When I was 15, my dad handed me all of my late mom’s jewelry her wedding ring, a delicate watch, and a few special pieces she’d worn often. It wasn’t because he suddenly wanted to honor her memory; it was because his then-girlfriend had been caught snooping through my mom’s jewelry box. I confronted her, and she tried to slap me. My dad ended things with her immediately, then gave me the collection, saying Mom had always wanted me to have it. That wasn’t the first time someone had gone after her things. My aunt once slipped a pearl pendant into her purse, claiming she’d “just wanted to see it.” After that, I decided the jewelry would be safer at my grandparents’ house, far from anyone with sticky fingers. For years, I protected those items.

They weren’t just accessories they were the last tangible pieces of my mom. I wore them on special occasions, polished them carefully, and kept them out of sight. Then, two weeks before my dad’s wedding to his new partner, Rhoda, he asked to “have a talk.” Sitting across from me, he said it would be “meaningful” if I gave some of my mom’s things to his two young daughters with Rhoda Lynn, 7, and Sophia, 6 and even to Rhoda herself. He listed off specific pieces: the Claddagh ring my mom had as a teenager for Rhoda, the wedding necklace for Lynn, the dating-era bracelet for Sophia, and worst of all my mom’s wedding ring for Rhoda to wear as a “symbol” of being his “one and only now.”

I told him no. Firmly. A day later, Rhoda called. She put on a syrupy tone and asked what kind of “daughter” I was being to her, and what kind of “sister” I was to her girls. I told her I was 26, she was 38, and those labels didn’t apply. She tried again, saying the jewelry would make them feel truly connected to me, to Dad, and even to my mom. I still said no. On the wedding day, I arrived with a polite smile and a small, beautifully wrapped box.

Rhoda’s face lit up until she opened it. Inside were a few old cleaning rags my mom had used to wipe down the kitchen counters. “You wanted something of hers,” I said with a smile. “Now you have it.” Then I turned and walked out, feeling lighter than I had in weeks. My mom’s treasures were still exactly where they belonged — with me, and safe from anyone who would treat them as trophies instead of memories.