Family trips are meant to bring everyone closer and create happy memories that last a lifetime. But sometimes, difficult decisions or hidden tensions can turn these moments into painful experiences. Blended families, in particular, can face unique challenges when it comes to fairness, acceptance, and love. Recently, we received a letter from a reader who shared a heartbreaking story about how her husband excluded her older daughter from their family vacation.

We planned a trip to Disneyland for our daughter’s 10th birthday. We invited her best friend too. But my husband refused to take my 12-year-old daughter. She cried, but he said, “If her dad can’t pay, I won’t! I’m not a charity!”So we went without her. Without telling him anything or showing my disappointment, I decided to put a stop to this. There, during the trip, I smiled the whole time so as not to ruin our daughter’s birthday.But on the last night of our five-day trip, I placed a document on our bed and left the hotel room. My husband began to beg when he realized I had secretly filed for divorce. His dismissal of my daughter was more than I could take. He says I overreacted and told me not to ruin our “perfect” marriage over this.