by Chelsi
Rumor has it that only a select number of people know about the Coca-Cola recipe. Over a century since its invention, no one has successfully copied or guessed its formula.
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The popular belief is that the people who are in on the secret do not even know of each other. That's how protected the soft drink formulation is.
Aside from the Coca-Cola and Krabby Patty secret formulas, there are other culinary recipes that will remain in the dark. One of them is this OP's great-great grandmother's cookbook.
OP received the family heirloom when she was seven years old after her mother fell ill. Her great-great-grandmother started the cookbook before she had kids and passed it on when her own daughter was about to have children.
The tradition has since continued. OP got the gift early because of her mom's declining health and was asked to take very good care of the book because of its significance.
A couple of years after her mom's passing, OP found out that her dad had an affair with another woman before his divorce from OP's mom. He eventually married his affair partner, but OP realized her half-sister was the product of her dad's affair.
In retrospect, it made sense to OP now why her mom was so sad back then. OP only learned about the affair after she eavesdropped on a fight between her dad and her mom's siblings.
She also found out that the way he admitted to the affair was cruel. OP distanced herself from her dad and her half-siblings since this information.
This didn't stop her dad about telling OP's oldest step-sibling about the cookbook.
He shared how much OP treasured it and her stepsibling started to pester OP about sharing the cookbook.
OP told her stepsister that she wasn't comfortable sharing the cookbook with her. She explained that it belonged to her mother's side of the family and she has no plans on using it until she has children of her own.
OP's dad and his wife got wind of OP's "selfishness" and got mad at her
OP's paternal grandparents are also upset and told OP she should have shared it. They said her mom isn't even alive to care about whether her husband's affair child uses the cookbook.
Her dad's opinion does not matter to OP but she is saddened by her grandparents' take on this since she gets along with them. Should she have shared the cookbook and avoided all the drama?
A Redditor asked OP to provide additional information to add more context to her story
Why have they been trying to gain access to the cookbook for the past two years? What changed?
Is OP's anger misplaced? Is keeping the cookbook to herself her way of punishing her half-sibling?
OP said that's not her motivation at all. It's simple, her half-sister has no ties to her maternal side of the family and by extension the heirloom cookbook.
This commenter got something right, OP's dad is the biggest a**hole here
OP already said she's not punishing her half-sister for what her parents did, she just doesn't think she has a right to use the cookbook
The commenter insists that OP can use the recipes to form a healthier bond with her half-siblings
OP has a deeper reason why she doesn't want to share the recipes and the cookbook with her half-sister. It's something her mother wouldn't want.
It doesn't really seem like OP and her sister have a close relationship to begin with
OP said she doesn't want to bond with them since she has no plans of keeping them in her life once she moves out
It would be best if OP keeps the cookbook in some other place — somewhere far from her paternal side of the family
They can do so much damage to it if they get their hands on it
It would also be advisable for OP to keep a digital copy of the cookbook just to make sure her great-great-grandmother's recipes are intact
If her half-sibling and her mom force OP to share a recipe, OP can do this petty maneuver
OP can learn from the experience of this Redditor who failed to secure the cookbook they were gifted with
Why are they using their 12-year-old daughter to hurt OP and her mom's memory? They really are terrible people.
Why are they so entitled to believe that they have a claim over this cookbook? Any ties they imagined they had with OP's maternal side were severed the moment that OP's dad cheated on her mom.
No is a full sentence. Since they can't respect OP's multiple nos since the two years that they began pestering her, she should be cautious and keep the cookbook elsewhere.
OP must stand her ground and keep her promise to her mom of taking care of a precious family heirloom.
