r/CongratsLikeImFive • u/nowifegaming • 2d ago
Retired my dad on Christmas
Growing up my dad was the sole breadwinner.
We lived upper middle class for the majority of it until my mom got sick, he put 45 years of his life into a soul draining company to provide for us.
On Christmas I gave him enough to pay off his mortgage, all other debts, his car and he finally has the ability to comfortably retire at 65.
I was going to use this money towards a GT3 RS (dumb car).
This was 10x more fulfilling.
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u/DaisySam3130 2d ago
Oh wow! Oh wow! Oh wow!
What an amazing and loving gift!
The incredible difference that this makes to your family forever is amazing.
Your children (if you have/will have) now have a grandparent that has the time to participate in their life. Your parent's stress levels just dropped like a rock. His health will more than likely improve and his risk of stroke and heart attach from stress just dropped.
My sincere respect to the best gift ever! Well done.
I hope that GT3 RS unexpectedly pops up in your future! :) and if it doesn't.... meh. You already know that you are awesome.
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u/nowifegaming 2d ago
Haha no kids but I have five nieces and nephews who love him very much. He’s a great person and I really hope this gives him the peace of mind he deserves.
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u/Entire-Flower1259 1d ago
If the GT3 comes up in your thoughts, remember you traded it in for a few more years with your dad. That’s priceless!
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u/MasterpieceActual176 2d ago
Amazing and generous gift! You are a good human and a wonderful son! 💞
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u/GleesonGirl1999 2d ago
Amazing! You win the award for being the most unselfish human in the world! Congratulations
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u/twinsouls54 2d ago
That is an amazing gift to give to your Dad! I’m so happy for him and you are awesome!!
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u/Own_Presentation6561 2d ago
What a beautiful thing to do,.he must have been a great dad to you. I wish you both the best,
tell your dad to enjoy his retirement, and you done something amazing well done for choosing kindness.
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u/maybeCheri 2d ago
Truly wonderful. I have no doubt, you are so happy with your choice of your dad over a car. Merry Christmas!!
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u/RevolutionaryMail747 2d ago
Outstanding decision. Just wonderful. You absolute gem of a human. Sending love and respect.
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u/ProfCatWhisperer 2d ago edited 2d ago
You just won kid of the year. What an amazing gift. Congratulations to you and your dad!
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u/Easy-Concentrate2636 2d ago
What an incredible gift to give to your father. You deserve many happy days ahead for sacrificing like that.
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u/SouthernCategory9600 1d ago
You are amazing. Kudos to you and your parents-they raised a great human being!
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u/Past-Afternoon1657 1d ago
Wow, this post brought me a lot of joy...I don't know, maybe because it is so selfless and kind and feels like it has righted the world a little bit tonight.
Goodnight, beautiful human and Happy Life to you and yours!!!
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u/okasianal 1d ago
Assuming your father’s heart was strong and he didn’t keel over right there, what was his reaction?
Thanks for sharing that story. It’s great to know there are people in this world who can give up things for the sake of someone else’s happiness.
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u/nowifegaming 1d ago
He was pretty shocked. My dad and I never really saw eye to eye in terms of my career and future. Our relationship has gotten much better over the years, but I don’t think he ever expected something like this from me. It took me awhile to understand how much he actually sacrificed for our family.
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u/okasianal 1d ago
So glad you both got the opportunity to see your relationship through the lens of time and have a relationship of greater understanding. I hope you have many more years to enjoy that!
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u/Salty_Association684 1d ago
Aww your Dad must be so extremely happy your a good human wishing your Dad all the best on his retirement
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u/RubyDax Good little girl 1d ago
That is such a Selfless and Priceless gift! You are an absolute blessing! Your story is so relatable. My dad had a soul-crushing job (with amazing health coverage) and stuck at it because my mother became seriously ill. I wish I could pay my dad back the way you did yours!
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u/Flimsy-Nature1122 1d ago
You absolutely deserve to be celebrated 🥳🥳 You are a wonderful human, so thoughtful and generous. I’m so glad you told us this as it is super worth all the cheering!! You’re amazing!! 🎉🎉
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u/justcrazytalk 1d ago
Congrats, that was a great thing to do. Does he have money to live on for his ongoing expenses? Can he live on his Social Security?
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u/nowifegaming 1d ago
Yeah, he had a good job for a long time. The problem was debt, he’ll live very comfortably moving forward.
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u/justcrazytalk 1d ago
Excellent! That must be a relief too, knowing he will be okay. I would imagine it was an emotional Christmas!
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u/nowifegaming 1d ago
It was, but the entire thing was just between us. My dad has always been a fiercely independent person. My one stipulation that I asked of him was to keep it confidential between him and I.
It’s something I fully intend to take to my grave, and I don’t think my family would judge him for it in the slightest. However I know how hard it was for him to accept the money, I’m happy to keep it between him, Reddit, and myself 😂.
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u/Donotcomenearme 1d ago
That’s probably the best gift you could’ve ever given him, that’s wonderful!
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u/Sad_Emu8133 1d ago
Would you mind telling us your dad's reaction?? I have tears in my eyes reading this. What a grateful man and a wonderful son you are!! Many many blessings to you!🙏🙏
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u/nowifegaming 1d ago
He was pretty speechless. My dad has never been an overly emotional person, nor have I. I think more so than anything he was shocked. For some context:
We had a really rough relationship for years, I became a very difficult teenager and he became somewhat negligent towards my interests.
I moved away at 19 and things got a lot worst before they got better, I probably went 3 or 4 years without wishing him a happy birthday. Three years ago I went through a pretty horrible divorce, dropped out of med school, left a promising job, and moved back home (almost 3000 miles, Canada to the US) at 25 in pretty bad shape.
Initially I thought my dad would be pretty horrible about the entire situation. To my surprise there was no judgement, no “told you so”, he just helped get me back up and on my way. He actually drove me to the interview for the company I’m at today which at the time was a startup.
It took me losing and sacrificing a lot of things to really understand what my dad did for our family. It was thankless, and I respect him immensely for that. I remember as a kid constantly disrespecting his career saying I would never be stuck at a dead end job like that. I’m just very happy that I gave a relationship with my dad another chance. It makes me sad that I gave so many years of opportunity to have one away due to pride, but I’m glad I could make my dad’s life easier this Christmas.
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u/Sad_Emu8133 8h ago
Again crying...as someone who has lost both of her parents, I am so happy you two got a second chance!! May you both have a wonderful New Year!!
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u/Domain-unknown 1d ago
Love this so much! My dad was in a very similar position. Wish I could do this for him!
Wishing you the happiest of holidays!
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u/kaleadeedee 1d ago
You are so awesome. Yes we need to give back to the parents that sacrificed like this. I didn’t have the money to do this but with my parents but I made sure they had the best care, a health advocate (me) good meals and a safe and nourishing environment to age in place.
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u/QueenSaphire-0412 1d ago
You’ve given him TWO gifts! Not just this gift of freedom! But you’ve assured him that YOU’RE also financially responsible and he will not have to worry about YOU! How AWESOME and AMAZING are YOU?!?!? Very! Thank you for this OP!
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u/kingslitch 11h ago
Well I’ll be.. GT3RS is art on wheels so I wouldn’t say dumb car but man what a decision. Glad your father impacted your life enough for you to feel that way, enough to put down that other want. This is the type of family I dream to have one day. Good on you mate.
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u/Mellow896 2d ago
Wow - I’m sure your whole family appreciates this!