Mine is a sad one too...to the core of my heart.

My MIL once accused me of stealing $250.00 from her purse. Only thing is, she never confronted me personally but spread the word to the whole family on Mr. Lixy's side. This included my FIL and all the step brothers and sister's in law and aunts and uncles etc...EVERYONE!

Family functions became awkward for me but I didn't know why I was uncomfortable. And when I mentioned it to hubby he would tsk, tsk me and say I was too sensitive. He'd say that some of the family members are jealous people who didn't like that he was back in his father's life again (they were on the outs for years).

Two years after the "incident" my MIL accidently spilled the beans by telling me that her son keeps calling me a thief whenever they argue. He said that none of the girls in the family will leave their purses lying around when I am at the gatherings. He said that his family would never attend another gathering if I am there.

I confronted my MIL and asked her what he meant. She reverted to a day when her and I and 2 sister's in law and their daughters went shopping in a little antique shop down the shore. I told her I remembered the day. She said that when we got back home she couldn't find her $250 and she assumed I took it. I was flabberghasted! I reminded her how busy the store was and that we went to seperate registers and I never got near her purse. Not to mention...I AM NOT A THIEF! I asked her why she never confronted me directly and she had no excuse. I begged her to look me in the eye so I could convince her I didn't, nor would I ever, steal her money.

She said she believed me. But to this day she has never told any family member that she knows I didn't take the money. This has had me pissed off for years. Family gatherings have dwindled to a few relations but they just aren't like they used to be. I told MIL if she wasn't willing to tell everyone the truth that I would just stop coming to the gatherings so they all could come back and not have to be around "the thief". She said she would never ask me to do that. Not because she wanted me there...but she said it wouldn't be fair to hubby and his father cause she knows if I didn't come neither would Mr. Lixy.

I am so pissed at this and I feel pissed on by MIL and the entire family for not having the balls to confront me personally...at the time...in front of everyone if need be! I cried about it for a few years. I am so insulted that MIL thought I would steal. And I think she still thinks I did.

I'm the one who tells the cashier if she didn't ring something up or charged too little. I'm the one who will take overpayment of change back into the store so the clerk's register won't come up short. I'm the one who finds a $20 on the sidewalk and runs after the person in front of me to ask if they lost it. On the other hand...my step BIL works for a large trucking company and constantly has things "fall off the trucks" and make their way to his home. Things like computers and televisions and even more expensive stuff. And he won't be in a room with me because I am a thief????

OMG...here comes those feelings again!!!!!!!!!!!

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Minds are like parachutes. They only work when they are open.

~Thomas Dewar~