Fandango has given us Inheritance as our prompt today.
FDDA 5th August
My family weren’t rich, so any monetary inheritance was a non starter, and after my Dad died, Mum made her own funeral arrangements so that us kids wouldn’t have the worry. She never had a lot of money and as she was on a reduced pension, qualified for pension credits. She always put her winter heating allowance (even though the government started to reduce it every year) towards Christmas as she couldn’t get out to buy gifts so would send a small cheque to the grandchildren however many times removed. Before her death, we had five living generations, now we still do but they are sideways by means of uncles and aunts rather than a direct line.
When Mum came up to us for holidays, she always ‘paid her way’ by contributing to the household shop or treating us to cakes or similar if we were out.
Therefore you can imagine my utter surprise and pleasure to receive a cheque from my sister as my ‘quarter share’ of Mum’s estate two years ago.
It wasn’t a huge amount, but for my Mum’s circumstances it was a lot, and enough to buy a few things for the house, including a much needed new cooker. I have the box of Mum’s treasures she put aside for me, each item in a box marked with my name in her hand.
Inheritance isn’t just about money. It’s a host of things, like my natural gift for music passed on from my Dad, my love of nature and animals, my rapport with dogs, my hazel brown eyes, my good skin, my sense of caring, being a ‘people person’, all wrapped up in my general persona and inherited from not only my parents, but the generations before.
I like to think I got most of the good stuff!
You are so right Di π
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Youβre lucky to have inherited all these lovely qualities.
I am grateful to have them.
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What a nice little piece, well done.
thank you and thanks for the follow too.
You are so right about the inheritance. It is not the $$ but the intangible things – my father’s laugh, my mother’s sense of humor, and my red hair (4th generation)! Some people are all about the money. I can see that the major bones of contention will be the picture frame with my great grandmother’s photo in it, the wooden potato masher, and my great great grandfather’s butcher knife…
I don’t know what happened to the photo of my grandmother or me as a baby that used to be on the piano. I don’t know what happened to that either, Mys sister didn’t play and Mum said in her will if she didn’t want it it should be sold and the proceeds split between the two of us. It wasn’t mentioned and I won’t ask. I have my treasures and the memories that go with them.
I’m sure you got all the good stuff Di! Its nice you’ve got a box of treasures from your mum!
I have Carol Anne and they are all priceless.