Widowed Dad Finds Happiness Again until Fiancée’s Joke about His Late Wife Makes Him Call Off the Wedding

A widower father regained love with his fiancée after the death of his cherished wife. However, she made a joke about his late wife during a family dinner that deeply upset him and his kids. He was compelled to decide on their future together by this incident.
An anonymous male poster shared his story on the “AITAH” subreddit on October 13, 2023. He gave some background information about his life, beginning with the fact that he was the father of two children from his late wife Kayla: Sam, who is 21 years old, and Liz, who is 16 years old. The 43-year-old man lost his wife when their children were 10 and 15, respectively.

Kayla was driving home from work when she was involved in an intoxicated driving accident. The family was deeply affected by her passing, and the widower father decided to put his children’s welfare above his own dating life for a while.

The man met Amanda, a lady he knew, three years after his wife died. He waited a year to introduce her to his kids, and their relationship developed cautiously. He had been seeing Amanda for three years at that point, and they were engaged.

After that evening, Liz said nothing and refused to speak with her father or Amanda.
Amanda had expressed uncertainty about the man’s history with his late wife at first, raising hypothetical questions, but he answered by stressing the value of their current connection over thinking about “what ifs.” Amanda eventually stopped saying things like that, and the man’s initial worries about the circumstance subsided.
Before the man’s parents invited them over for dinner to celebrate their engagement, everything seemed to be going well for the couple. The man’s parents were there, along with Sam, Liz, the late wife’s sister and her husband, and of course, him and Amanda.
At first, the supper had a cosy and welcoming vibe. The talk went well, touching on both lighthearted subjects and the engaged couple’s upcoming nuptials. But the nice atmosphere was dashed when the man’s mother said something seemingly innocuous about how he may feel the same kind of connection with Amanda as he did with his late wife, Kayla.

Although this remark may have gone undetected, Amanda’s answer altered the course of events. “I’m glad she died, otherwise I would have never gotten him to myself,” she said, laughing startlingly. Abruptly, the room was filled with an uneasy hush. Everyone became noticeably tense, the children most of all.
Amanda appeared to be aware of the consequences of her remarks and made an effort to diffuse the tension by seeming to laugh out of control. The man was unable to respond because Amanda’s statement had taken him by surprise and severely disturbed him.

His kids, Liz in particular, looked disgusted, so she got up from the table and went to the car. Sam paused, waiting for his father to react, but the man was still processing Amanda’s words’ shock and remained mute.

After the awful supper, the widower said goodbye to his family and escorted Amanda out of the stressful situation. The evening’s weight hung heavy in the air as the automobile moved away. The distance between the father, his daughter Liz, and Amanda widened over the next few days. After that evening, Liz said nothing and refused to speak with her father or Amanda.
Sensing the strain on his family, the father asked his son Sam for advice. Sam said in their conversation that he didn’t want anyone in their lives who could talk about their late mother in such a nasty way; this view was similar to his sister’s. The man found great resonance in Sam’s statements, which caused doubts to sprout concerning his relationship with Amanda.

The man was faced with a tough choice as he struggled to balance his love for Amanda with his duty to his kids. He wondered what Amanda’s remarks may mean for his family in the future, particularly for his daughter Liz. Driven by a desire to make things right for his children, he considered calling off the wedding because he was afraid that ignoring this tragedy could create an unsettling precedent.
The father asked for guidance from others in this highly sensitive circumstance, believing that outside viewpoints would help him make a better decision. He was left with a moral conundrum: Would it be wrong for him to decide to call it quits on his engagement to Amanda due to the harsh remark she made, putting his family’s welfare first?

The father said how he waited for Amanda to go for work before frantically phoning his son to come over in the first update to his first post. Sam, a neighbouring college student, went into the living room with his sister and had a serious talk. The father made it clear to them that Amanda’s wedding was off, stressing how inappropriate her comment was. In addition, he expressed regret for not addressing the matter sooner and apologised to his kids.
The man’s daughter expressed her disdain at Amanda’s remark during the chat and said she thought Amanda had been progressively attempting to drive her and her brother away. She mentioned times when Amanda had urged her brother to move away in order to attend college. She also remembered Amanda pressuring her against her wants to attend an out-of-state institution. The two children said they thought Amanda was trying to put some distance between them and their father.

The father realised how serious the situation was, acknowledged his kids’ worries, and expressed regret for not detecting sooner. He told them that they would always have his undivided attention and that they were his first concern. They had an open discussion about their worries and fears for about two hours during an emotionally heated exchange.
Ultimately, the father made the solid decision to break up with Amanda. He took care to explain to his kids that Amanda was the only one accountable for her conduct and that none of this was their responsibility. He was content that his kids weren’t fully back on his side just yet because he put their comfort and welfare above all else.

He intended to speak with Amanda and confront his mother about the reason for her need to bring up Kayla during the meal. In an effort to keep his house a secure and nurturing place for his children, the father invited his daughter to stay with his brother while he worked out his differences with Amanda.

Following the dinner event, OP made a snap decision. When he contacted his mother to talk about the matter, he discovered that she was ashamed of what she had said about Kayla. Equipped with the guidance from virtual remarks, he documented his interaction with Amanda, asking her about her cruel words and deceitful actions towards his kids.
Regretfully, the exchange with Amanda did not proceed smoothly. He was honest about his feelings, but Amanda didn’t seem to care until he told her they were done. She made the startling admission that she was angry about having to raise someone else’s children for the rest of their lives—the man’s late wife Kayla’s children, Sam and Liz.

The man was so offended and saddened by Amanda’s callous remark that he became even more determined to urge her to leave. After Amanda, full of sorrow and tears, went to stay with a friend, the man made it plain that she was not allowed to return.
Despite his grief, the widower father put his kids first. He promised them a warm welcome back home, with permission for his son to return if he so desired. He made the decision to put his family first despite his lingering affections for Amanda. He was appreciative of the internet support and resolved to move on, repairing his relationship with his kids one step at a time, to bring his family back together.