This 25-year-old woman recently graduated from medical school, which she put much time and effort into achieving. Her parents hosted a massive graduation party in her honor to celebrate this impressive accomplishment.
Her older brother, Matt, 28, and his girlfriend attended the party. The two of them have been dating for three years. At one point, Matt wanted to speak with her in private.
“He asked if he could use the opportunity to announce his engagement to his girlfriend in front of the whole family. I felt bad, but I told Matt, ‘I’m sorry, but I have to say no. This is my graduation party to celebrate the culmination of years of hard work, and I don’t want the focus shifted,” she said.
While she was thrilled for Matt and his girlfriend, she knew that if she agreed to allow them to announce their engagement, this would be all that the party guests would be talking about and thinking about instead of the reason they were there to celebrate in the first place. This didn’t seem like the appropriate time or place for an engagement announcement. The event was thrown to celebrate her.
She pointed out that anyone who’s worked their way through medical school is aware of how overwhelming and tiring the experience is. Over the last few months, she has been working and studying at all hours. Getting through medical school was tough, and she cried and had multiple meltdowns over the stress, which Matt was fully aware of.
“He got really upset and accused me of stealing his thunder over jealousy. I held firm that this was my day, and it would be tacky for Matt to turn it into his engagement party,” she explained.
Even though she wanted the party to remain a celebration of her academic success, she acknowledged how wonderful it was that Matt and his girlfriend were moving their relationship forward. But Matt and his girlfriend marched out of her party when she wouldn’t let them announce their engagement.
Matt’s behavior baffles her because the two of them have had a wonderful relationship up until this point, and he normally doesn’t act this way. It seemed out of character for him.
“I’m trying to see it from his perspective. I guess he had such a strong reaction because it’s very important to him, and he is not fully himself. It’s a big step. I get it,” she shared.
After the party, she thought about the situation and wondered if she made the right choice.
However, she stands by her decision not to allow Matt and his girlfriend to announce their engagement because if she’d let them do so, they would have been taking attention away from her when the whole point of the party was to celebrate her medical school graduation.
It wouldn’t have been fair to her if Matt and his girlfriend drew so much attention to themselves. Unfortunately, Matt accused her of being “bitter” and “controlling.”
What would you have done if you were in her shoes?
You can read the original post on Reddit here.
