Yesterday the family had a surprise birthday party for the kids. The kids had a blast and it was nice that their aunt and uncle who live quite far away were able to be there. About halfway during the party my sister in law called me into a separate room and started giving me things that her mother had once owned (her mother passed away in September of 2007). Now I thought this was very nice that she wanted to include me (the daughter in law) in the gift giving. But it did make me uncomfortable.

I guess this is because by giving away my late mother in law’s things, it kind of puts a finality on things. But I took everything she gave me including her mother’s pulse oximeter. All of these things I took I will put away for my daughter for when she gets older. So although this part of the day creeped me out a bit, I know my sister in law was just trying make me feel like part of the family. So for this reason I just accepted the stuff and smiled.