Notoriously Private Person Avoids Photos With Family, Upsets Sister Who Just Wants Her Toddler To Have Something To Look Back On

She hasn't taken a photo in five years. Her family doesn't know where she studied or what her major was. They don't know where she works.

Chelsi

• Published in Interesting
• April 9, 2024

A 23-year-old has successfully managed to remain extremely private about her life. OP is so private that she has not taken a photo in the last five years.

It has been a recent source of friction with her older sister, Janine. OP's sister has been taking photos for her year-and-a-half-old son to look back on when he is older.

Janine noticed OP's discomfort whenever she attempted to take photos of her with her son. Janine captured two pictures of OP with her family before OP caught onto what she was doing.

OP steps away now when she sees her sister with a phone in her hand. Janine realized that OP was avoiding photos of her being taken because of her insistence on keeping her life extremely private.

She said OP was an a**hole for doing so because the photos were for her nephew to see once he was older. OP doesn't think anything is wrong with her behavior because she has been this secretive since she was 18.

OP did share in her post that she was her ailing mother's primary caretaker when she was 15. OP's decision to keep her own counsel started after her mother's death when OP was 18.

Since then, OP has successfully kept her home and work life separate. Her family doesn't even know which college OP attended, or what her major was.

Her family does not know what OP does for a living, let alone how much her salary is.

Her coworkers do not know anything about OP's personal life.

OP's self-imposed "isolation" is not ending anytime soon. She was not concerned about it in her post.

She just wanted to know if she was an a**hole for not taking photos with her sister's family for her nephew's sake.

The verdict was neither sister was an a**hole. OP wants to remain private, and her sister isn't a jerk for wanting to have keepsakes for her son.

OP said that every single photo her sister took, even the two with OP in them, was posted on social media.

OP didn't explain if she would be more comfortable if the photos were taken on her phone. This suggestion seemed like a nice compromise for OP and her sister.

However, Redditors couldn't help but focus on OP's need for privacy.

They found it odd that her closest family members did not know anything meaningful about her.

They wondered if OP's solitary approach to life was brought on by being her mother's primary carer until she passed away.

Many Redditors felt that OP wasn't just a private person, she was the very definition of paranoia.

We probably would never know about OP's reasons. Even her family has no idea.

OP was warned that this level of secrecy would hinder her ability to form close and meaningful relationships with the people around her.

Redditors were confused and curious but ultimately worried about OP.

Plenty of the commenters advised her to seek professional help.

Some people made assumptions that OP was a spy, a criminal, or was in witness protection. But most were just worried that she was alienating the people around her.

The best advice was to take the photos with OP's phone. She would then have control over them and when her nephew could see them.

Chelsi