A gay man from New York has written an open letter to his parents after they turned down his wedding invitation.

Patrick Bradley – journalist and a food blogger, got married to his long term partner Michael, in 2013 and 2 years later he has written about he felt about his parent’s rejection.

His parents had refused to attend citing their religious beliefs as a reason.

According to the Out Magazine where the open letter was published, Patrick had penned the letter after having the “most unpleasant of dreams” about his parents. Which he says recurs every now and then.

The blogger says he wanted to tell his own side of the story and not be judged or seen as an outcast by his parents.

“So that I can feel like I have all of my dignity with me when I will undoubtedly see you at family gatherings – gatherings which I now would rather avoid if it means that either of you will be present”, Patrick says.

Dear Mom and Dad,

It’s been 890 days since the day that you both decided not to partake in my wedding. I don’t know why it’s taken me this long to say anything about it. Perhaps I’ve been afraid of what the family will think, what the family might say. Or perhaps I’ve been afraid of losing even more of my wonderful, beautiful family, whom I think about day and night.

But the time is now because I’ve finally grown too tired of the 890 days and nights of being haunted by your presence—by your lack of presence, to be more precise. I’m tired of night after night of dreaming of you.

And tonight, I had the most unpleasant of dreams—one that jolted me from my sleep and disallowed me to return to it. So at 6:22 a.m., after little more than three hours of sleep, I’m writing this letter to you—knowing that it is taking from my opportunity of getting a full night’s rest before work; but I’d rather work on little sleep than on little dignity.

As not to keep anyone in the family excluded (any longer), I’m sending this letter to everyone involved. I want everyone to know what had happened on my last visit to you, before my beautiful, wonderful wedding. I’m not writing this letter in an act of vengeance (even though it feels like it is), but rather, I’m doing it because I’m tired of walking on eggshells around my siblings, godchildren, nephews and nieces.

I’m tired of having to be “civil” with both of you, “for the sake of the family.” I’m also tired of the unwanted holiday and birthday gifts, and I’m tired of you having the audacity to speak to my husband (and myself) as if nothing has happened. Have you no shame?

I think it’s time that I told my side of the story to the family, as I’m sure you have already told yours. I want everything to be out in the open, so that I can feel like I have all of my dignity with me when I will undoubtedly see you at family gatherings—gatherings which I now would rather avoid if it means that either of you will be present; I have other ways of seeing my family.

On May 13, 2013, I made the trip out to New Jersey—the day after Mother’s Day—to take you out for lunch because I had to work the previous day. You picked me up at the train station and we stopped at A & P to pick up a birthday card for one of the boys. On the way there, I told you about how Michael’s extended family, who’d be traveling from Georgia, Colorado and beyond—in part to meet you!—were so excited about meeting you. You simply replied that you both would not be going to the wedding. I tried my best to retain composure, thinking that I’d be able to change your mind before the big day.

By the time we left A & P, you started citing the bible, while unsuspecting shoppers were bustling about us, running their afternoon errands. And by the time we got back to the car, you’d mentioned your fear of an angel appearing to you, saying, “Stop praying for Patrick! He’s already in hell!” I knew then that it was time to go to my last resort and give an ultimatum which I never expected would be fulfilled.

I explained to you, simply and calmly, that if you (both) did not attend my wedding, you would not see me again after the wedding: no holidays, no birthdays, no hospitals, no funerals. What I heard next put me into a state of mild shock. You followed up, quickly and readily, with, “We know that! I talked to your dad last night and we already accept it! We said that we give you back to God!” I recall other things being said, which I’ll omit here.

As I sat in shock—shock that you would rather never see me again then attend my wedding—you simply moved onto your next subject: “Well, I guess you don’t want to go to lunch anymore.” As I opened the car door to walk back to the train station, you offered, “Let me drive you back to the train.

Let it be the one last thing that I do for you.” If there was any doubt in my mind that I’d misunderstood what you’d said to me previously, you had clarified your intentions then and there.

Mom and Dad: By not attending my wedding, you rejected me, and you rejected my husband, who is my own immediate family. I, in turn, reject anyone that rejects my family—out of dignity and respect for it. But I am offering resolution.

I will forgive you both for what you have done, if you, in front of the entire family (from youngest to eldest) admit that what you both did was wrong; admit that you both should have been at the wedding.

Because I do think that what you both have done is shameful. You’ve torn a family apart. But what breaks my heart most is what this has done to the youngest in the family—the ones who were too young to know, or too young to understand what was going on.

The ones whose only conclusion was perhaps “Patrick must be bad” or “He must have done something wrong because Grandma didn’t go to his wedding.” That is where I think you both should bear the shame, not me.

I want everyone to know everything. And maybe tonight, I’ll finally be able to sleep the whole night through.
With Best Intentions,
Patrick

A passer-by who found a massive diamond ring worth £50,000-£80,000 outside a Nando’s returned it to its owner in what he described as ‘a fairytale ending’.

The finder, Andy, saw the ring’s massive stones sparkling on the ground and decided to do the honourable thing and try to find the owner.

He launched a Facebook campaign to find who he described as the no-doubt ‘distraught owner’ of the ring, and today he met up with the older lady who it belonged to and returned it to her.

Andy said:

‘It’s a fairytale ending and shows just how much good social media can do. I feel like I have done my good deed for the year.’

Andy, 31, a consultant, was contacted by the owner earlier yesterday after he launched a Facebook campaign to find her and an article appeared on MailOnline.

He got into a taxi to meet her and the relative at a London jeweler and staff verified insurance records she held for the ring that proved it belonged to her.

Andy has no idea what the ring is worth but an independent jeweler who saw pictures of the ring on social media said the main stone was as big as 3.5 carats

Sharon Sheard, manager of Hatton Jewels Ltd in London qualified with the Gemological Institute Of America, said that if the ring was to be sold, she believes it could be worth £50,000-£80,000 if the stones in the pictures are diamonds.

He said:

‘I have lost my phone four or five times and mentioned it on social media. Every time I have had it returned to me – it’s like a boomerang.’

Andy said he found the ring in the early hours of the morning outside Nando’s after a night out with friends in the area, spotting it ‘sparkling’ on the ground.

He said:

‘I was stumbling home and thought I might pass some fast food joints seeing what tickled my fancy and it was freezing so I decided to hot-foot it home.

‘I was hunched up with my head down trying to stay warm, and just caught a glint.

‘I always considered myself quite lucky at finding a pound coin on the floor.’

The next day he launched the campaign to find the ring and in the hilarious Facebook post talking about finding the ring:

Andy added: ‘She was overjoyed because she had been upset and doesn’t want any attention, but she was very, very pleased to have it back.’