DEAR ABBY: My grandmother had beautiful but simple emerald jewelry. When I was 10, she told me that because I was her only grandchild who shared emerald as a birthstone, when she died, the jewelry would be mine.
Fast-forward 30 years. A year before her death, my grandmother asked my mother if there was anything of hers we wanted. Mom immediately mentioned the emerald jewelry for me. Grandma then informed Mom that we were "too late," she'd already given it to my aunt, her daughter-in-law. I never let on to my grandmother how upset I was, but I was devastated. A year later she passed away at 86. It's not her fault that she forgot she'd promised the jewelry to me.
My aunt has no daughters, and the odds are slim that she'll have grandchildren. I don't want to ask her to give me the jewelry. My grandmother was precious to her, too. But would it be wrong to ask her to not promise it to anyone else, and to leave it to me in her will? -- HOPEFUL IN CANADA
DEAR HOPEFUL: You wouldn't be wrong, but it will require a delicate touch. Not only should you do it, you should do it soon, before she does exactly what you fear.