You would think the passing of a beloved family member would bring people closer together.

Sadly, we know this often isn’t the case.

This time, an aunt is refusing to share grandma’s ashes or dispose of them like she would have wanted.

So a couple of cousins conspired to make other plans.

Find out how they stole the ashes!

Try to oust my mother from spreading my grandmother’s ashes? Okay. I’ll steal some.

My grandmother passed in November 2016.

It was a really hard loss for my family, especially my cousin, who was really close to her.

We had a beautiful end-of-life ceremony for her in lieu of a funeral, and she was cremated as well.

My aunt kept the urn.

The aunt was the real problem.

Over the years my aunt has crept from a manageable pain in the nose to a completely self-absorbed, borderline psychotic individual.

I could go on and on about the drama she has put my family through, but the important bits for this tale are that she lived closer to my grandmother throughout her life (though my mother, her sister, only lived about an hour away).

So she saw my grandmother more often, and that into adulthood my grandmother seemed to have a preference for interacting with my mother, because she’s lower maintenance than my aunt.

She had problems with her son as well!

One last thing is that my aunt has kicked my cousin out of the house about 4 times since he has turned 18, not even a year ago.

She’s an alcoholic, he’s, well, 18 and headstrong.

After the end-of-life ceremony, my aunt stopped talking much to my mother.

She never really mentioned having the urn, and my mother never laid eyes on it, despite it being her mother.

A year or so went by until one day my aunt popped up and stated that SHE was going to spread the ashes at a nearby beach that we all visited throughout our lives.

She was the real devil!

She picked a date without consulting anyone (specifically my mother) and said if we could make it, great, if not, tough luck.

Needless to say, everyone was miffed, but my mother, myself, and my cousin switched our work schedules in order to be there.

This was communicated clearly.

Fast forward to the week before this event, my aunt now messages us all stating that she has an obligation the next day and will not be able to “handle” the ashes spreading on the date planned.

She had no regard for anyone’s feelings!

She changed the date to one week later and, again, if you couldn’t make it, tough luck.

My mother and I were irritated and stated that we did not think we could change our schedules two weeks in a row.

My mother owns a business, which makes changing dates hard.

My aunt went on to say that it was my MOTHERS fault for the date switch “due to her schedule,” and when called out that she had just said that she needed the date changed, abruptly ended the conversation and didn’t respond to anything else.

Everyone was really hurt!

My mother and I spoke at length.

She was hurt and angry at her sister for never consulting with her about how to handle a ceremony with the ashes, and even more upset that her own sister would not wait to do this with her.

(When asked about why this had to be done NOW, opposed to waiting until everyone could be there, my aunt stated that my grandmother’s brother, who is in poor health, wanted the ashes spread ASAP so “he knows it was done,” and that he wanted a video of the event.)

The aunt had her way around the situation!

My mother eventually told my aunt that she wasn’t going and that she just wanted to see the video that my aunt took of the event.

She told me and my father that she just couldn’t deal with my aunt’s drama, and, where she was focusing on her own mental health, didn’t want to compromise her progress because my aunt causes her so much stress.

This enraged me.

She was sad about the situation.

I was upset already, but was completely floored by the idea that my aunt would have this ceremony without anyone present but her and her boyfriend (my cousin didn’t know if he could make it either).

I was so hurt for my mother, who clearly was just avoiding conflict with her sister, and would miss this event that could bring her closure with her own mother (they had a hard relationship as she grew up).

I was frustrated for myself and my cousin, who would love to have an experience of letting go of my grandmother together as a family, as well.

So I made a plan.

The son wanted his revenge as well!

My cousin was living back at home and he was also furious with his mother, so I tell him, “Hey, I need you to do something really weird, but it’s for my mother.”

And like a trooper he says, “Anything for you guys.”

And that’s how the ashes heist began.

My cousin didn’t hesitate.

One afternoon while my aunt was at work, my cousin broke into the urn and stole about ½ cup of my grandmother, double bagged it, and promptly hid it in a container of hair pomade like a grandma drug stash.

The plan got executed!

Later that night, in the dark and pouring rain, we met in an abandoned parking lot where he passed me the goods.

He said he stole himself some of my grandmother too.

We felt vindicated. We hugged and parted ways.

Two weeks later I gave my mother the ashes in a tiny keepsake urn while visiting her for my birthday.

She cried. We hugged.

The mother felt at peace!

And I could see the anxiety about the whole thing wash off her, because she’s now in control of her own goodbye ceremony, independent from my aunt, who has no idea what happened.

This past Sunday my aunt spread the ashes at the beach, as planned. She didn’t take a video.

She still hasn’t responded to my mother, who asked for the video the day of.

My cousin says the urn is empty. No one has heard from my aunt at all.

I imagine myself being so much more furious if I hadn’t bested her.

I imagine my mother being quietly devastated and never being able to do anything about it.

The aunt is yet to find out!

My aunt lives in a world where she planned this event with no regard for anyone else, and lied about taking a video of it for the family, a video that would have been our only connection to that moment.

A moment she robbed my mother, my cousin, and myself of.

But she has no idea what my cousin and I have done, how we had to plan in advance for her douchebaggery in order to ensure that we were spared her selfishness.

I can’t wait to tell her.

This girl did the best thing for her mother!

Let’s find out what the Reddit community has to say about this story.

This user would have loved it if they stole the entire thing!

This user loves the story and has more expectations!

This user thinks this is a great story!

That’s right! This story deserves to be passed on.

This user has a better idea of breaking the news.

No one is taking the aunt’s side, that’s for sure.

It wouldn’t have been that hard to just act like a grownup, would it?

If you liked that post, check this one about a guy who got revenge on his condo by making his own Christmas light rules.