The in-laws went to the extent of threatening her if she refused to return the rings, the only piece of her late husband she has left.
Editor's note: This article was originally published on December 13, 2021. It has since been updated.
There are a lot of dreams that couples share when they become man and wife. But for one woman, her dreams were cut short when her husband suddenly passed away. They were married for about a year and a half before he died suddenly. The woman was still grieving the loss of her partner six months later, but instead of supporting her through those tough times, she was harassed by her in-laws over her wedding rings, and some memories of her late husband she has with her. In a now-deleted Reddit post that was shared by CafeMom, the woman explained what went down.
The OP shared on the platform's AITA community, and she started off by giving a brief history of the two of them. “Daniel and I were married for 1.5 years, together for 7,” she wrote. “I received an engagement ring, wedding ring, and eternity band from him." The band was a gift for their first wedding anniversary. Daniel died due to an accident, which she chose not to give details on. His death was sudden, and “at the beginning of the year and my heart was broken,” OP shared. “It still doesn't feel real, but I’m trying to live life the way he'd want me to every day.” Ever since her husband died, the woman has not been in touch with his family only on and off. “I haven’t had much contact with his family since the funeral 6 months ago,” she explained. “I suppose we were all hurting and need to heal.”
But, one day the woman heard from her sister-in-law through Facebook. “Yesterday, my ex-SIL messaged me on fb. I’m a bit of an oversharer on fb and they knew about my eternity ring as well as the other rings,” she wrote. Apparently, the woman wanted OP's rings because she and her mother believed that the rings belonged to Daniel so it should go to them.
This absurd request from the family came even after she returned most of his possessions back to them, including his photos. But she’s not willing to part with the rings as they “are deeply sentimental” to her. “I'd be ok with giving them my plain wedding band, but the 2 others are beautiful, expensive (combined 19K), and remind me of the best time of my life,” she explained.
She was also okay with giving them his ring, but he was buried in it. But, her in-laws were determined and were just not willing to give up. “I'm getting squeezed by his family to give them these rings,” she explained. “I don’t know if they just want them to sell or own, or what.”
They even went to the extent of threatening her to include the law if she refuses to give it to her. When she refused, they called her names for “keeping them out of the family where they belong.” “Daniel and I didn’t have kids,” she wrote, “so I suppose I’m [no] longer family.”
Fellow Reddit users sided with the woman and said she was definitely not at fault here, and that the in-laws were absolutely wrong for pestering her to give the rings back. One person even wrote, "Actually, I’d go ahead and hire a lawyer to send them a cease-and-desist letter for the harassment. The ex-ILs have zero claim to these rings; they wouldn’t have a claim even if they were heirlooms. The cruelty to a recent widow is astounding."
References:
https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/comments/ocnf03/aita_for_not_returning_my_rings_to_my_dead/
https://cafemom.com/news/in-laws-demand-wife-dead-husband-rings
Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Kittiphan Teerawattanakul | EyeEm
