DEAR ABBY: Our father died three years ago. He was married to "Mildred," his second wife, for more than 10 years. We weren't close to her. However, we do write occasionally and see her once or twice a year. He left everything to her in his will, which we accept.
Never in all the time since our father died has Mildred offered to give us anything of Dad's. Just something small and personal would be greatly appreciated and treasured. We're not talking about anything of monetary value. Also, there are numerous items such as old family photographs, a few things of my grandmother's, etc. We can't figure out why she would want to keep them, and we feel they should be kept in our family.
We thought that in time, she'd give us these items, so we haven't asked her about them. Perhaps if she sees this letter she will realize that this means a lot to us. What do you think we should do, Abby? Or should we just ask her? -- HIS CHILDREN
DEAR CHILDREN: Mildred isn't a mind reader. By all means, ask her. Granted, offering you something that belonged to your father would have been the sensitive thing to do, but she may have been preoccupied by her own grief, or perhaps she didn't think there was anything you wanted. Don't count on her seeing your letter in my column -- speak up.