Annie’s Mailbox: Whining about regifted wine glasses

Tue., Feb. 17, 2015

Marcy Sugar and Kathy Mitchell Creators Syndicate

Dear Annie: My mother gave me a set of wine glasses that she received on her wedding day almost 60 years ago. When my nephew married, I gave him these glasses as a wedding gift. After six months, the marriage was dissolved, and my nephew moved back in with his parents. At that time, I asked my nephew to be sure to get the wine glasses in the divorce because I wanted them to stay in the family. That was 10 years ago.

My nephew has since remarried. I have attended two dinners at my brother’s home where my sister-in-law served wine in these same glasses. Once, she even served a glass to my mother.

Did my nephew have the right to give those glasses to anyone he chose? Can I suggest that if he no longer wants them, I’d like them back so I can gift them to my niece? Or do I just forget about them? – Wine-ing in Wisconsin

Dear Wisconsin: When your mother gave you those glasses, did she put restrictions on what you could do with them? Apparently not. Yet you are doing that to your nephew. Heirloom items should stay in the family, and your nephew is respecting that by giving the glasses to his parents. Please make sure your brother understands that you would like them back should he ever decide to get rid of them.

Dear Annie: My ex-husband could be “Estranged Dad,” whose daughter didn’t invite him to her wedding. Here’s the other side:

As a child, our daughter wanted Dad to take her to see her favorite hockey player. Instead, he took her brothers, saying, “Hockey isn’t for girls.” When she went away to college, he took money from her account to buy gas to visit her. He once took all of her saved tuition money to pay his back taxes. She had to get a second job and needed an extra two years to graduate.

He will never apologize because he thinks he did nothing wrong. He wasn’t invited to her wedding and has no clue why. – Mom Who’s Seen Both Sides

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