AITAH for not mentioning my parents and my graduation speech?
Am I the asshole for not mentioning my parents in my graduation speech after graduating summa cum laude?
For context, I’m a 25-year-old woman graduating summa cum laude after surviving end-stage kidney failure and receiving a life-saving kidney transplant.
Growing up, my parents were naturopaths and didn’t believe in modern medicine. Because of that, my medical care was severely neglected. Even as an infant, they believed diapers only needed to be changed after a baby pooped, so I would sit in urine for hours. I grew up with constant UTIs and permanent burns/scarring from it.
At 22, I found out I was in end-stage kidney failure. I moved back home for less than a year because I was extremely sick, but my parents eventually had my boyfriend move in and basically left all of my dialysis care and emergency medical situations to him.
Because of where my parents lived and their anti-vaccine beliefs, I was denied a kidney transplant since I couldn’t get the COVID vaccine there. When that happened, my parents told me that “it just wasn’t meant to be.”
My boyfriend refused to accept that. He packed up me, my dog, and everything we could fit into my car, and we moved to Texas. Seven months later, I received a kidney transplant that saved my life.
My mom did come help after the surgery while I was in post-transplant rehab, and I still speak to my parents occasionally, but I still carry a lot of resentment because I genuinely believe their neglect contributed to my kidney failure.
After rehab, I decided to go back to school because, for the first time, I actually had a future to plan for. Nine months later, I’m graduating summa cum laude with a 4.0 GPA, and my university asked me to give a graduation speech because they found my story inspiring.
In my speech, I thanked my donor, my service dog, my husband, and the friends who supported us through everything. I did not thank or mention my parents.
Part of me feels guilty because they are still my parents, but another part of me feels like thanking them would be dishonest considering they were a major reason I had to overcome all of this in the first place.
So, am I the asshole?