We all want to be there for the big events in our loved ones' lives, but sometimes a medical emergency or other important factors out of our control means we just can't make it work.
But one man has claimed he's been shunned by his family for not attending his sister's pre-wedding party - because he was busy taking his wife to the hospital.
The man said his sister was throwing a "wedding shower" ahead of her actual ceremony and had expected her sibling and his wife to be in attendance as part of the family.
However, when the man's wife - who is currently pregnant following years of fertility struggles - woke up in the middle of the night "screaming" in pain, the man had no choice but to rush her to the hospital.
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In a post on Reddit, he claimed: "For context, my 32-year-old wife Lacey and I have been trying to conceive since she was in her late 20s. My wife had a very hard time conceiving and I feel blessed that she wanted to continue trying despite her struggles and am happy to say that we have a baby on the way!
"My sister's wedding shower was last Sunday. The night before, my wife said she was feeling uncomfortable, but we just thought it was normal pregnancy pains so I told her if she wasn't up for the wedding shower I could go alone so that she could rest.
"That was until about 5 in the morning when she wakes me up screaming. I immediately get my s**t and get my wife in the car and floor it to the hospital. I phone my parents and sister, [but none of them] picked up due to the time, so I left them a voicemail and text saying if my wife had a serious problem, I wasn’t attending [the wedding shower]."
And even though the event he missed wasn't the actual wedding, his sister was furious at him for not attending and made him out to be the "bad guy" despite having his wife's best interests at heart.
He added: "A couple of hours go by and I inform them that I am staying with my wife while tests are being run because she shouldn't go through that alone.
"Ever since then I’ve gotten a flurry of texts calling me an a**hole/other names I won't repeat, and some family completely cutting me off. I stand by my decision that my wife's comfort is most important even if it makes me a bad guy."
Commenters on the Reddit post were firmly on the man's side, with many of them saying he did the right thing by staying with his wife in her time of need.
One person said: "In no situation is a family event more important than a medical emergency. Hell, even if it was the actual wedding day, staying with your wife would be more important."
While another added: "Your sister absolutely lacks any sort of empathy in this situation. Pregnancy is a super scary thing and any person that's going through it knows how crazy and even dangerous it could be."
And a third wrote: "If you were my brother (or friend or another relative) I'd be P***ED if you left my sister-in-law at the hospital to come to any event I had planned."
In later comments, the man assured commenters that his wife is currently doing okay, but has been put on bed rest by doctors because her blood pressure is high.
He said: "Everything is okay as of right now. The doctors put her on strict bed rest for the rest of her pregnancy because her blood pressure is pretty high and they are worried about miscarriage. Luckily, I work from home and she quit when she became pregnant because we knew it might be a high-risk pregnancy so I didn’t want her stressing out at work.
"Her only job for the next couple of months is to lay down, look gorgeous (as always), and watch all the movies her heart desires."
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