Ask Amy: Cultural divide leads to family estrangement
Dear Amy: My eldest daughter got married five years ago. My husband and I were not consulted about the wedding and were shocked when she told us she was getting married.
My husband refused to go to the wedding and has not spoken to her since.
I'm in the middle of all this upset, so I now rarely have contact with her.
I understand why he was so angry, as family and weddings are very important in his culture. He is unable to forget the disrespect she showed us both.
This has caused so many arguments that I've considered leaving him. I’m ashamed to admit I sometimes wish he was just … gone.
I feel like running away.
Can you offer any advice for me?
— A
Dear A: It is ironic that family and weddings are revered in your husband’s culture, and yet he has decided to sever a relationship with his own child. That’s the opposite of reverence.
Your husband may have renounced his own fatherhood, but he doesn’t have the right to remove your daughter from your life.
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