Sometimes, the most meaningful presents are not the ones found in stores, but presents passed down from generation to generation, or between friends.
Of course, not only is this form of gift giving thoughtful and personal, but also economical, as you don't have to spend any money on it.
With this in mind, however, it's an all too common occurrence for people to give something belonging to them away a bit too hastily.
Unaware of its monetary or sentimental value.
Redditor After-Operation6230 was touched when her friend gave her a beautiful, and meaningful, present.
The original poster (OP) was even happier after learning that this present also happened to be worth a significant amount of money.
Less happy to discover this was the friend who gave her this present, who swiftly demanded it back.
Something the OP vehemently refused to do.
Wondering if she was in the wrong for doing so, the OP took to the subReddit "Am I The A**hole" (AITA), where she asked fellow Redditors:
"AITA for not giving back a necklace to my friend after finding out it's worth a lot?"
The OP shared how a present given to her by a close friend eventually put a significant strain on their relationship.
"I, 36F, had a child in 2021 who's now 1 year old."
"When I was pregnant, my friend, Michelle, my age, had given me a gorgeous necklace as a present for my pregnancy."
"She said I could do what I wanted with it."
"It came in a beautiful little box and ribbon and I had planned to keep it in the family."
"Recently, to celebrate my son (Matt)'s first birthday, my sister flew in from England to help with my baby."
"My sister is a jeweler as well, conveniently."
"She does live far and we often communicate only through text or call, and the COVID situation from 2021 made it even harder to see each other."
"I never really discussed the necklace with my sister until then, as I always thought it was a cheaper present, until I put it on when we were going out for dinner."
"I'd left Matt with a babysitter and we were at the restaurant when my sister had asked where I got the necklace from."
"I was happy she noticed but told her it was a gift, and my sister asked me to look at it."
"I didn't think much of it until she mentioned it seemed expensive, and after a bit of searching and checking around we found out it was actually worth a ton."
"I won't go into specifics, and no, not millions or tens of thousands of dollars, but enough for me to make enough for a bit to help support my family or keep it in the family as an expensive necklace."
"Michelle also found out, most likely from me messaging family and friends, and messaged me back asking for the necklace back."
"She apparently had been gifted the necklace as well from a relative but also thought it was cheap, and I replied back that I intended to keep it."
"Michelle started calling me selfish, saying it was hers first and she never knew the value."
"Now my husband and sister are saying Michelle shouldn't have given it away, but I know Michelle could use the money and I think it's true she never knew the value too, or she wouldn't have given it to me."
"AITA for keeping it?"
"No, I was not going around bragging to everybody about this necklace."
"I told my mom, and word gets around our family fast, so everyone was excited since my parents and their parents hadn't grown up in the best situations and this was a big deal to all of us."
"How exactly Michelle found out is beyond my knowledge, but it wasn't from me pushing it in her face."
Fellow Redditors weighed in on where they believed the OP fell in this particular situation, by declaring:
- NTA – Not The A**hole
- YTA – You're The A**hole
- NAH – No A**holes Here
- ESH – Everyone Sucks Here
The Reddit community was somewhat divided as to where they believed the OP fell in refusing to give back the expensive necklace given to her by a friend.
Some felt that as the necklace was a gift, the OP was under no obligation to return it, even after learning of its sizable value.
"Nope."
"It's a gift."
"It's yours."
"You are using it."
"Do not give it back."
"Once you are given a gift, it's rightfully YOUR property."
"She should have thought about this before giving it away."
"NTA."- CyclonicHavoc
"NTA."
"She gave you that necklace."
"It's not your fault she was regifting something, and not checking beforehand what it was."
"The necklace is yours to do as you wish with."- mrbc6218
"NTA."
"She gave it to you."
"It's yours to keep or sell or give to anyone you want."- Mindless-String2294
"NTA."
"She gifted it you to."
"In essence she transferred ownership."
"If you give away or sell an item without knowing it's value it doesn't undo the sale if you find out it's worth more."
"I wouldn't call her an AH for asking if you would give it back."
