AITA for telling my family to stop celebrating?

A Reddit user shared their grief and frustration after inheriting a significant portion of their late neighbor Maggie’s estate. Maggie, a 94-year-old woman who had become a close friend and mentor, left the user $1 million, personal belongings, and her beloved cat. While the gesture was life-changing,

the user is still mourning Maggie’s passing and was upset when their family celebrated the inheritance with a cake. The user expressed their discomfort, leading to conflict with their family, who felt their celebration was justified. To read more about this emotional story and the user’s dilemma, check out the full post below.

‘ AITA for telling my family to stop celebrating?’

6 years ago I met the best person in the world. She was a sweet old lady that moved in next door, named Maggie. Maggie taught me how to knit, we watch Mamas family together, i helped her give her cat her medicine, I helped water her plants when she got to frail to do it herself. She knitted me a hat for every holiday., I helped her install WiFi. Maggie was a nurse in WWII.

Maggie passed away 3 months ago at the age of 94. She went peacefully in her sleep, and it is the heartbreak of my life. About two weeks after she died, I noticed a man walking into Maggie’s house. Maggie didn’t have any family except for a nephew, who lived across the country. I went up to him and asked who he was, and he said he was going to clean out his aunts things.

That was the end of that until yesterday. Maggie’s nephew had rung my doorbell, and had told me that Maggie left me most everything she had in her will. Maggie left me 1 million dollars in a account I can open when I turn 18, most of her personal effects, and her cat, blue. Who I rescued two days after she died and kept. She wrote me and her nephew letters.

she said some stuff I would rather not share. It tore me up about Maggie even more. She was such a gentle soul and she deserved better. I started crying, and I told my parents. They started celebrating about it immediately. I asked them to stop. And they did, until today they presented me with a cake, that said “hey, you get to go to college!”.

To say that it made me upset is a understatement. I get that Maggie’s money is a life changing thing, but I would much rather have Maggie.I told them to stop celebrating then I went to my room to hold blue and cry. My brother knocked on my door and told me I was being a a**hole because our parents are just happy for me.. AITA?

Here’s the comments of Reddit users:

BowTrek −  NTA Your parents are being insensitive. They probably are just happy for you but never learned proper empathy for situations like this. They may be trying (in the worst way possible) to cheer you up. But regardless they’re going about this wrong and not letting you have your grief.

Might be worth trying to talk to a therapist or someone about this since none of your family are giving you proper support.

pidgeononachair −  NTA, your family celebrated a cash cow and didn’t even acknowledge your loss. Make sure they never see a penny of it btw, clearly they’ve got as much sense as mashed potato.

black_dragonfly13 −  NTA whatsoever. It sounds like you and Maggie brought each other such immense happiness and joy, and that warms my heart so incredibly.
Your family is being immensely insensitive.. Info, tho: how old are you?

AHew_20 −  NTA. I am sorry for your loss. Advice: Be very very careful of telling people you have that kind of money when you can access it and allow no one any of the bank information, even family. My entire, very large, family no longer speaks to each other over money left to my mom who cared for her mother her entire adult life.

It can make the nicest people absolute monsters. Also, invest a lot in a retirement account with good interest. You will thank yourself when you can retire 10 years early and do whatever the heck you want. A prenuptial if you get married is also wise.

Jed08 −  I’ll say NAH. It’s obvious you’re hurt and in pain to have lost someone you were close to, and I understand why you would want Maggie back rather than having her money.
On the other hand, being able to send you and your brother to college might have been one of your parent’s biggest worry.

Learning that, thanks to Maggie, your college fund is being taken care of must be a huge relief for them, because it means you could go and do whatever you want in college. Their financial health won’t decide which college you will attend. And it’s clear that they weren’t as close to Maggie as you were. So they might not share your pain.

Master-Ranger −  NTA, while money is nice money isn’t everything and you are grieving. Your family should have know and respected that.

VictoriaRose1618 −  Nta Would I be corrected in assuming you’d prefer to spend more time with Maggie than lots of money?

monkeyshinesno2 −  NAH- they may not have realized that you would feel so deeply about a 94 year old’s death. Many kids like elderly people but aren’t as close as you were with her. It’s a very special connection you had. If your family has real financial strain or otherwise low opportunity, I understand their reaction. It’s a shame, and of course I don’t blame you for being upset with them, I just understand the practicality.

Xoldin −  Im surprised that her nephew is not fighting the will

gamefreak773 −  Can we a have a picture of the cat blue? :3