Post by Maryigwe (@Marygoldigwe)

BLOOD IS NO LONGER-THICKER THAN WATER
Sometimes, certain things happen in life that you wish were only scenes from a movie. You watch them, shake your head, and move on. But when they happen to you in real life, the p@in is completely different.

I am one out of six children—two men and four women. I work in Government House, and because God has blessed me, I have always tried to carry my family along.

I renovated my parents’ house and put them on a monthly allowance. I support my nephews, nieces and cousins whenever they need help. I also helped set up businesses for my sisters, even though they are already married and living with their husbands. I even helped my elder brother secure a job with the Civil Service Commission.

I never complained because I believed family was everything.

Then, three months ago, I went on annual leave. Instead of the usual one month, I was given an additional two weeks, making it six weeks in total.

During my leave, my father called me asking for more money aside the one I give them monthly.

For some reason, I decided to test them.

I casually told him, “Daddy, I don’t have money. I was sacked from work. There is an investigation going on in my office.”

I expected him to ask if I was okay.

I expected him to ask what happened.

I expected him to tell me not to worry.

But do you know what my father said?

“What did you do that they sacked you? How are we going to survive? How are we going to eat? Which kind of problem is this?”

I was speechless.

Then I heard my mother speaking in the background.

“Don’t tell them that kind of thing. I don’t want to hear it. I have already ordered some things, and the money he was supposed to send is what I want to use to pay.”

My father came back on the phone and asked me to try and borrow money if necessary and send it to them.

He asked, “Don’t you have savings?”

I said no.

He simply ended the call.

I sat there staring at my phone in shock.

Not once did he ask, “Are you okay?”

Not once did he ask, “What happened at work?”

All they cared about was the money I could no longer send.

And that was when I decided to see how far this would go.

My parents immediately spread the news to all my siblings.

But strangely, nobody called me.

I started calling them one after another.

Some picked up and simply said, “We heard what happened. Take heart.”

Others didn’t answer at all.

My elder brother eventually asked for my account number and sent me ₦1,500.

Yes, one thousand five hundred naira.

I wasn’t angry about the amount. What broke me was the fact that nobody even tried to find out what had happened to me.

When I called my nephews, nieces and cousins, they stopped answering too.

One Sunday, my elder sister’s husband called me and spoke to me insultingly. He questioned how I could be so careless as to lose my job.

But strangely, nobody asked me the most important question:

“What happened?”

My parents, who used to call me almost every minute whenever they needed anything, suddenly stopped calling.

Even when I called them, they ignored me.

For two whole months, not one person from my family called to check if I was alive or okay.

Then I told my wife everything.

She couldn’t believe what I was telling her.

So she decided to conduct her own little test.

She told her parents and siblings that I had lost my job.

What happened next almost brought tears to my eyes.

My father-in-law travelled all the way from Port Harcourt to visit us. He came with foodstuff and drinks.

My mother-in-law sent money to my wife to support us.

My sister-in-law living in the USA also sent us money.

Nobody in my own family did that.

But people I married into stood by me when they believed I had nothing left.

That was when I truly understood that sometimes, family isn’t always determined by bl00d.

And then came the biggest shock.

I discovered that I had been removed from my family’s WhatsApp group.

😂

After my leave ended, I resumed work.

I decided to visit my parents without informing them.

The moment I arrived, they treated me like a stranger.

They didn’t welcome me.

They ignored me.

It was completely different from the way my mother normally rushed to the gate whenever she saw me.

I couldn’t hold it in anymore.

I told them the truth.

“I never lost my job. I was only on a long vacation. I have resumed work.”

The look on their faces was something I will never forget.

They couldn’t even look me in the eyes.

I told them how disappointed I was in every single member of the family.

I reminded them of everything I had done for them—not because I wanted praise, but because I wanted them to understand how quickly they abandoned me the moment they thought the money had stopped.

I told them, “From today, count me out of this family. You have shown me that material things are more important to you than I am.”

I even told them that I would no longer be responsible for their needs.

I don’t know what to do again I need your advice

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