FWIW - the desire for gold jewelry may have been something deeper than you think. I suspect to her, being given jewelry for a day like this means that she is VALUED. It's not about the jewelry itself, as in, she just has to have some gold jewelry. It's about what the jewelry SAYS - that she is loved and valued by someone.
It can be almost a status thing, too, between women. Their friends ask "what did you get?" and the woman with the nice tennis bracelet gets to show it off and feel like she has "proof" that she is loved.
Silly, isn't it? I'm a very frugal, practical person, and not really into jewelry (mine is all very inexpensive). BUT - I can remember being in my early 20's, and feeling envious of those girls whose boyfriends bought them jewelry for Valentine's Day, etc. To me, it said they were cherished by someone, and I felt like my boyfriend's failure to do so meant he didn't value me as much as those other girls' boyfriends valued them. (I said it was silly, right?)
So - I don't really know your sitch, but I'm thinking her rage came out of the pain of not feeling loved and valued.
I understand about the financial difficulties, but would it have been possible to buy her some inexpensive jewelry? Would she have been satisfied with some $40 trinket, or is she a quality-only girl? Surely $40 wouldn't have made that big a difference in your already-bad financial situation?
