Proposals and engagements happen in different ways in different cultures. In the United States, many people receive an engagement ring before they get married, and it's worn prominently displayed on that person's left hand.
In other countries, engagement rings aren't such a big deal. One woman recently shared on Reddit that this is true for her.
"In my country, engagement rings are not a major thing. Couples show that they are engaged by wearing their future wedding rings on their right hand. Once they're married, they start wearing it on their left hand."
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However, the woman really wanted an engagement ring, and when her fiancé proposed, he went all out and had one custom-designed.
Her fiancé went to a goldsmith for a truly unique ring.
The woman wrote on Reddit that her fiancé knew how much an engagement ring would mean to her, so he made it happen:
"Knowing this dream of mine, and since his family doesn't have any heirlooms or family jewels, he had a goldsmith craft a wedding ring specially for me. He knew I don't like fancy and flashy jewels, I'm a very discreet person, so he had a ring made for me that was exactly what I'd like. And I did. I absolutely adore it."
But sadly, they didn't get to get married.
Tragically, the woman's fiancé died before they could get married, and the woman is still very heartbroken about his death:
"Sadly, a couple months ago, my fiancé fell ill and passed away. I'm not doing to go into details about it because just writing this out makes me sob. I'm still very much not over it."
His family made a rude request a few weeks after his death.
To make matters worse, the woman now has to deal with the man's family and their recent bizarre request:
"Skip a few weeks, and his sister and his mom (I never reeealy got along with neither the sister nor the mom, but we were friendly towards each other) called me asking for my engagement ring. They said that, since we never got married (our wedding was schedule for early 2022) and never will, I should give the ring to the real family, since it represented a promise that will never be fulfilled."
The woman said no.
Unsurprisingly, the woman said no:
"I told them no. Don't get me wrong, if it were a family jewel or family heirloom, I'd not hesitate do give it back. But it isn't. He had it made specifically for me, and I'll be keeping it, because he gave it to me on our 5th year anniversary together."
So his family took it up a notch.
Since the woman said no, the family members decided to try to go above her:
"Now they have gone to my parents (who they've talked to, like, twice, in all the five years me and my fiancé were together), to all their community friends (some of which I share) telling I'm appropriating of property that doesn't really belong to me anymore."
It turns out people are split.
While the woman's family sides with her, others aren't so sure:
"My parents are on my side. Community friends are divided. Some say the ring is rightfully mine, some say that it was a symbol of a contract that fell through due to sad circumstances, and that I should give it back, that I'm keeping one of their son's property and that it should stay with his sister to pass along to her future children."
The woman opened up the conversation on Reddit.
Most people believe the ring belongs to the woman. One commenter explained:
"First of all, I’m so sorry for your loss.
"Second, the ring is yours. Your late fiancé’s family doesn’t have some kind of ownership over it. He made it for you, and the fact he sadly passed doesn’t change that. You’re the rightful owner."
The so-called contract was also already fulfilled.
People also pointed out that the woman and man did fulfill their contract to each other. One person noted:
"They keep saying it was an unfulfilled contract, but the contract was exactly what this person said; a promise to spend the rest of your lives together. I don’t know if in your culture you are familiar with the phrase 'till death do us part,' but in America it is something that is said at weddings to the person you are marrying as a sort of promise that you’ll spend the rest of your lives together and you did. You spent the rest of his earthly life with him."
In the end, the man probably would have wanted her to have it.
A commenter said:
"Your fiancé would have wanted you to keep his ring. Ignore them, wear your lovely ring, and, eventually, they will give up."
These stories are based on posts found on Reddit. Reddit is a user-generated social news aggregation, web content rating, and discussion website where registered members submit content to the site and can up- or down-vote the content. The accuracy and authenticity of each story cannot be confirmed by our staff.
