Chit Chat

Feeling Unloved

Little back story/relevant info: My husband and I are LDS. We want to be sealed in the temple. For irrelevant reasons, we were unable to do that when we got married. We are planning on getting sealed later. We don't have a timeline for when that'll happen yet, but we know it will sometime. My parents have never been loving and did not attend my civil ceremony. We still don't have the greatest relationship with them.

Now my problem: I've just recently been thinking about this and since the date isn't decided yet, the decision doesn't have to be made anytime soon. For most sealings, you only invite your nearest and dearest. So for most that would be: parents, grandparents, any adult siblings, close aunts and uncles and maybe a close friend or two. I'm probably only going to invite two sets of aunts and uncles, my grandparents and that'll probably be it. My husband will likely invite his grandmother, one of his aunts and uncle, and one of his brother and SIL. My siblings aren't old enough to come yet, depending on when we do it they might be, so I'll figure them out if they end up being old enough at the time. Now my parents are the issue. I'm not sure whether to invite them or not. They've never been loving, never been supportive; as my husband pointed out to me, they were more caretakers to me growing up than parents. I'm worried I'll regret it if I don't invite them. We did invite them to our civil ceremony but they didn't come. While that hurt me at first, I figured they wouldn't and when the day came I was sad for a bit but barely noticed it for most of the time. I actually think I was able to feel more happy and free without them there (they've always been controlling and still criticize my behavior if they hear that I'm doing something they don't approve of).

My husband supports me either way and, as I said, no decision needs to be made. What would you do in this situation?

Re: Feeling Unloved

  • Welcome to the club.  Lots of us have really difficult parents.  My wedding day is not a happy memory. 
    At my own wedding, I invited the close relatives, regardless of how they treated me.  I believe in taking the high road.  If I hadn't invited my mother, my alternative would have been to elope, and I didn't want to do that.  I'm glad I went through with the formal wedding, and I do enjoy looking at my wedding photos once a year on our anniversary. 
    I know that this is a sealing, not a wedding, but I would follow the same rules.  Having your religious blessing might help them accept your choices. I know LDS places a lot of emphasis on family.   Good luck.
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  • Wow another LDS person! Yay! 

    Considering how intimate the sealing room can be, I wouldn't invite anyone who wouldn't make the ceremony more special. The one's I've seen are very, very small. If they didn't want to see you married the first time, I wouldn't invite them this time. But this is my opinion, I hope whatever you choose makes the experience wonderful!

    -Someone in a similar boat

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  • Yes, Beth, we are definitely going to figure out all of that prior to getting sealed. That's the main reason we don't have a definite timeline yet.

    @McCMal Awesome! I'm glad to see a fellow LDS woman on the boards.
  • CMGragain said:

    Welcome to the club.  Lots of us have really difficult parents.  My wedding day is not a happy memory. 
    At my own wedding, I invited the close relatives, regardless of how they treated me.  I believe in taking the high road.  If I hadn't invited my mother, my alternative would have been to elope, and I didn't want to do that.  I'm glad I went through with the formal wedding, and I do enjoy looking at my wedding photos once a year on our anniversary. 
    I know that this is a sealing, not a wedding, but I would follow the same rules.  Having your religious blessing might help them accept your choices. I know LDS places a lot of emphasis on family.   Good luck.

    I appreciate your point of view. Would it change your perspective if I said that the rooms used for sealings are very small? The largest one in the Salt Lake Temple can hold 40 people. Of course, even if my brothers are old enough and I invited my parents, that would only add up to 19 people.
  • Beth thanks for pointing out that I essentially made my own decision by saying that I was happier at my wedding without her.

    I'm just worried that I might be happy then to not have her there, but what if 5, 10, 20+ years down the road, I have a better relationship with her. Would I regret it? That's my worry.
  • Teddy917 said:
    Beth thanks for pointing out that I essentially made my own decision by saying that I was happier at my wedding without her. I'm just worried that I might be happy then to not have her there, but what if 5, 10, 20+ years down the road, I have a better relationship with her. Would I regret it? That's my worry.
    Yes, and this is why I advise you to invite her.  As long as she is living, there is always hope for a better relationship.  Sometimes, things do change.  Unfortunately, my own mother died in October without ever expressing any love for me or my sister.  That was sad.

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  • @Phira is wise. Listen to her :)

    I understand what @CMGragain is saying. Your relationship with your parents could improve but right now it is what it is. There are other, future important events they can attend if your relationship changes in the future.


  • Also, now that I've thought about it, it's a HUGE GINORMOUS FLASHING WAVING BEEPING red flag that you husband, who has frontal lobe damage and can't discern emotions and isn't sure if he loves you like a wife and isn't sure he ever can is giving you commentary about your parents' relationship with you.

    In most marriages, spouses do offer an outside perspective, and that's a good thing -- until DH saw how my family interacted, he didn't know that not everyone is as self-absorbed and narcissistic as his grandmother is.

    But your husband doesn't have a normal emotional reaction to anything -- because he, quite literally, CAN'T have a normal emotional reaction to anything. I would be wary of taking his advice on interpersonal relationship and relationship dynamics, because those are both things he can neither feel nor observe.
    Anniversary

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    I'm gonna go with 'not my circus, not my monkeys.'
  • Agree with PPs so I'll just add my sympathies. I do think you should plan for now as opposed to hoping for a better future. I don't know much about sealings, but I also am pretty ambivalent about my parents being at my wedding. Not too long ago I got pretty upset after FILs did something super nice for me because my parents don't do stuff like that. And most women, I think, would like to have their moms there when they have their first baby, and I know I don't want my mom there. It doesn't feel right. 

    And it's not like my parents were abusive or anything. Just very distant, cold, judging, etc. They'll say they love me but it's very obligatory and empty sounding. 

    Given your posting history, I do want to check in on one thing- did you feel this way before meeting your husband? I ask because he has done things that are cause for concern, and I'm concerned he could be trying to alienate you from family if he's pointing out how unsupportive they are and stuff like that. But if that's not the case and you've always had a strained relationship with family as I have, disregard. 
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  • @FiancB I have always had a strained (at best) relationship with my parents.
  • I think I'm stuck in this box
    I didn't realize I'd read the OP previous posts. After His girl pointed out the previous issues, I remember. And I do agree that weather or not to invite the mother is the least of OPs worries. Counseling will help you decide how to continue with your mother. 
    Please, please remember that you should only enter into a sealing if you both love and respect each other. This is not something you can easily undo, and just because everyone else is pressuring you, which I assume they are because I am from SLC and I know how it gets, does not mean you have to do it right away.
     Your Bishop shouldn't even allow it if you don't go through the cousling and interviews. If there are glaring issues like this your bishop should be cautioning you. I highly doubt you will get his ok if your spouse openly says he doesn't know if he loves you. 

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