This may be one of the most valuable items in my house...

[debodun]

...and it ruined a friendship. It is an authentic piece of scrimshaw depicting the American poet John Greenleaf Whittier on one side and stanzas of his poem "The Eternal Goodness" on the other. Unlike most scrimshaw, this has a unique motif since most pieces have a nautical or whaling theme carved in. It is also mounted in a bronze or brass base. The name "Sarah" is surrounded by a star made of inlaid abalone shell, which may have been a relative, wife or sweetheart of the artist. An initial "D" is near the bottom on one side. It is hollow, so it is a real tooth, not a plastic reproduction.

 

[Pepper]

How did it ruin a friendship? Please tell!

 

[debodun]

A woman that used to work in the same place I did, volunteered to come to my house to help me after she heard my mother had passed. When she was helping me sort through things (you think I have a lot of stuff now, you should have seen the house back then!) she happened to see this and said she'd love to have it because her daughter's name was Sarah. Knowing it was an almost priceless object d'art, I didn't want to part with it.

Back then, things had drastically changed in my life so I made a new will and put in it that the woman would get the scrimshaw as a benefactor. Then I made the mistake of telling her. At first she gushed; couldn't thank me enough. We even traveled to Mystic Seaport Museum to show it to the curator there. Then she was transferred to another department.

We stayed in touch, though. About 2 years after that I received a phone call from her asking me to give it to her (I surmise she couldn't wait for me to kick off). I though it was very cheeky of her to ask for her inheritance before my demise. I refused. She slammed down the phone and I've never heard from her since. Makes me think she was just pretending to be friends to get what she could out of my mom's estate - she had taken other items before this, like a student lamp, as payment for helping me.

Last year I re-made my will and left it instead to the Mystic Seaport Museum. See what happens when you get greedy with me!

 

[Pepper]

You know, I've lived in small towns, rural towns, suburbs, small cities, huge cities. In my experience, despite it's bad reputation and inconveniences, huge cities have the most normal people, and per capita, the safest place to live.

I know that sounds like I'm changing the subject, but I'm really not.

Deb, she's a horrible woman hoping you'll kick off. Gross. Despicable.

 

[debodun]

Well, I don't think she actually wanted me to croak, she just wanted me to give her her inheritance beforehand, but her impatience rubbed me the wrong way. She's not going to get it now. It will go to a place where more people can see it.