Widow asks if it would be wrong to keep wedding ring of deceased husband after getting remarried

Being in love with someone is a special feeling that many never forget, even after that person is gone. A woman on Reddit, u/SleeplessYellowSun, shared a story that made her question if she was holding onto lost love too tightly. The 27-year-old married her high school sweetheart at 22, but tragically, five months after their wedding, he died in a car accident.

"It took me a while to take off my rings, and when I did, I didn’t want them to just sit in a drawer forever. So, I took them to a jeweler and had his and my rings melted down and used the gold and the stones to make a pendant and some small stud earrings." The woman wears the necklace every day while she wears the studs sometimes. The necklace makes her feel that a part of her late husband is always with her. However, things changed when her boyfriend of two years proposed to her and she said yes.

"I keep in touch with my former sister-in-law who we will call Ava and last weekend she invited me out for drinks. We caught up a bit before she congratulated me on my engagement, she then asked me if she could have my necklace since it would mean more to her as his sister than it would to me now that I was getting remarried and moving on," the 27-year-old shared. The woman was quite stunned at her sister-in-law's request. She asked for some time to think and changed the subject. They parted ways soon afterward. "I just want to make it clear that it is not an heirloom piece, or overly expensive. It was a small emerald ring that we found on holiday at a local jeweler and I fell in love with it," the woman added.

"I told my best friend about it and she said that it seemed strange that I was still so attached to it given its history and my new engagement. She thinks that I should probably give it to Ava as it would mean more to her, and I should shed anything from my old life and embrace my new one," the person revealed. The best friend also insisted that she would go along with her to get a new necklace or the woman could ask her fiance.

"But the thing is yes, I have moved on, and I am completely happy in my relationship and I am so excited for the life we are creating together. But a part of me will always have a love for my late husband and mourn him and the life that we could have had together, and I don’t think that that takes away anything from my new relationship. They are different loves and lives," the woman expressed. "My fiancé says he does not care and he knows that I love him and our life together, and understands that I will always have some level of grief and that he loves how I have loved and keep loving and how I embrace life and people because of my experience," she added. She wondered if she was wrong in the situation.

People took to the comments section of the post to support the woman. u/GrapeGatsby23 wrote, "Wildly inappropriate. I can't even imagine asking someone for a commemorative piece of jewelry that they had made specially for themselves. Wildly inappropriate." u/That_Girl1204 commented, "That necklace is your necklace. He’s not your ex-husband or someone you fell out of love with. He passed away, you have every right to move on and still carry his ring/your necklace with you. If you were comfortable giving it to her fine but you gave her an answer. Everyone else needs to respect that." 

u/Independent_Menu_596 remarked, "You were married to the man and planned on spending the rest of your life with him. The ring wasn’t a family piece or anything so I think it’s a bit odd that she would ask for it. Maybe try talking with her about why she wants it? Never know, her mom could be after it or whatever the case may be, definitely worth a chat." The woman also clarified that her best friend and sister-in-law haven't been bad to her. The woman's best friend helped her deal with her grief along with her mom. In an update, the woman wrote that she would keep her necklace but also talk to her sister-in-law to understand her perspective.