Vincent van Gogh famously wrapped his severed ear in paper and gave it to a woman in 1888. About sixteen years later, Lara Remonu, perhaps somewhat inspired by the artist, wanted to send an old sweetheart the finger he had once promised to put a ring on.
The seventy-year-old Jersey City Heights woman reportedly took her own life in late August 1904 by hanging herself with her wedding sash. Among her belongings was a letter addressed “To him who buries me,” containing one final strange request—and the name and address of a former suitor living in Columbus, Ohio.
According to Remonu, the man had once sworn that he would someday place a wedding ring on the fourth finger of her left hand. She married someone else, but by the time of her suicide her husband was dead and her friends were gone. She did not want her old lover to die without fulfilling his youthful oath.
“I have nothing more to live for, and I will make this strange request,” she wrote, “that the fourth finger of my left hand be cut off and sent to the man.” He could then “do with the finger what he wishes.” Presumably she hoped he’d finally slip on the long-overdue ring.
The undertaker refused to comply with Remonu’s wish. As the paper noted, “He believes the old woman was insane.”