"I am calling her an AH for regifting something she thought had no value then blaming you for her own actions."- Natural_Garbage7674
Others, however, felt that the OP should have at least discussed a compromise with her friend, with some even asking the OP how she would have felt if the tables were turned.
"What would you want if you and Michelle traded places?"
"Meaning if you had given her a necklace you thought was just a nice knock-off and found out it was worth a ton?"
"Would you want to get it or at least part of it back?"
"Especially if you could use the money?"
"Or would you just be happy for her and the unexpected windfall at your expense?"
"Act accordingly."- grckalck
"It was a gift, so you do not need to return it."
"However, as your friend didn't really know what she gave away, and if you cherish this friendship, perhaps you can discuss alternative solutions."
"Because just like you, she might need to support her family."
"Perhaps you can offer to sell it, and to split the money?"- KarinSpaink
"Sticky situation."
"If a friend gifted me something without realizing what it was, and contacted me later saying, 'hey… that thing I gave you, I just realized that I shouldn't have so can you return it?', I would return it."
"But, that's just because I value my friends more than I value objects."
"That said, I also wouldn't give away something without knowing the value of it, nor would I ever ask someone to return something I have gifted them."
"So, kind of ESH but also NAH."- Oxfordcomma42
"ESH."
"For your friend, asking for a gift back is just tacky."
"I'd give it back just so she can take it to pawn shop, or even a jeweler/estate buyer, just to get 10% of its worth."
"If you guys don't even know how to tell if it is worth anything then you certainly will get killed selling it."
"You have one person and some Googling telling you it is worth something, a pro or someone on Facebook marketplace are not giving you anywhere near its 'value'.- stupidbabies53
"ESH."
"She's tacky as hell for asking for the gift back after finding out its 'worth'."
"I also wouldn't put too much stock into what your sister says about its value."
"If it looks cheap, you probably wouldn't be able to sell it for what she says it's 'worth'."-toomany_geese
"ESH."
"She gave it to you so its your necklace, she also said that you could do whatever you want with it."
"Also asking back a gift that is given out is impolite."- Stardust_minus
"ESH."
"If a friend gave me a necklace that she later learned was worth a lot of money, I'd offer to sell it and share the proceeds because we're friends."- Rhuthbarb
"ESH."
"She's not entitled to have it back, since she gave it as a gift."- katsmeow44
"ESH."
"Not just AH, tacky."
"Y'all value money."
"It's quite clear."
"Gorgeous but it was a cheaper present so not worth discussing, but later friends and family were messaged because it became worth discussing?"
"Tacky."
"Regifting stuff because its cheap?"
"Tacky."
"Also not so smart tacky if you even wanna make a half decent case to ask for it back."
"A non AH Michelle would have left it as is."
"A non AH you would return it."
"If both were non AH you would be feeling super weird about the whole thing and joke about it, not throwing your friendship under the bus for it."- Famous_Variation4729
It seems that the OP's friend gave her that necklace to show her how much she meant to her.
With this in mind, it's understandable that the OP might be hesitant to return the necklace, as her friend asking for it back suggests that she didn't mean as much to her as she thought.
That being said, one could also understand why the OP's friend would think to ask for it back, as she might have had other plans for the necklace had she known how much it cost.
One can at least be certain that the OP's friend will be much more careful with which of her own possessions she will choose to re-gift going forward.
Woman Asks If It's Wrong To Hold Grudge After Mom Told Her When She 8 Years Old That She Wished She'd Aborted Her
While some people view having and raising children as the greatest blessing, some parents hold their children's existence against them for their entire lives.
And when they feel that way about their children, they're unfortunately typically pretty honest about it, cringed the members of the "Am I Overreacting?" (AIO) subReddit.
Redditor heavelymango knew from the time she was young that her mother did not really like her and significantly favored her sister.
But when her mother told her at the age of eight that she wished she had aborted her, the Original Poster (OP) held on to that grudge for years after the fact.
She asked the sub:
The OP had a grudge against her mother.
