Woman Applauded for Viral Story About Leaving Her Own Birthday Party After Sister Arrived

Some commenters praised a woman who claimed in a viral Reddit post that she left her own birthday party last week after her sister arrived. According to the post, the woman stopped talking to her sister several years ago following an intense argument.

She shared the story to Reddit's "Am I the A**hole" forum on Sunday under the username u/Scared-Sympathy-3547. Already, the post has received nearly 11,000 votes and more than 600 comments.

The woman explained that when she was 17-years-old, she caught her then-brother-in-law "making out with another woman." The Redditor was quick to tell her sister what she had seen, but her sister didn't react the way she'd hoped.

"[S]he dismissed it and pretty much called me a jealous, ugly girl with no future who is trying to ruin her marriage because I was jealous of all the things she had," the Redditor claimed. "She yelled at me for half an hour making fun of all my insecurities and f*** ups."

She was so hurt by what her sister had said that she stopped talking to her altogether.

"They [her sister and former brother-in-law] were together for 3 more years before she realized that he was lying to her. She tried to apologize and build up a relationship again but I was done with her," the Redditor claimed.

In honor of the Redditor's birthday last week, her mother decided to host a small party. She asked her mom not to invite her sister; however, her sister showed up. So, the Redditor left.

"Everyone is upset with me. My dad thinks I was childish. My mother is not speaking to me because I embarrassed her in front of the family," the Redditor concluded.

All of this led her to ask: "[Am I the a**hole] for leaving my birthday party because my sister showed up?"

Newsweek reached out to u/Scared-Sympathy-3547 for comment.

Not all siblings are close. However, some experts argue that there is not much parents can, or should, do to repair fractured relationships between their adult children.

In a blog post on the topic, Baltimore Therapy Center had this to say: "It may be deeply painful to watch your kids drift apart, or, worse, engaged in persistent conflict. But it is neither in your job description nor in your power to make things better.

"The relationship of brothers and sisters is between them, and, as saddening as it might be, not you," the therapy center continued.

Of course, the center said that parents can "gently" offer to attend and/or pay for family therapy to help their children. But if the children don't respond, parents shouldn't push the issue. In the end, the center said the best thing a parent can do in the situation is let go.

Last year, an advice columnist for Slate echoed the same sentiments to a reader wanting advice on parenting their two adult siblings who were not on speaking terms.

"It's important for you to find a way to let go of your own expectations when it comes to their relationship because there is nothing you can (or should) do to turn these two adult men into loving brothers," the columnist wrote.

Rather than focus on their children's fractured relationship, the parent should focus on their individual relationships with their sons, the columnist advised.

Many commenters felt that the Redditor's parents were wrong to try and "force" a relationship between the Redditor and her sister.

"NTA [not the a**hole]. What you did is called enforcing a boundary. You have made it clear that you don't want anything with her, so you made sure that you wouldn't," said u/GreekAmericanDom. "The a**holes are everyone trying to force something you don't want."

Redditor u/FroyoDesperate623 agreed. They said: "NTA. You're a person with real emotions, not a puppet for your parents to make a fake happy family. If they're more worried about how they look than your emotions, then the AH judgment goes to them."

"NTA. Sounds like your family still isn't treating you right and that they're not actually thinking of you in any of this, especially since they decided to do it on your birthday. They didn't respect your boundaries, so you 100% owe them nothing," added u/Designer-Memory.