Sometimes Money Does Grow on Trees

Sometimes Money Does Grow on Trees by Belinda Berry

My discovery changed my life. It’s almost as if a gust of wind shook a money tree and I was rewarded with a windfall of cash. Both of my parents had been gone for several years. My father first, then, more recently, my mother. I had the daunting task of sorting through my parents’ cards, letters, and photographs after all the other family members removed the things they wanted. A task like this takes time. Daily responsibilities plus the sadness and nostalgia that inevitably come along with such chores resulted in many periods of stopping and starting again.

One quiet, rainy Saturday afternoon, I reopened a cardboard box containing odds and ends that I had barely glanced at previously. I lifted out envelopes of old letters, sifted through postcards, grabbed some old college photos, then set them all aside. Once those items were removed, my eye was immediately drawn to a small black Moleskine notebook laying near the bottom of the box. Trying to remember if I had seen it before, I quickly fanned through the pages. Random notes, lists, a few important memories of gatherings with old friends, career highlights, then - -WOW! ---a single page with detailed notes regarding brokerage accounts my father had inherited in the 1980s. The four accounts were listed by name and trading symbol.

Union Pacific Railroad Cisco Amgen Boeing

“Why weren’t these in with his other files, his will, or listed with his own broker?” I puzzled. “Dementia?” What other reason could there be? Dad had suffered a stroke five years before his death. As those last years closed in, he began slowly drifting away from us mentally. In the notebook, I found instructions on where to locate a file with the brokerage account statements. They were in an old briefcase in the back of a closet, according to his notes. Recalling what an emotional rollercoaster that time was after losing the patriarch and rock of our family, I realized that my siblings and I may have overlooked the significance of that old briefcase. As I thought about it, I remembered that it was locked and lightweight, so we assumed it was empty or unimportant and left it with the boxes I was to sort later.

My brother and sister had already been in town for several days and had planes to catch shortly after the memorial service, so any other decisions were my responsibility. Finding the briefcase was my first step in solving the mystery of the forgotten accounts. Once located in my storage, I realized that the initials stamped into the leather above the lock were my grandfather’s, JRB, not my father’s ‘JRB Jr’. My second step was to break the lock.

Time to investigate. I rushed home from my storage. Excitedly opening my laptop, I researched the brokerage firm and the stocks listed. An eager phone call to my financial advisor regarding my discovery put me in a state of shock and momentary disbelief! He had kindly agreed to calculate their selling prices and the taxes due. Even after selling and splitting the proceeds with my siblings, then paying capital gains taxes, I was to gain a profit of $20,000. This money was enough to overcome the recent financial losses that were limiting me. With my financial worries greatly behind me, I could now let go of past mistakes, reflect on what was really important to me, and re-prioritize. As I reflected on my newfound gift, I thought of the saying, “money doesn't grow on trees” and chuckled. Paper comes from trees. Currency is, for the most part, printed on paper. So, sometimes money does grow on trees and I happily gathered mine up!