My grandmother, Ethel, raised me, but now David and Sarah have decided I should start paying them maintenance.
David and Sarah live in the Midlands, while I live in Cornwall. We havent seen each other for over twenty years. They work as artists and sing in a choir; their whole lives revolve around touring. When I turned five, I moved in with Ethel. She wanted to make life easier with a child, so she had to relocate to relatives up in Cornwall.
At first Mum and Dad would visit us two or three times a year, but gradually the visits became rarer. Eventually I stopped thinking about them at all and our contact broke off. While I was studying dentistry, in my third year I got married.
Now James and I run our own dental practice and earn a good living. A year ago David and Sarah resurfaced. They started calling the clinic because they didnt even have my phone number. Their calls were mostly complaints about their lives.
I listened to their grievances and told them they chose this path when they left me in Ethels care. Sometimes they sent a few pounds to Ethel, but most of the time she and I lived on her pension. She would repeat that we had to scrimp on everything, and I understood it plainly.
At school I did very well so I would have something to live on and to buy clothes; I also worked night shifts as a hospital aide. Now I feel I have my own life, and my parents have theirs, and each of us should go our own way.
When Mum and Dad realised I wasnt going to support them financially, they threatened to claim maintenance. Their words finally pushed me away from them. If I ever doubted the rightness of my decision or still thought about helping them financially, now I have no desire to do so. Do you think Im right, or should I still help my parents?
