A week before Christmas, my brother Ryan and his wife Lindsey arrived at my door in a panic—they had lost heat and their house was freezing. Although I was hesitant, my husband Nathan and I decided to let them stay, thinking it would only be for a few days. At first, things seemed fine, but by the third day, Lindsey’s inconsiderate behavior started to get on my nerves. She monopolized our master bathroom, left a mess everywhere, and even helped herself to my clothes without asking! However, none of that compared to what happened on Christmas Eve.
That morning, as we sat down for breakfast, I noticed something strange—Mom’s urn was missing from the mantel where it had been decorated. When I asked about it, Lindsey casually admitted that she had thrown my mother’s ashes out in the backyard because the vase “scared her.” I was horrified. This was our first Christmas without Mom, and honoring her wish to “spend” Christmas with us meant everything to me and Ryan. Filled with rage, I rushed outside, hoping to recover what I could, but it was too late.
Later that night, Lindsey’s nightmare began. A blood-curdling scream woke us up, and Nathan and I rushed to their room, only to find the place flooded with foul-smelling sewage—the toilet had backed up! As Lindsey shrieked and Ryan scrambled to clean up the mess, Nathan and I couldn’t hide our amusement. We couldn’t help but think it was a form of karmic justice for what Lindsey had done to Mom. The plumber couldn’t come until the next day, so they had to endure the stench throughout Christmas Day.
During Christmas dinner with the extended family, Lindsey was unusually quiet while the rest of us laughed and enjoyed the holiday. When she tried to complain about her ordeal, the family turned on her, appalled by her actions. Ryan later pulled me aside to apologize, admitting he didn’t know Lindsey would do something so terrible. Although my anger flared up again, seeing Lindsey humiliated and shunned by everyone felt like enough punishment for now.
That night, as Nathan and I cleaned up, he joked that maybe Mom had been with us after all, getting a little revenge in her own way. I laughed, feeling lighter for the first time since her ashes were lost. While the holiday hadn’t gone as planned, I felt Mom’s presence with us, stronger than ever. Despite Lindsey’s thoughtlessness, the Christmas ended with the comforting thought that, in some strange way, Mom had still been part of it.
