Woman Lends Brother Her Late Child’s Belongings And He Sells Them To Take Trip Instead

Nov 16, 2021 by apost team

Losing a child is every parent’s worst nightmare. The pain and suffering is surely insurmountable, and the grieving process may never seem to end. There’s no right or wrong way for someone to grieve something as devastating as this, and it’s important for friends and family to stick together during this difficult time.

Something that parents who lose a child have to consider is what to do with their belongings that they no longer need. For one mother, she decided to give away everything that made up her child’s nursery to her brother since he and his wife were expecting. She gave it to them on the condition that they would return everything once their child was old enough to no longer need a nursery.

The mother had sadly lost her 3-year-old son from a chronic condition that he was born with. She really relied on the support from her family during tough times since her ex-husband was usually busy with work.

Unfortunately, the mother’s sister-in-law ended up losing the baby five months into her pregnancy. After allowing them some time to grieve, the mother contacted her brother asking for the nursery back. However, he explained that it was gone, and that he had actually sold everything in order to pay for a nice trip for him and his wife to go on to recover from their tragic loss.

This has created several issues within the family, and the woman is confused about how to go forward with the situation. On Nov. 9, 2021, she went to Reddit and asked users for their advice on the matter.

In her Reddit post, the original poster (OP) talked about how much she struggled with her late 3-year-old son’s chronic illness. She leaned on her family a lot for her support. OP said, “When my brother and his wife found out they were expecting (they suffered miscarriage after a miscarraige) and because of their financial situation I decided to lend them my son’s nursery to use for their baby under the condition they give it back when they no longer need it.”

The nursery cost about $4,000 and the cost of shipping was also high, especially since OP and her brother live in different countries. On top of that, the nursery held a lot of sentimental value to OP. “They were so grateful for my help and appreciated it a lot but my sister-in-law unfortunately lost her baby at five months in the pregnancy and I heard from my mother since my brother and sister-in-law went low contact with everyone to be able to grieve,” she said.

After waiting a few months, OP asked her brother and his wife for the nursery back. Unfortunately, that wasn’t possible since they had sold every single piece of it. Her brother explained that he needed money to take his sad wife on a vacation.

OP continued, “I lost my temper and started screaming at him on the phone reminding him that this belonged to my son and only for them to borrow, not sell.” Her brother apologized and asked her to understand that his wife was grieving, but OP reminded him that she was also a grieving mother.

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“I told him… that I will be suing them both over the nursery and for every penny he made out of selling it,” OP said. However, OP’s parents turned against her after hearing this, and have fully taken her brother and sister-in-law’s side. 

OP continued, “My ex-husband blamed me saying it was my fault for giving the nursery to my brother, but I just wanted to help. He keeps pushing for the idea to sue but my parents are telling me not to.” Since her ex helped pay for the nursery, he mentioned that he would sue OP’s brother and sister-in-law if she didn’t.

Reddit users were on OP’s side though. One user said, “The child OP lost was also their nephew. So in three years they never built up any relationship with their nephew to feel any kind of way about respecting his memory. Sue them OP. They are selfish, selfish people. With no regard for their family. I can’t believe they disrespected their nephew’s memory for a holiday.”

Another user said, “It was not theirs to sell. It’s yours. I understand her grieving but that was probably a reminder of your son you wanted to hold on to. I’m sorry you had to go through all this but you should definitely sue. They clearly don’t respect you.”

OP replied and said, “Exactly how I explained it to my parents but they suggested I stop bringing it up now and they’ll pay me money every month until I get the full cost but I feel like by doing this they’re enabling my brother’s behavior and making excuses for him.”

Do you think this grieving mother is right to sue her brother for selling her late son’s nursery? Let us know, and be sure to pass this along to your friends and family, too.