"I (22 Female) have been holding onto a grudge due to something my mom told me when I was roughly eight or nine years old."
"Growing up, I was a rebellious kid and always felt as if my mom favored my older sister. My sister would always get whatever she wanted."
"I know she was born with Down syndrome and always needed more attention and care, but if my sister wanted my tablet, for example, she would have it for the whole day while mine was limited to 30 minutes so she could have it."
"As a kid, I lashed out more because of this. She could take all of my things, but I could never use hers."
During a heated moment, the OP's mother said something unforgivable.
"Eventually, this led to an argument with my mom. I don't recall the whole thing, but it was related to my sister and how I felt my mom didn't care about me or give me the same amount of attention."
"The fight got heated, and I probably told my mom that I hated my sister and her."
"I remember she said back, 'I never wanted you from the start. I knew I should've aborted you when I had the chance.'"
" I didn't know what aborted meant at the time, and I remember I looked it up, and it made me cry. I never forgot it, and it lingers in my mind whenever I am home."
The OP's mother pressured her to "let it go" and move on.
"Even growing up, I still brought it up, and she would get mad, saying I need to let it go and how I'm stubborn for not just forgetting what she said."
"There was even a time in high school when she took me to a therapist, and she complained about how I never dropped what she said."
"She says I need to move on from it because it has affected my relationship with her, and she wants to fix it."
"I know I'm older now and it was so long ago, but it still hurts, and I feel like it's made me not want to have her in my life in the future, and I have told this to her."
"How I don't want her in my life once I move out, get married, or have my own kids."
Fellow Redditors weighed in:
Some reassured the OP that this sounded like a core memory more than a grudge.
"The axe forgets. The tree remembers."
"It sounds less like you're holding a grudge and more that this is a formative, core memory for you."
"It won't stop being a core memory (unless maybe with the help of a lot of therapy). Has your mom ever apologized for saying that? Because you don't have to forget to forgive, but if she's not remorseful for saying that terrible thing to her young child (not just remorseful that you remember it), then she probably needs therapy (or is a narcissist/sociopath/similar)."
"You are certainly not obligated to 'get over it.'" - Hot-Can3615
"This is not a 'grudge'; it is pain that is still felt to such a degree. If she said it, then she was thinking it. She'll probably never apologize, but that doesn't mean your pain is or was invalid." - Fast_Register_9480
"NOR. This kind of thing needs a real apology. Like she needs to acknowledge the damage and genuinely care about it. Brushing it off won’t make it go away." - TentacleWolverine
"NOR. Did she really want to fix things? She basically just told you to get over it from the start instead of giving you a sincere apology."
"That isn't working on anything. She wants you to get over it so she can pretend that she never said it, so she doesn't have to feel bad about what she did. It doesn't sound like she cares much about how you feel."
"She just doesn't want to deal with it. For that reason, I would still have issues with what she said." - Chemical-Ad6809
"If your relationship with your mother is being affected by the actions of your mother, your mother is responsible for fixing it."
"You should know you probably aren't ever going to get closure, but you don't have to swallow it down. It helps to be the person you needed when you were younger out loud to yourself, but especially to others."
"For example: My name is Liz, and my mom told me to go ahead and do it already and save us all the heartache when I finally had the courage to tell her about how much I've been struggling with self-harm and suicidal ideation. I'm never going to forgive her for that, and we have never been close as a result of her actions."
"You aren't holding onto a grudge; you have a core memory of your mother distilling her feelings into a world-shattering sentence."
"You did not have a secure attachment before and can't have one now because of the deep trauma. You do not apologize for being stabbed."
"Find another therapist. I mean it. Someone who cares about your well-being wouldn't force you to apologize for being verbally abused as a child. I'm 29 now, and I lived through it. I still struggle with suicidal ideation daily, but once I stopped relying on my mom and unstable sources for support, my life got better immediately."
"You want things for comfort and familiarity. Don't let your mom or your therapist gaslight you into crossing a boundary."
