My Parents Always Choose My Sister Over Me; Now They Missed My Wedding and I Can’t Take It Anymore

Birthdays, graduations, even the smallest of victories—his parents always found a way to highlight his sister instead. This is a story of how years of feeling overlooked have culminated in a heartbreak one man can no longer ignore.

He told his story.

I have a sister that’s 6 years older than me. My parents for years canceled on me last minute because of my sister.

I have a basketball game. Ops, sorry, sister doesn’t feel like going out. I am graduating ops, sorry, sister had a bad day at work. They have missed both major and smaller events in my life because of her meltdowns.

I met the love of my life. We decided to tie the knot. From the beginning, I told my parents how I was worried my sister would ruin another special moment in my life. My mom told me over and over again it would not happen.

The day of my wedding. I received a voicemail from my mom saying they couldn’t come because my sister's dog was sick, and she was upset. I was hurt, my best man however is a jokester. He took my phone, then went to my fiancé and asked if he could post a video of our wedding as a gift. On social media. She loved his idea.

I had no idea about it until I came home. Our honeymoon was at a lakeside cabin. No cell service.

The post caption was “My best friend. He is an amazing person, even if his parents NEVER showed up for him.” The video was still pictures of us next to her parents, me on the dance floor, cutting the cake. Where you would normally see both parents in wedding pictures. The sound behind the video was my mom’s voicemail explaining how they couldn’t come because my sister’s dog was sick.

I came home a week later to hundreds of messages. Family members from both sides insisting I take it down. I was told my sister hadn’t stopped crying. My mom is refusing to leave the house.

Maybe the jerk here. I didn’t take it down when I got my messages. I didn’t call my family back right away. I waited until my vacation time was over at work and enjoyed my time with my wife. In our new home. Before I contacted anyone.

My dad told me to take down the video. It was “just a bad night for them.” That they will make it up to me and my wife for not coming. My reply was exactly, “How do you plan to ’make up’ my wedding? It’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing. You choose to ignore my feelings on the whole matter.”

Then he just repeated he would make it up to me. I told him I would take down the video only when he made up missing my wedding. Flustered, we both hung up the phone before we both said things we shouldn’t have.

People stood on his side.

• “The truth hurts sometimes and your parents & sister just got whammied! Your friend is AWESOME. Please leave the video up!” Unknown user / Reddit
• “Your friend didn’t manipulate their words, your parents would have nothing to cry about if they hadn’t done anything wrong! They skipped your wedding with one seriously pathetic excuse, let them feel the effects of that.” BellesNoir / Reddit
• “Keep that video up until the end of time. Your parents need to be reminded just how much they failed you and favored your sister. Your family doesn’t like it, lucky for you, you just married into a new one.” notsosimpleandsweet / Reddit

• "They were finally called out on their blatant favoritism, and they obviously didn't take it well. I'd hold off inviting them anywhere or to anything. At least for a while.
  Don't make them your first priority when you clearly aren't theirs. Focus on your new wife and your absolutely awesome best friend. They both sound like keepers!" Pinetree218 / Reddit
• "So, typically, when someone asks you to take down a video of them because it’s embarrassing, you do it because it’s polite. But in this case? They didn’t have a good reason to miss it, and they’re rightfully mortified. They made the bed, they can lie in it." NotTwitchy / Reddit
• "It was 'just a bad night,' out of many, many other 'bad nights' where they ignored you in favor of your sister's whims. See if your best man can pull up footage of your graduation, and maybe pictures from games they missed, and produce a 'greatest hits' compilation video to post right next to the wedding video." big_bob_c / Reddit

His wedding day, surrounded by friends and his new family, taught him that love and validation can come from those who truly appreciate and respect him. While he still grieves the relationship he wished for with his parents, he’s learning to embrace the support and love of those who choose to be in his life.