My existence is difficult because my parents were abusive and negligent to a disabled child. My right to exist was questioned by the very people who created me.
Is there a viable path toward realizing that I am 'allowed' to feel unconditional gratitude towards my parents for existing?
I like your interpretation, and GP could be rewritten to mean that.
As it stands now:
GP responded to someone with presumably bad parents by reminding them that their parents contributed to their existence. This sets the stage for their followup advice.
Their followup statement about unconditional gratitude is either directed at this person or uses a universal 'you'. This advice cannot be applied universally, especially in cases of abuse.
The final sentence also implies that GP has found something universal: "It also takes some people way too long to realize this".
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A lot of people say to themselves - "Of course there are exceptions!" A person's understanding of what counts as an exception is based entirely on their personal experience. Humans also tend to presume that other humans are "normal" unless given evidence otherwise: evidence also based on their personal experience.
We don't know the history of the majority of the people we meet, nor are we entitled to it. How do you determine who is an exception and who is not? It isn't feasible. GP's final sentence implies that it is.
All of these things underpin GP's comment - it's a common pattern of thinking.
It really seemed like the grandparent commentator was chiding the mention that relationships aren't only held together by blood, and that children don't have a choice in who birthed them nor who raised them through childhood.
In many cases, perhaps more than most people are comfortable with, children are raised by malicious parents.
I don’t think children are raised by malicious parents (at least, in the far majority of cases). They’re just often raised by people that didn’t know what they were in for, and have no idea how to live, much less how to parent.
It’s a miracle most kids turn out ok despite that, but I’m fairly certain it’s evolved to be that way.
In the far majority of cases, people are behaving commonly, including common parent behavior. However, significant amounts of minorities exist in this state. Just because a demographic is a minority doesn't mean its considerate to behave as if the demographic doesn't exist at all.
Some people are genuinely having children for completely malicious reasons, like using a child as a tool to trap a domestic abuse victim, for which no gratitude is warranted or reasonable. And I daresay telling those children "you are who you are because of them" is horrifying and cruel.
My existence is difficult because my parents were abusive and negligent to a disabled child. My right to exist was questioned by the very people who created me.
Is there a viable path toward realizing that I am 'allowed' to feel unconditional gratitude towards my parents for existing?