Jen and her husband, a couple in their 70s, were about to attend the wedding of their youngest granddaughter Eloise. Having four other grandchildren who were all married already, Jen and her husband were looking forward to attending the special day of Eloise. As per tradition, that no one was really aware of except their grandchildren who tied the knot in the years before, the couple purchased the cheapest item from the registry list and were about to hand the bride a check on $40,000.
Not being aware of this tradition, Eloise got really mad when she realized her grandparents bought her the cheapest item on their register list, an air fryer. She was quick to call them and slam them for their poor choice of gift.
“Seriously, Grandma? I just got your gift. An air fryer? That’s the cheapest thing you could find on my registry!” She said after calling her grandma on the phone.
Jen, not wanting to spoil the surprise and reveal the real gift, told her granddaughter that the item was indeed a very useful one.
“Useful? Come on, you know you can do better than that. Everyone knows you have the money. I just can’t believe you’d be this cheap with me. It’s embarrassing,” Eloise responded, visibly disturbed.
“Yes, you’re right. We are cheap, old, and useless. The only thing you DIDN’T know is that the day before the wedding, we were going to gift you a check for $40,000,” Jen revealed, but Eloise didn’t want to listen to her.
“No, it’s clear. You just don’t love me enough to show it. You know how much pressure I’m under with the wedding. And then, this? It’s like you don’t even care,” the young woman said as she hung up the phone.
Jen talked to her husband and they both agreed Eloise didn’t deserve their money because of her behavior and ungratefulness.
A few days passed by and Eloise called her grandparents again.
“I just found out that it’s true you gave the money to everyone else when they got married. Why didn’t I get anything?” she asked.
“We felt after your reaction to the wedding gift, it wasn’t right to go ahead and gift you the money,” Jen responded.
“So, you’re punishing me? Is that it? Because I was upset about an air fryer?” Eloise pleaded.
“It wasn’t about the air fryer, Eloise. It was how you spoke to us, the disrespect. That’s not something we expected or can support,” Jen explained.
“But that’s so unfair! I was stressed, Grandma. Planning a wedding is hard, and I just snapped. I didn’t mean any of it,” Eloise said while crying.
“We understand that it’s a stressful time, but actions and words have consequences. We hoped you’d understand the value of family and love over material things,” her grandparents said with determination.
“But you don’t understand! Can’t we just forget all this happened? I need that money, Grandma,” Eloise kept pleading them.
Eloise then threatened she won’t be attending any family gatherings, including Christmas, but that didn’t change her grandparents’ mind.
“We love you very much. This has nothing to do with cutting you off. We just hope you’ll reflect on this and understand why we made our decision,” they told they granddaughter.
Do you believe the grandparents were too harsh on Eloise?