Inheritance

Inheritance. It is what we leave behind for those that we love. Not just financial matters, but our life choices too. How we live affects those that we love.

I once heard a story of a widow who very much had this in mind in her later years. She looked upon all that she owned as a gift to be passed down. She did not wait to pass away, to share the wealth that she had accrued over the years. She gave a significant portion of it down to the generations below her while she was still alive. She was grey haired and had her fair share of wrinkles, but her mind was sharp and she knew what she was doing. She kept enough for herself to meet her own daily needs, and then bestowed the rest to her family, seeing their gratefulness with her own two eyes. They did not take this act of generosity lightly and stewarded their inheritance well. Most of her children and grandchildren were men and boys, and so she gave her only female descendant the choice of her jewelry. They sat together one morning, and the young woman was given these instructions by her matriarch: “Choose whatever you would like from my collection, but only choose what it is that you really like”. And so the younger woman of the two sat there in amazement and gratitude, and she did just that. She carefully looked upon the jewelry and asked the history of the pieces, finding out stories that she had not heard before about the older woman’s life. She chose some pieces, and to this day they remind and inspire her of the selfless love and generosity of her matriarch.

I am inspired by this story. I hope to live with this same selfless and generous heart for the generations that follow me.