An individual known as candybar2233 took to the “amithea–hole” subreddit to share a devastating account of losing their daughter to Leukemia and the challenges they faced in coping with their grief amidst unsupportive family members.
Questioning their actions, the bereaved father expressed doubts about donating his daughter’s untouched birthday presents following her passing. In the Reddit post, he recounted how his daughter’s hospital admission on the eve of her birthday, due to the unexpected spread of cancer to her brain, led her to postpone opening the gifts until she returned home.
Tragically, one week later, the young girl passed away without having the chance to unwrap her presents. The father shared that a few days after her death, his family gathered to assist him in creating a photo board and slideshow for his daughter’s funeral. Upon discovering the unopened gifts, the father mentioned that his sister proposed giving them to her twin daughters as it would soon be their birthday. However, this suggestion didn’t sit well with him. He explained that he “wouldn’t feel comfortable knowing my nieces are using gifts that were meant for my daughter.”
In response, the father informed his sister that if he were to take any action regarding the gifts, he would donate them to the children’s hospital. This remark seemed to irritate his sister, who labeled him “selfish” and argued that the presents should remain “within the family instead of being given to complete strangers.”
Reddit users expressed sympathy for the father and his right to grieve in his own unique manner. One user emphasized that the father had every right to process his grief as he saw fit, and once he expressed discomfort with the idea of his nieces receiving the gifts, his family should have respected his wishes.
Another user commented that donating the presents to other ill children was a beautiful way to honor the memory of the father’s daughter, while a different individual empathized with the father’s situation by sharing their personal experience of mourning a loved one. They disclosed, “My Dad passed away less than two years ago, and we still have his shoes by the back door. We have only just started donating his clothes to Hospice charities.”
According to certified life coach and YourTango Expert Lisa Petsinis, donating to a charitable organization is indeed a healthy way to mourn and pay tribute to a departed loved one.