The poster, a 27-year-old woman, was named after her grandmother, who died just before her mother got pregnant. Her father and uncles always compared her to their mother as she grew up, as if she were her grandmother come back to life. At first, the comparisons made me feel good, but over time they made me feel trapped. Her father wanted her to have the same interests, values, and life choices as his mother. When she didn’t, he got upset or angry. Eventually, she went to therapy and realized that she had been living without her own identity for years.
She started calling herself “Rain” to get her own identity back, changed how she looked, and stopped doing things that reminded her of her grandmother. She is now engaged and getting ready to take her husband’s last name. She also plans to change her first name to Rain. Her father was very hurt and accused her of being mean, but she says she’s just trying to be herself.
AITAH for telling my dad I’m changing my name and that I don’t exist to be the reincarnation of his mother?
