I have a strong opinion about a situation that occurred between my great aunt and my niece. Just to give you some context and backstory, my great-aunt has been taken care of by my niece for most of her life. She’s 16 years old, and my great-aunt has had her since she was almost two. My niece’s mother was too busy in the streets to take care of her, and my brother was equally as busy chasing and tracking her down.
My great-aunt is a saint of a woman and provided my niece with a stable and loving environment to grow up in, which was more than her mother and father were willing to give. Once my niece’s mother finally disappeared altogether, the family thought it best to leave my niece in my great-aunt’s care, and my brother agreed with us. As you can imagine, my great aunt and niece are very, very close.
They are always together, and my niece even sleeps in the bed with my great-aunt some nights, just looking for comfort, which is why I wasn’t surprised when my niece called me about my great-aunt’s upcoming 78th birthday.
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My niece was all up in arms about the fact that her father didn’t call her or come by to take her to get a gift for my great-aunt. I told my niece she needed to pump the brakes. This is the same little girl who we just found out has a whole full-time job as a hostess at a restaurant around the corner from my great aunt’s house. And she has been catching an Uber to and from work all on her own. So, if she’s old enough to secure employment, why couldn’t she find a way to get to the store to get my great-aunt a gift?
I agree it may be wrong that my brother didn’t go out of his way to make sure my niece bought my great-aunt a gift. Still, my niece is just as responsible and shouldn’t be using her father as a scapegoat. My great-aunt is on the same soap box as my niece and blames her brother 100 percent for the fact that my niece didn’t get her a gift. She sees no error on my niece’s part whatsoever, which I believe is so wrong! At age 16, shouldn’t my niece be held accountable for not finding a way to go and get a gift for my great aunt and the only mother she has ever known?
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