For years, Monica’s mother-in-law, Lina, has been giving her porcelain dolls for Christmas. Monica always thought they were mere antiques and kept them hidden in her closet. But her husband, Andy, sees them and reveals their purpose.
I’ve been married for five years, and every year my mother-in-law gave me porcelain dolls. At first, I thought it was cute because they looked like antiques, and she always gave them to me in a box when no one was around.
I assumed they were part of her collection and she didn’t want the rest of the family to know.
But I was wrong.
Christmas gifts | Source: Pixabay
I’m not particularly passionate about dolls, so I never needed to display them in our house. Instead, I hid them at the back of my closet because I didn’t know what to do with them. I thought about giving them to the children at the neighboring orphanage, but what would they do with fragile porcelain dolls that you can’t really play with?
This year, my husband promised me a new wardrobe for Christmas. A few weeks earlier, we were putting away all my clothes before the carpenter transformed the wardrobe into a custom-made piece.
Anyway, I was kneeling and taking out the dolls when Andy, my husband, went very pale.
White wooden cupboard | Source: Pexels
“Where do they come from?” he asked, pointing to the first doll.
“From your mother, these have been my Christmas presents all these years,” I replied.
“Five years? Monica, really?”
“What ?”
“Come with me,” he said, taking them and rushing out of our room.
“Where are you going?” I asked, following him.
Porcelain doll | Source: Pixabay
I hadn’t seen Andy this upset since his car was stolen during one of our outings. I followed him to the living room, where he threw all the dolls into the fireplace and started a fire. It was the middle of winter, and the fireplace was in constant use. The flames soon melted the dolls.
“Please explain to me why you did that,” I said, sitting down on the couch.
Andy looked at me, horrified.
“My, you know our cultures are very different, right?” he asked.
I nodded. Of course, I knew I was still learning Andy’s culture.
A fireplace | Source: Pexels
“Darling, these dolls are used to purify the homes they are placed in. They eliminate all negative energy. That’s their role—to absorb energy and protect the home.”
“That sounds good,” I replied, intrigued by the story. But also a little scared because Lina, my mother-in-law, never mentioned it.
“Yes and no,” Andy said. “According to legend, the dolls reach a point where they can no longer absorb negative energy. It’s as if they absorb everything they can, and when they can’t do that anymore, they start poisoning the air around them. They envelop the house in disease. They are said to literally make the air toxic.”
“What?” I exclaimed, puzzled. “How can we fix this? They’ve been here for years!”
“I know that burning them is a way to symbolically get rid of all the absorbed energy. That’s why I burned them. Usually, you have to add incense and possibly flowers as an offering and do it outside, but it should be fine for now.”
Incense and candle | Source: Pexels
“Are you serious about all this?” I asked.
Andy nodded.
I knew he wouldn’t have reacted like that for nothing, but it was insane. Lina should have told me.
“It’s a tradition, but I didn’t know Mom gave you this every year.”
Later, after Andy had collected all the ashes and taken them to the nearby park for disposal, I called my mother-in-law. I needed to know why she hadn’t told me about the dolls and their purpose.
Lina answers the phone and listens to me silently.
“It’s your responsibility, Monica,” she said. “You need to learn our family traditions. Especially if you and Andy want to have children someday. Don’t accept gifts without understanding the reason.”
Worried woman on the phone | Source: Pexels
I was shaken by the whole situation, I admit. But I realized that our cultural differences were greater than I thought.
That Christmas, Andy and I decided to be more open about our family traditions, even if they seemed strange. Ultimately, this revelation brought us closer and allowed us to better understand our relationship.
Today, Andy and I are talking about all the weird and wonderful superstitions in his culture, and I’m making some recipes that date back to my great-grandmother’s time, since my family isn’t really culturally oriented.
All I’m saying is, if you’re in a relationship with someone from another culture, get to know everything you can – especially if it involves dolls!
Porcelain dolls | Source: getty images
Now, how would you have reacted if you were in the woman’s place?
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