"It might help to ask for a written five-part apology from your mom. 1. Acknowledge what you did 2. Say why it was wrong 3. Promise not to do it again 4. Ask how to make amends. 5. Share your feelings at this time if there's anything you'd like to say."
"My mom can be a good person and a bad mom and role model. Being in your own company is so much better than poor company." - PotLuckyPodcast
Others hoped the OP would go no contact with her mother sooner rather than later.
"NOR. It’s emotional abuse. And you do not owe her closeness after that, especially as she refuses to be accountable for that and try to make it up to you."
"She knows you have her number, and she can’t forgive you for knowing what a colloidal b***h she is."
"It’s unlikely that will change; it will at least be turned back on you with her the victim."
"Stop expecting her to apologize. If she doesn’t pay your bills, ghost her." - SnooCheesecakes2723
"My mom said something similar. My brother and I were adopted, and when I was a teen, in front of a church lady, she said, 'We didn't even really want you, but the people didn't want to split y'all up, so we just took you, too.'"
"Me and the church lady were shook. When I say my falbbers were ghasted. Like huh? She didn't remember saying that when I brought it up years after the fact."
"I also got grounded two times for two separate nine weeks (for C's on my report card) and a three and a half to four months (for smoking at 16 and getting caught because she liked to just pop up out of nowhere), and we just had a talk about that, and she didn't even remember."
"She said, 'No, I didn't. I never grounded you for that long,' and when I gave my rebuttal, she said, 'Well, if I did, it definitely wasn't for no nine weeks or months,' and this started because she was praising me for reading so much and liking books. I said, 'Well, when you were grounded like me, that's all I could do (no TV, no friends outside of school, no music, nothing but my room and books)."
"There's a reason I only call or answer her calls once or twice every few weeks. And I only call to get food, really..." - ManicalMoe
"‘Fine, I'm sorry’ is not an apology."
"Whilst I’m sure it was said in anger, most things said in anger have a grain of truth. There are also some things that no half-decent parent ever says to their children, no matter how angry they are, and this is one of them! It also sounds like she has made repeated similar comments of not wanting you as her child."
"I understand her eldest had a disability, but this is no excuse for neglecting and emotionally abusing her younger child. Lots of families deal with a child with additional needs whilst still managing to prioritise their other kids. Children with Down syndrome are capable of understanding ‘that’s your sister's, not yours; give it back’ !! It sounds like your mum has mental health issues?"
"Do you have a present father or other family you can turn to?"
"Protect your peace. Your mum has hurt you time and time again, honestly, for no real gain other than momentarily satisfying her anger. You owe this woman nothing." - Background_Term9810
"I went through something similar. When I was a little girl, my mother used to make comments that implied she didn't want me, though it was never that explicit. 'I only had you because your brother wanted a sister,' and 'My figure never recovered after you; after your brother, it did.'"
"Each comment stayed with me, but I never addressed it with her. I tried to move on and leave it in the past. She did a lot of horrible things throughout my life, but her behavior was always ignored because that's the precedent my dad set, where she can do essentially whatever she wants."
"A few months ago, she came to see me because I was desperate for help and sick. Instead of helping, she made my life so much worse. I won't go into details. At one point, I could no longer keep it inside, and I told her that she is a narcissist, to which she responded with, 'It would have been better if I had never had you.'"
"In some ways, it felt really good to hear her come out and say it. It felt good to hear the truth I've always known."
"I don't know what you should do, but I've chosen to not forgive."
"Every time I forgave, I just let her know that she can get away with whatever horrible things she had done. Her apologies were never real apologies. She always found ways to blame me or others for whatever she had done."
"And I'm truly just done with it. As sad as it is to not have a mom, it's sadder to pretend that you have one when in reality you don't... quite the opposite, if anything." - Neos_Mom
"So, OP, what will hurt more: keeping her and the grudge in your life or making a break and going low or no contact with her?"
"Frankly, we've no idea of what she might have been dealing with at the time, but regardless, what she said was said only to cause pain and suffering. 'Sorry' doesn't magic that intent away."
