A woman revealed that her late fiancé’s family asked her to return the engagement ring that he specially crafted for her.
Taking to Reddit’s AITA platform, user u/donkeykonginathong said she and her late fiancé dated for five years before he proposed to her.
“So, me my fiancé dated for 5 years. Last December, on our 5th year anniversary, he proposed to me, and I accepted,” said OP.
“In my country, engagement rings are not a major thing. Couples show that they are engaged by wearing their future wedding rings on their right hand. Once they’re married, they start wearing it on their left hand,” she explained. “Because I always watched men proposing to women with wedding rings on American movies, internet videos, tv shows, and other media, I always had that same ideal in my head.”
The woman said knowing her taste in jewelry, her fiancé had a goldsmith craft a wedding ring made for her which she loved very much. However, the two never got a chance to get married as her fiancé fell ill and passed away.
“Knowing this dream of mine, and since his family doesn’t have any heirlooms or family jewels, he had a goldsmith craft a wedding ring specially for me. He knew I don’t like fancy and flashy jewels, I’m a very discreet person, so he had a ring made for me that was exactly what I’d like. And I did. I absolutely adore it.”
She wrote, “Sadly, a couple months ago, my fiancé fell ill and passed away. I’m not doing to go into details about it because just writing this out makes me sob. I’m still very much not over it.”
According to OP, a few weeks after his passing, his sister and mom called her and asked for the ring and demanded she return it to them. But she refused as it was a very special gift from him to her and she didn’t want to give away his last token of love.
“They said that, since we never got married (our wedding was schedule for early 2022) and never will, I should give the ring to the real family, since it represented a promise that will never be fulfilled.”
“I told them no. Don’t get me wrong, if it were a family jewel or family heirloom, I’d not hesitate do give it back. But it isn’t. He had it made specifically for me, and I’ll be keeping it, because he gave it to me on our 5th year anniversary together.”
When OP refused to return the ring, they contacted her parents and their community friends to complain about her and claimed she kept the jewel when without any right.
“My parents are on my side. Community friends are divided. Some say the ring is rightfully mine, some say that it was a symbol of a contract that fell through due to sad circumstances, and that I should give it back, that I’m keeping one of their son’s property and that it should stay with his sister to pass along to her future children,” said OP.
“I keep saying no, but they have been so insistent that I’m starting second guessing myself. So, AITA for not giving the ring to them?” she asked.
Redditors in the comments sided with OP and said her fiancé got the ring made for her and his family had no right to claim the ownership of her ring.
“First of all, I’m so sorry for your loss,” said one. “Second, the ring is yours. Your late fiancé’s family doesn’t have some kind of ownership over it.
“He made it for you, and the fact he sadly passed doesn’t change that. You’re the rightful owner,” said another.
“The ring was a gift from your late fiancé to you. His family has no absolutely no right to claim ownership of your ring. Block them if you need to,” a third commented.
Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Source: Reddit
It was not a family heirloom that had no significant link to the family and was crafted with his love for her in mind and gifted to the fiancé on their 5 year anniversary. The family has no right to request this item back and to do so, in my opinion, is incredibly inconsiderate and selfish of the family to ask. If the ring were constructed of a family heirloom jewel, the jewel, I would say yes, would have to go back to the family, as they never got married. It is sad that the family cannot see the sentimental value and significance of this ring as it was a true representation of this man’s heart and soul he placed upon her finger. If he wanted his family members to have an item of significant importance to me he would have insured they had one- my girls each have rings that represent some significance from me to them that I made sure they received a few years ago so there was no doubt in any circumstance where they stood in my life if some tragic circumstances ever occurred, there was always a token of my love they had that would remind them I was always there.