Losing your mother as a child is hard enough, but dealing with someone who wants to destroy her memory is on another level.

What would you do if your dad and his new wife tried to erase every trace of your late mother from your childhood home? Would you stay quiet to keep the peace? Or would you step in to protect the few pieces of her you had left?

In the following story, one teen refuses to let her mother be discarded and ends up in a standoff with the very people who should’ve protected those memories. Here’s what happened.

AITA My dad and his wife threw my mom’s things in the trash and I took them back out and refused to give them back

My mom died when I (17f) was 10, and my dad remarried almost 3 years ago.

Last month, my dad’s wife got mad at my dad for keeping so many of my mom’s things or things that symbolized their marriage.

He kept her engagement and wedding ring in a box, his own on a chain around his neck, my mom’s postcard collection that she started as a kid, her favorite stuffy, a bottle of her perfume, her keychain, her passport holder, cooking and baking books she used to experiment with and a locket she wore all the time.

My brother (20m) and I got her jewelry and other items she had. They were shared between us after Mom died, and they’re at our aunt’s house for safekeeping.

Her dad and his wife wanted everything that belonged to her mother gone.

My dad’s wife said she wanted all that stuff gone, and the wedding photos, any couple photos of them, and any family photos in which Mom was in them had to be put away. But the rest had to go.

My dad fought back for about a day, and then they started throwing all the stuff in garbage bags, and they were brought out to the trash.

When they weren’t looking, I took all of it and brought it to my aunts to keep it safe.

It took two days for my dad’s wife to realize the trash was empty, and then she and my dad realized I had taken the stuff.

My dad’s wife went crazy and said they were in the trash for a reason.

She stood her ground and refused to give it back.

I told her I wasn’t letting my mom’s stuff go like that.

She said it doesn’t need to be in her house, and I said it wasn’t anymore, and she wouldn’t need to see it.

She said it was nothing but bad memories, and they didn’t need to be in her and my dad’s marriage.

I told her she didn’t need to worry, and they weren’t dad’s anymore.

Dad told me to just give the stuff back to them, and they’d deal with it, but I refused.

His wife said she wasn’t allowing that kind of disrespect in her house, and Dad said it’d be dealt with.

They asked a few people if they had them, and all said no. Including my brother (20m), who let them know he thought they were both disgusting and he didn’t want to talk to them again.

Getting desperate, her father exhausted a few options.

When that didn’t work, my dad tried to convince me again, and he failed. He said I was making it worse.

My dad’s wife told me she’s my stepmother and more deserving of respect.

I said she’ll never be my stepmother, she’ll never be my family, she’s just my dad’s insecure second wife who’ll never be good enough to be seen as family by me or my brother.

I told her I’m not giving them back.

She tried to get the police involved and accused me of stealing, but they brushed her off because I live in the house and took them from the trash, so… she said I’m a thief and the most disrespectful kind there is.

Here’s where things stand now.

She asked if this was worth hurting my relationship with them.

And I told her I didn’t care about having a relationship with her to begin with. I told her she was nothing to me and to stop acting like she had some kind of real authority over me.

I told her I was willing to accept whatever consequences they gave because I would be leaving as soon as possible, and nothing she said or did would stop me.

My dad stopped her from taking everything I own as leverage, but he’s still applying pressure.

It’s been annoying to deal with, but it could be way worse. But I came here to find out from outside parties if they think I’m wrong for what I’m doing.

AITA?

Yikes! That stepmom sounds very unreasonable!

Let’s check out what the readers over at Reddit have to say about her.

Harsh words, but, oh so true.

This person doesn’t mince words.

Excellent advice right here.

She does need to learn respect and boundaries!

She needs to get out of there ASAP.

If you liked this post, you might want to read this story about a teacher who taught the school’s administration a lesson after they made a sick kid take a final exam.