Okay, I have one of these. Names changed to protect the living.
Older lady dies with substantial assets. She’s not a millionaire, but has a house, a car, some nice jewelry, a house full of stuff, and some money. Her will leaves each of her four grandchildren a specific piece of furniture, and her two daughters, Ginger and MaryAnn, are to each get a specific piece of jewelry. Everything else is to be split 50-50 between the daughters.
So, the daughters start going through their mother’s things. If either one gave her mother something, she gets first dibs at it. If the item was not a gift, they take turns picking things they want. Things go well, except for one thing…the jewelry. Ginger was first on the scene, and she got ahold of all the jewelry and she won’t give MaryAnn the ring that was mentioned in the will. She insists that all the jewelry must be valued by a professional jeweler.
So, they have the jewelry valued, and it turns out that MaryAnn’s ring is worth a maybe a thousand more than Ginger’s. Ginger says, “You must let me have $1000 cash/jewelry to make up for the fact that your heirloom is worth more than mine.” MaryAnn gets pissed, and says, “This is ridiculous. You take the more expensive ring, and I’ll take the one she left you.” But now MaryAnn is mad, and feels like her sister is a bitch. She also has a hate on the ring in her possession, because it’s NOT THE ONE HER MOTHER WANTED HER TO HAVE. The hard feelings have started.
MaryAnn has a child who needs a car. She offers to buy the car from the estate. Since she owns 50% of the car (which is worth about $20,000), she says, “I will give you $10,000 cash for your half of the car.” My kid gets the car, and you get $10,000 cash. Ginger says, “No, that’s not fair, you owe me $20,000. The car is worth $20,000 and you are trying to get it for your kid. Stop trying to rob me.” At the lawyer’s office, each sister puts forth her case, the lawyer says that MaryAnn is right, she owns half the car and if she takes the car she owes her sister only $10,000. Ginger grudgingly accepts this, but tells her husband, in MaryAnn’s hearing, that MaryAnn has somehow gotten one over on her. MaryAnn is super pissed.
Ginger and MaryAnn are now feuding like Hatfields and McCoys. They clean out the house, each of them trying to grab as much stuff as possible for their children and themselves. They sell the house and split the money they get for that…and then these women never spend another friendly moment together. They send each other birthday and holiday cards, but other than that, radio silence between them.
Each feels victimized and aggrieved. Each thinks her sister is a cheat and a weasel. MaryAnn can hardly look at the nice ring she has, even though it was her Mother’s, because it is THE WRONG RING. Eventually, years later, Ginger dies. Her children, who had heard the whole story many times, took the ring that was originally meant for MaryAnn, and give it to MaryAnn. MaryAnn thanks them for the ring and offers to give them back The Wrong Ring, which they decline. They are sick to death of the whole thing. So are MaryAnn’s kids.
MaryAnn starts talking that she will have The Wrong Ring turned into pendants or pin by a jeweler, for each of her children/grandchildren. I am one of MaryAnn’s daughters, and I think that a pendant made from that ring would have eternally bad juju. It would just remind us that when our Grandmother died, our Mom and Aunt lost each other as sisters. That’s a heck of a story to go with a piece of gold.
Also: GO CLEMSON TIGERS!
