AITH for refusing to help care for my father after my siblings brought him back?
I (29F) am the oldest of four kids. After my parents divorced when I was young, my father developed a gambling addiction and became extremely volatile. My younger brothers don't remember much because they were little, but I remember everything.
He would disappear for days, spend money we didn't have, and take his frustrations out on me. I spent a lot of my teenage years protecting my brothers and helping my mom keep things together. Eventually, he left and completely disappeared from our lives.
For years, none of us heard from him.
Then about three years ago, one of my brothers found him through social media. He had suffered a stroke, was struggling financially, and needed help. My brothers decided they wanted to reconnect and started helping take care of him.
I told them from the beginning that I wanted no involvement.
Now, after years of helping him with appointments, bills, and daily needs, they're exhausted. They keep asking me to step in and help, saying they need a break and that he's still our father.
I keep refusing.
The last argument got pretty ugly. My brothers said I was being cold and abandoning family. I reminded them that when we were kids, I was the one shielding them from his anger and cleaning up the messes he left behind. I already spent years dealing with the consequences of his choices.
One memory that always sticks with me is being 14 and getting screamed at for buying school supplies because he thought the money should have gone toward one of his debts. I remember hiding in my room afterward, terrified he'd come back and start again.
My brothers say he's older now, he's sick, and people change.
Maybe they do.
But I still don't want a relationship with him, and I definitely don't want to become one of his caregivers.
Now some relatives are calling me selfish and acting like I'm abandoning a helpless old man.
AITAH?
Posted Jun 6, 2026, 9:35 PM UTC