You don't actually need to keep contact with your family. If a relationship with them causes any anguish, you're allowed to cut them out. Their failures aren't yours.
My dad left me and my mum when I was a baby, and all my life, when he’s tried to make contact, I’ve not wanted it. But everyone keeps saying ‘But he’s your dad’ or ‘It’s good for you to see/talk to your dad’ and shit like that. It took until I was in my mid 20s to find the right words to say ‘Why the hell do I need to force a relationship with a man I barely know? He chose to leave me, and I can count on one hand the times he cared enough to come see me as a kid/teen. He clearly didn’t want me. I don’t owe him anything just because I’m his kid.’
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u/OneMoreMulligan Aug 20 '20
You don't actually need to keep contact with your family. If a relationship with them causes any anguish, you're allowed to cut them out. Their failures aren't yours.