Many years ago, Marilyn Monroe sang that diamonds are a girl's best friend, and guess what - little has changed since then. After all, jewelry, in addition to its undeniable value, often carries an emotional charge - especially if it was given to us by loved ones. So losing it means suffering a double loss.
The story we'll tell you today happened several years ago, and the user u/ElkDifficult3511, the narrator of the tale, not only lost the memory of her late mother but also suffered a real financial loss of at least tens of thousands of dollars. Well, now let's just read on.
More info: Reddit
Losing some precious jewels is always unpleasant, but losing a family heirloom is actually way more unpleasant
Image credits: dotshock / Freepik (not the actual photo)
The author of the post lost her mom at the age of 10, and within a year, her dad remarried another lady with 2 kids from a previous marriage and they had 3 more together
Image credits: ElkDifficult3511
Image credits: freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)
The author had a serious collection of jewelry from her late mom and her grandparents, worth around $100K or so
Image credits: ElkDifficult3511
Image credits: Liza Summer / Pexels (not the actual photo)
The author found out that her stepsiblings destroyed some of the jewels, but the stepmom told her it wasn't a big deal
Image credits: ElkDifficult3511
The author ended up breaking the kids' toys too, and then complained to her grandma, who threatened to sue the stepmother for around $50K
So, the Original Poster (OP) says that when she was 10 years old, her mother passed away, and about a year later, her father married another woman. That lady already had two children from a previous marriage, and then they had three more. The eldest of the OP's stepsiblings are now 8 and 7, respectively.
Our heroine's late mother sometimes gifted her expensive jewelry, and her grandparents did the same - so now her jewelry collection is worth approximately $100K. Imagine her horror when, returning home one day, she saw all her jewels piled high on the floor of her stepsiblings' playroom!
The kids jumped on the jewelry, shot at it with BB guns, and ultimately destroyed several of the pieces completely. The stepmom, however, declared it was no big deal and that the children had simply destroyed "some sacrilegious junk" (among the destroyed jewelry was a Star of David necklace, the OP says).
The parents refused to do anything about it, so our heroine took matters into her own hands. First, she vindictively broke each kid's favorite toy, and then complained to her grandma about it. Now the elderly lady is planning to sue the stepmom for around $50K, and all of her relatives on her mother's side literally hate her. So the OP decided to ask online if she actually did the right thing here.
Image credits: prostock-studio / Freepik (not the actual photo)
Well, it's not surprising that the kids wanted to play with the jewels - after all, they hardly understood the full value of these items. On the other hand, the author's stepmother and father's disdain for her and her belongings could’ve unwittingly rubbed off on their younger children. In any case, the stepmom's reaction to what happened seems completely inappropriate.
Some people in the comments advised the author to buy a good, sturdy safe for her jewelry. This, incidentally, is also advised by many experts, who claim that in a home with little kids and freely accessible jewelry, something similar to the described incident will sooner or later occur.
"When not in use, jewelry should be stored in a safe place out of reach of younger children,” this dedicated article at Eleganza Jewelry blog claims. Incidentally, in the comments, the author herself admitted that she simply took all the remaining jewelry to her grandparents' house to keep for now. With the exception of a few pieces she wears regularly.
Overall, most commenters fully supported the author, arguing that her stepmom and dad had essentially provoked the situation, and their reaction was not just inappropriate but outright offensive (especially the stepmother's). Many readers also believed that the kids are simply products of their environment, reflecting the attitudes of adults. So do you also agree with this point?
People in the comments gave the author their sincere support and said that she did absolutely right and was quite reasonable here
