My Sister Wanted My Wife’s Clothes — I Told Her I’d Rather Burn Them

My sister didn’t visit once while my wife was dying… but six months after the funeral, she demanded my wife’s clothes. What I told her made her cry — and made my family furious.
Grief does strange things to people… but I never expected it to turn into a fight over clothes.
My wife was a brilliant corporate lawyer and mediator. She dressed the part — elegant, professional, and powerful. Then came the ovarian cancer diagnosis. Two years later, she was gone. The last six months were brutal beyond words.
Through it all, my sister Sarah was nowhere to be found. No visits, no calls, no help. My wife never liked her, and frankly, neither do I. But at my wife’s wake — when the loss was still raw — Sarah had the nerve to ask if she could “pick out a few pieces” of my wife’s wardrobe to “remember her by.” I brushed it off, thinking it was just a tactless moment.
Six months later, at my mom’s birthday party, she brought it up again. I explained that my wife wanted her clothes donated to a women’s shelter — a place she supported during her life. The clothes would help women in need look the part for court cases, interviews, and starting new jobs.
Sarah’s response?
That my wife was “selfish in death.”
She ranted about how my wife “always thought she was better than her” and how it wasn’t fair the clothes were going to charity “instead of family.”
That’s when I told her, flat-out:
“I’d rather see my wife’s clothes lit on fire than on your back.”
She cried, my mom took her side, and somehow I was accused of “ruining” the birthday. But I won’t apologize for honoring my wife’s wishes — especially to people who didn’t lift a finger when she needed them most.
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