Losing a pet is one of the most difficult things any pet owner will have to go through. Because dogs and cats live significantly shorter lives than us people, it’s pretty much unavoidable. Holding on to things that remind you of the furry friends you’ve lost is a pretty normal thing to do.
One mom admitted that, after her son moved away for college, she cleaned out all of his things from the basement and gave them away. This included the collar to a dog they had when the son was a child. Now that the son is incredibly angry, the mom is asking the AITA community on Reddit if she was in the wrong.
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User SusanOstrich Shares Her Story.
The Son Was Supposed To Mark The Boxes He Didn’t Want To Be Thrown Away.
OP begins the story by talking about how her son had been attached to the family dog they had when he was growing up. When the dog died, the son kept the collar as a keepsake.
Years later, the son went off to university and left boxes of his stuff in the basement. They were supposed to be marked, but he didn’t mark them. One day, OP wanted to clean out the basement and got rid of a bunch of boxes by giving things away to local kids. One kid saw the collar and took it for their own dog.
The son came home for Thanksgiving and wanted to find a ukulele he used to play around with. But when he was looking for his boxes of stuff, he found that they were gone. He frantically asked his mom where the collar was, and OP responded that she vaguely remembered a kid taking it.
The son is furious that OP gave away such a precious keepsake, but OP believes she’s in the right because she asked him to mark the boxes to begin with.
Most Users Disagreed With OP.
They found that the mom’s actions were cruel. The whole situation could’ve been handled differently, too.
This Could’ve Been Avoided If OP Called Her Son Before Clearing Everything Out.
As multiple commenters pointed out, it seems that OP took it upon herself to clean the unmarked boxes without at least calling her son first.
It Might Take The Son A Long Time To Get Over This.
In fact, as some commenters stated, the son may never truly forgive OP for giving the collar away.
