A horrible demand made by the woman who is expecting a baby with her son has threatened to cast a shadow on the happiness of the family – and the mum is really torn on what to do
Five years after their daughter-in-law and grandchild passed away, their son is now expecting a child with another woman – but a horrible request she has made has cast a shadow on their happiness.
Having a family bereavement is never easy, so when someone acts in an unsympathetic way, it can be devastating. When one woman lost her daughter-in-law and grandchild in a car accident, she never thought their family would recover.
However, as the saying goes, time heals all wounds, and five years later, his son had entered into a new relationship with a woman called Dana* (not her real name). They are now expecting a child together, which “should be a wonderful time” for the family – but a “bizarre request” from their son’s new girlfriend has cast a dark shadow on the family’s happiness.
Writing to Slate’s Dear Prudence agony aunt column, the anonymous woman explained: “Dana made a bizarre request that my daughter and I remove all the family pictures that have my former daughter-in-law and their baby in it.
“She hates coming over to my home and seeing my son’s first wedding photo on the wall. I have a collection going up the stairs that includes our entire family. I knew my former daughter-in-law from the time she was in diapers.”
The mum tried to explain what the photos meant to her, and that she had also been in her position once. She explained that she herself married a widower, and adopted his daughter. They still have pictures of his first wife on the wall, and that “love just adds more room to your heart”.
However, the heart-to-heart didn’t work, and now Dana refuses to come around – or bring the baby. This has caused a serious rift in their family, as while her son is “desperate” to make this work, her daughter has called Dana an “insecure brat”.
The agony aunt agreed that Dana “is in fact insecure”, adding: “And to put it bluntly: This is nuts. It’s not about the photos; it’s about her jealousy over a woman who is no longer here. And this won’t be the last time that jealousy rears its head in her relationship with your son.”
However, she understood that the “desire” to see their grandchild would be “greater” than the desire to see the old photos in their current location. To keep the peace, Prudence suggested she “might just have to let Dana win by doing a little redecorating”.
She suggested moving the pictures of the daughter-in-law upstairs, so that they are out of sight. She added: “And while you’re up there, clear out the bedroom that your son may be moving into when she kicks him out of the house for some unhinged reason a year from now.”
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