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 who’s 6 years older than me. For years, my parents canceled on me last minute because of her.

I have a basketball game. Oops, sorry, sister doesn’t feel like going out. I’m graduating. Oops, sorry, sister had a bad day at work. They missed both big and small events in my life because of her meltdowns.

I met the love of my life, and we decided to get married. From the beginning, I told my parents I was worried my sister would ruin another special moment in my life. My mom promised me it wouldn’t happen.

On my wedding day, I got 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, who is a jokester, took my phone and asked my fiancée if he could post a wedding video as a gift. She loved the idea.

I didn’t know about it until I came home from our honeymoon at a lakeside cabin with 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 had pictures of us with her parents, me on the dance floor, cutting the cake—where you’d 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 insisted I take it down. They said my sister hadn’t stopped crying and my mom wouldn’t leave the house.

I might be the jerk here, but I didn’t take it down right away. I didn’t call my family back. I waited until my vacation was over and enjoyed my time with my wife in our new home before I contacted anyone.

My dad told me to take down the video. He said it was “just a bad night for them” and they would make it up to me and my wife for not coming. I replied, “How do you plan to ‘make up’ my wedding? It’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing. You chose to ignore my feelings.”

He kept saying he would make it up to me. I told him I would take down the video only when he made up for missing my wedding. Frustrated, we both hung up before we said things we shouldn’t have.