so I didn’t attend anything after.

Well, my family all noticed that I wasn’t there. Some were more angry than others, but I guess they were all feeling some type of way about it.

I really don’t care, I honestly believe funerals are for the living more than the dead anyway, but even my siblings were upset at me. They told me that I only have one family, and that friends come and go.

But again, I’m not close with most of my family, and me only having one doesn’t change that.

These folks have a lot of nerve…

They told me that it was disrespectful, never mind all the times I’ve been disrespected by our family.

They told me it was distasteful, never mind several of the family members worrying more about my great uncle’s money than his well being.

A lot of them didn’t even make an effort to see him in his last moments, which I did.

AITA?

Because I think the whole idea of keeping your family around no matter how much you don’t care for them is toxic and old fashioned.”

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If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a young person whose family’s constant requests for money are putting a strain on his education plans for the future.

Reddit users shared their thoughts.

This person weighed in.

Another individual spoke up.

This Reddit user shared their thoughts.

And this reader spoke up.

Can you really blame him for feeling this way?

I’d say the answer to that is a big NO.

He has his own life to live and, at least for now, a lot of his family members don’t make the cut.

His family members sure do seem pretty pushy…

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a woman who got promoted, then realized they set her replacement up to fail.

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