The last Gift

My mother has been dead for over 10 years. I was away when she took ill and she was being cared for by my older sister and brother. I was the youngest of seven siblings I guess you could say I was the spoiled one and sometimes the problem child. Especially when it came to always needing money. I struggled through two failed marriages, countless jobs that were dead end and being taken by scam artist in the entertainment industry as an actor in the Atlanta area.

We are tearing down the family home today in clearing out all of its contents. As I walk through the dilapidated house I felt a sense of nostalgia and sadness. Nostalgia because I remember growing up with my sisters and brothers in this home which my father built with his own hands. Sadness because I really wanted to make my mark in life and and build my parents A better more modernized home. That never came to pass. In spite of my struggles I manage to do well for myself professionally as a military man and a fire chief. I like to think that they were proud of me but I have my doubts because they would always bail me out of tough financial situations and passed away before I could truly thank them with material gifts. They knew I loved them but they deserve so much more in their later years. As we went through the house cleaning out closets I stumbled into the living room area. I looked over at the fireplace and noticed a brick had fallen loose. Even though we were tearing the house down I guess my head and OCD took over and I picked up the brick to put it back in place and something was blocking me from doing it. I reached inside to see if I could widen the opening a little bit and felt a leathery object. I didn’t know if it was a dead squirrel or what so I just grabbed whatever it was and pulled it out. To my surprise it was a leather binder with a seal. I broke open the seal and the black notebook was revealed to me inside of the binder. When I open the notebook there was riding in it. I was shocked to see that the writing was a letter addressed to me by my mother. The letter read as follows, my dearest son Dave, I know that life has dealt you a bad hand but you were my last born and I truly adored you when you were first born. Your father and I wanted to spoil you to death. This probably made your brothers and sisters a little jealous because we made such a fuss over you, but we loved them all just as much. There was something different about you. You had this glow when you came into the world as if the angels presented you to us as a divine gift. We began setting money aside for you in a safety deposit box at our local bank. Enclosed you will find the key to the safety deposit box. No one knows about this but me and your father and now you. In fact I trusted God so much so that I kept this information from you and prayed to God that he would lead you to this notebook and its contents so that you can receive one last gift from me and your father. I know you will do the right thing. PS I know that your life has been hard but I want you to know I’ve always been proud of you. I know you wanted to do great things for me and your father but the greatest thing that you ever done was to be born so go forward with your life from this point and follow your dreams and your passion your true passion. Love mom. I close the notebook and picked up the key. I was feeling some kind away hard to describe. Part of me believe this was some type of cruel joke but it was my mother‘s handwriting I recognize it anywhere because I receive letters from her when I was overseas serving in the military.

I went to the local bank with the key and I asked the bank manager to allow me to go inside the vault to check the safety deposit box and my mothers name. What’s inside I got chills. I did not know what to expect. I remove the box from the shelf and opened it up. There was backs of banded $100 bills more money than I’ve ever seen. I asked the bank manager to give me a billcounter so that I could get an accurate count of exactly how much money it was. After all said and done the total amount in the safety deposit box was $2 million.taped to the bottom of the box was an envelope with my name on it. I opened it and there was another letter in my mother’s handwriting. The only words on the letter was I know you’ll do the right thing love mom and dad. I wept!