A grieving sibling allegedly kept their late brother’s ashes against their family’s wishes and went to some lengths to hide their actions. They took to social media to ask if their actions were justified.
A Reddit user with the tag u/-Ammonia- explains that they were close with their brother, and he passed away two years ago. As a final wish, the brother allegedly said he didn’t want to be buried or scattered and would prefer to “stay with the people he loved.”
It’s unclear whether other family members were aware of this request, but they chose to scatter his ashes in a lake near where they grew up. The poster reportedly asked to keep the ashes in an urn, but their older cousin branded the idea “morbid and selfish” and insisted the ashes be scattered in the same place.
The poster explains they work in a lab and secretly took some of their brother’s ashes to keep. They replaced them with regular ashes from a fireplace, and the family was none the wiser.
The Sibling Is Having Second Thoughts About The Ashes
The sibling allegedly told their best friend what they did, and they were “horrified.” They called it “spiritually selfish” and disrespectful. However, the poster explains that they never intended to cause harm to anyone. Their post concludes, “So… AITA for secretly replacing some of my brother’s ashes before the family scattered them?”
Comments on the story mostly side with u/-Ammonia-, although they reveal they confided in their cousin, who notified the family. Many replies support what they did, even though most believe telling the cousin wasn’t the smartest move. One user, u/Inevitable-Jicama366, replies, “Too bad. You NTA, but you could have kept the portion of the remains and kept quiet. I think it was a lovely solution. You honored your brothers wishes and also let your family have what they wanted. It would have been perfect without telling the cousin. Family should just shut up.
One highly upvoted comment by u/ImAnNPCsoWhat reads, “You respected his last wishes. Where’s the problem here?” Many replies share similar sentiments, although others question the story’s legitimacy and why the poster didn’t just keep quiet.