"Me, I think spending time alone or with friends or in therapy away from her might be what you need here. You might come to some sort of acceptance, but if this is something that's just going to keep coming between you, then stop trying to have that relationship." - Tal_Tos_72
After the OP received feedback, she shared a few clarifications from her original post.
"I wanted to clear some things up, take accountability where it's due, and provide some much-needed context from many people commenting the same questions."
"I want to be completely honest. We had many arguments, and I was a rebellious kid. I acted out and argued with my mom."
"I don't want to give off the impression that I was an entirely innocent kid who never did anything wrong and my mom just snapped out of nowhere. We both said hateful and hurtful things to each other during our fights."
"Growing up, the only way she would accept an apology was if I got on my knees and begged her for forgiveness. If I ever asked her to apologize to me, she would say, 'I have nothing to apologize for; you should be the one begging for my forgiveness.'"
The OP had a lot of physical memories, too.
"Things also would turn into physical arguments, not just verbal ones."
"There were times when she would get so angry she would get physical. Like yanking me by my hair, twisting my arms, or throwing things at me (like remotes, a bug spray can, or a radio)."
"When she yanked my hair, I would fight back just to get her to let me go, and she would scream that I was trying to kill her and she would get me arrested. When she twisted my arm, and I begged her to stop because it felt like it was going to break, she would say she hoped it did."
"When she threw objects at me, she would say she wished they would hit my face."
"I remember in middle school, during an argument, she said she wished she could break my face and that she hated it because I look like my dad. I won’t lie, whenever she said things like that, I would say nasty comments about how she chose to have him put us in her."
While the OP wasn't financially ready to move out yet, she hoped to as soon as possible.
"Why haven't I moved out yet? The main reason I haven't been able to move out is financial."
"I wasn't making enough to support myself without worrying about whether I’d end up having to crawl back home."
"Thankfully, I have recently found a better-paying job. My plan is to move out between mid-to-late October, or early November at the latest."
"The only reason I can't leave this exact second is because I have a few legal/administrative things to get cleared up so I’m completely untied from my mom, which will take a few weeks."
The OP also had proof that her mother liked her sister better.
"Has my mom ever admitted to favoring my sister? Yes."
"In arguments, she has explicitly told me that she doesn't see me as her legitimate daughter, and that she adored my sister more and forever will. She has also called me a 'monster,' told me there is a certain type of evil inside of me, and said she was afraid I would be just like my dad and try to harm them."
"She would even tell me that she was telling family and friends these things about me, but then later claim she 'just said it in the moment' and wouldn't be crazy enough to actually tell people that."
"Because I was so confused growing up and didn't know if she was lying or telling the truth, I started avoiding our family when they came over."
"Naturally, that just made things worse because she would get mad at me for avoiding them (even now as an adult), completely ignoring the fact that she was the one who lied about what she told them."
Unfortunately, the OP didn't have support from her father.
"What about my dad? My dad is not in my life."
"He was around sporadically, but never as a stable parent. My parents separated before I was born and divorced when I was two or three."
"Growing up, it was just constant back-and-forth toxicity, with him telling me how toxic my mother was, and her telling me the same about him."
"He would mostly only come over to see my sister, and often used me to care for her if he wanted to take her out to eat. Ultimately, my dad didn't care about anyone else other than my sister (and his drugs)."
"I hope this can clear some questions on the original post. I know I didn't provide many details as I originally should have. I honestly didn't want to post something too long, and I honestly did not expect it to be noticed."
"Thank you all for taking time to talk to me and share your thoughts."
The subReddit fully sided with the OP, pointing out that no matter how heated the moment was, it would never excuse the terrible things the OP's mother had said to her.
If the OP's mother really wanted a relationship with her, she'd drop the defensiveness and demands, offer a genuine apology, and work hard to be better for both of her children.
That takes a very rare kind of person to pull off, and it didn't sound like the OP's mother had that in her.
If you or someone you know is struggling, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988.
To find help outside the United States, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has resources available at https://findahelpline.com/i/iasp