[Serious] Who did you trust completely only to have them betray you?

Wife and family, all at once.

I'll preface this by saying my dad and brother did what they thought was right in a situation they couldn't understand, but it changed my views of them.

My memory has suffered cause of all of this so things are a bit fuzzy. I've retyped this 3 times now and can't figure out how to tell the story so I'll just tell it.

My aunt died three years ago from cancer. Cancer took my mom when I was 10 so my aunt was the closest thing I had to a mother. My entire family came together and grieved because she was the cornerstone for all of us. She was wonderful.

After the funeral we got to the will and we disagreed. One word was repeated in the will and that one word pitted me and my brother against the rest of the family. I KNOW we could have worked it out if they would just talk to us, but lawyers were called and my own grandmother would no longer answer calls, emails, or Christmas presents that I sent that year. I was suddenly without the people who had raised me; the people I would have died for. My dad wasn't part of it so he was on our side so I had those two and my wife.

Until my wife's affair a year later...I think it was a year? I'm really not sure. I can't remember much before and during all of this. Anyway, my depression had already spiraled out of control with the lawsuit from my own family so you can imagine I wasn't in a good place any more. I was overwhelmed and had no idea what to do and so we went to counseling. The 'betrayal' from my father and brother had to do with the affair, but you can understand their point of view (which is probably the same as yours). I had lost everything already, so I HAD TO fight for my marriage.

I'm tired of telling this story now, so I'll cut to the end. It's been three years since my aunts death and I haven't spoken to any family besides my brother and dad since then. My in-laws are pleasant, but I don't care to be close to them any more. My dad remarried and holidays are easily spent with my step mom's family because it's huge and loud and fun. The estate stuff got settled and showed my brother and I were right, but there was never any reconciliation. It took a lot of therapy for me to be okay with that, but I'm happy they're out of my life now. I never had to go to any hearings, my dad and brother did all of that for me and I'm very thankful for that.

My wife and I moved to a new state and are doing fine. I know a lot of you will hate to hear that, but keep it to yourself. We just adopted a dog (should get her tomorrow) and have my fat kitty as well. No kids now or in the future. I made some bad decisions, but ultimately I think I've done my best to keep on my feet and functional in society. Depression still kicks my butt and I'll eventually get back on medication and back in therapy, but it's easier said than done.

The aftermath of this all is I don't trust anyone completely. I never will again. I KNEW my grandmother and family would never do anything to hurt me and then they did. Everyone has the potential to harm you. I've learned that's okay and it's nice to have good memories with them while you can. The pain isn't always worth those memories, but you just have to take it one day at a time and not worry about that stuff so much.

/r/AskReddit Thread