An old woman with estranged kids decides to pull a nasty prank on them to see who was worthy enough to inherit her wealth.
Agatha Stones was dying, and she knew it. The 83-year-old was a woman who had given birth to four kids before her husband Rodney passed away.
However, those kids had all become adults and moved away from home to start their own lives. It was something Agatha should have been proud of, but she felt the opposite way.
This was because all of her kids had become mostly interested in material things alone at the expense of important emotions like love. In their pursuit of money, they had lost most of their humanity.
Agatha had taught them upright qualities including kindness, love, sympathy, and empathy in their childhood but none of all that mattered in the face of money — the commodity they sought to own.
In addition to that, all four of her children always forgot to call her. At least that’s what they told her each time she confronted them.
“Business has been a lot, mom,” the eldest, Brian, would say.
“It totally slipped my mind but I was going to call to see how you were,” the second oldest, Sally, would say.
John and Mary, the twins who were both working in the same field as journalists, would give an excuse or the other about busy work schedules and overseas jobs.
Brian and Sally were both in their 50s with families of their own so if business wasn’t keeping them away, they had a lot of responsibilities.
But Agatha wished they would at least give her the opportunity to spend more time with her grandkids. Sally had two kids and Brian had one.
There was a brief pause at her outburst, but as soon as the silence was broken by a phone buzzing, they returned to dividing up their mom’s wealth.
Unknown to them, Agatha’s friend, Sharon, was listening in on their conversation and, after waiting a few minutes, walked into the living room where they all sat, to tell them it was time to say their final goodbyes to their mother.
“If I had to quickly determine the person who will receive all my properties, it would be Mary,” Agatha told them later.
“But I believe in you all, so I hope that this has really taught you a lesson.” Nobody answered for the longest time as they thought about how terrible their past actions had been. “Because I believe in your ability to change, I will make sure to divide the inheritance equally between all of you.”
That day turned the lives of all four children around, and they started to call more often and visit Agatha on the weekends.
When the holidays came, they celebrated as a big and happy family, making Agatha very proud. The old woman died 15 years later, and as promised, her wealth was divided up between all the children.
Sometime later, Agatha’s children reached a joint decision to honor their mother by using her wealth to fund the building of a shelter where less fortunate people could come together to celebrate the holidays.