This has been reposted here to Lemmy as part of the “Curated Reddit Project.”
I am not OOP. This was originally posted by u/One-Fudge3629 on r/JUSTNOMIL.
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Just found this subreddit and HAD to share this story. My husband (43m) and I (31f) have been married for 3 years, together for 6. Obviously there is an age gap between my husband and I, which has never been an issue for us. My MIL however, has always greatly disapproved and likes to talk to me like I am a rebellious teenager instead of her son’s life partner. A big issue for her is the fact that I have tattoos.
I love all my tattoos, they are well done and a huge part of my identity. I can’t imagine myself without them and my husband loves how they look on me. MIL made a few comments while we were dating but my husband told her privately to drop it.
3 years ago, my husband and I hosted our families for my birthday dinner. It was our first big get-together after getting married and everyone was nice enough to bring me a gift. I was going to open them after everyone left but MiL handed me an envelope at the dinner table and insisted I open it immediately.
Inside was a card and a gift certificate to a local tattoo removal business for $500. I was confused and asked her what this was for. She said that since I was a married woman now and planning to have kids, she assumed I would want my tattoos removed. Both my husband and I were kind of taken aback and stunned. I half heartedly thanked her and the party continued. Later, my husband called her and told her off. He insisted she take it back and get her money back. She absolutely refused and insisted I would want it someday.
3 years later, her $500 is sitting in my kitchen junk drawer and I’ve added 3 more tattoos to the collection haha
UPDATE: Thank you so much for all the great suggestions on what to do with the gift certificate. I actually have a friend who is the director of a restorative justice organization. I asked her if she had any clients with hate symbols they would like removed and it turns out she works with a guy who has a swastika on his arm that he hides every day because he is so ashamed. This is particularly significant and powerful for me because I’m Jewish. Anyway, I am dropping it off today and I’m really pleased that something that started as a disrespectful slight from my mother in law turned into this. Thank you Reddit!
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