Caught A Glimpse
She pinched her nose shut as the kitchen filled with the smell of old, thawing food
She carefully slipped her hand into the freezer and grabbed ahold of the strange object, yanking and pulling at it until she finally managed to remove it from the packed freezer. She carefully held it in the hands as she checked what was inside. As soon as she caught a glimpse, she jumped back. Why would something like this be in the freezer?!
Family Celebrations
Melody Harris loved her large, loving family more than she could put into words. She was so grateful to have them by her side through thick and thin.
Her whole life, she had been attending massive holiday dinners and spectacular birthday celebrations with her family. Her grandparents would always attend and everyone loved having them around. It was a hard time for everyone when Ganny K passed away from cancer, and just a year later, the family was struck by more tragic news
Grandpa Norm
Being in his 80's never stopped Grandpa Norm from being an active man.
But when his wife passed away, it drained him of all motivation. Long gone were the days of morning jogs and swimming aerobics. He became less lively as time passed. Melody was heartbroken when she learned about his sudden passing from a heart attack.
Touched Many
The church was packed at his funeral. So many people wanted to pay their respects. It showed how many people he had touched during his lifetime.
Despite the condolences, Melody didn't feel any better about his passing, despite all of the condolences, nor did her mom. She had lost her father. She only broke out of the painful mourning at the reading of his last will and testament.
Generous Man
Grandpa Norm was a very generous man and he had been generous to many people.
But when it was her turn to hear what he had left her, she nearly fell from her seat. He left her his house! This news came with a bunch of dirty glances from some of her cousins.
Sorting His Things
It was just days later when Melody and her mother made their way over to the quiet home.
Walking into his home without him broke their hearts all over again. Tears were welling up in their eyes and streaming down their cheeks as they sorted through his things. It made them cry even harder when they found the photos of their family trip to Disneyland. At the time, Melody had no clue what shocking secret was hiding just feet away from her.
All Frozen
Grandpa Norm's food was filled with every container and food you could think of. He always liked to keep things stocked, but this was a little extreme, even for him.
His freezer was just as full with wrapped steaks, frozen veggies, and many half-opened boxes. To make it worse, everything was frozen together to create one, big, frozen blob. But as she was staring at the frozen blob, she saw something strange.
Stood Out
She poked at it as a confused expression settled on her face, "What's this?" She asked her mom.
It looked different than any other package, so it stood out. She couldn't pull it out of the frozen mess, so she decided to let it melt first.
Growing Hunger
She moved swiftly as she mopped the mess from the floor. She looked back at the freezer that was slowly defrosting. She was so curious to know what the mysterious packaging was.
She wondered if it could be an odd kind of meat, after all, Grandpa Norm wanted to try Kobe beef. She grew hungry at the thought, and when she finally got to pull the brick from the freezer, she was drooling at the thought of what could be inside of it. What was inside?!
Surprise!
She moved fast as she removed the plastic from the top of it. She caught a glimpse of something red on the inside.
It wasn't what she was hoping for. This definitely wasn't meat. She gasped as she stumbled back. Her mom quickly came over and reacted the exact same way when she saw what was inside. It was money, a lot of money. Melody's hands were tightly wrapped around the stack of cash as she took a seat.
A Small Fortune
Each one was a twenty-dollar bill.
Melody and her mother counted them one by one until the grand total came to a staggering $15,000! Grandpa K must have not trusted the banks enough to put his savings there. But did he even remember he had it when he had decided to give her the house? There was also another troubling matter.
Legal To Keep?
Large sums of money usually drew the authorities. Things like tax fraud or evasion would draw groups like the FBI – that is if they declared it.
After some internet sleuthing, and a few careful phone calls, Melody had an important decision to make. While it seemed that keeping the cash would be okay, there was another group that wouldn’t smile kindly on the financial hording.
Sour Family
If her cousins found out she had got a house AND a wad of cash, she would never hear the end of it.
She sat in her grandfather’s favorite chair, trying to decide how to handle the shocking revelation. But in the end, there was one thing that sealed the deal.
Being Like Her Grandparents
Her grandparents had been generous people – so she should be as well.
In the end, Melody decided to divide the money among her and her 7 cousins. When she called them to have a family dinner, she hoped the gesture would soothe whatever anger they still felt. When the time came, and she explained what had happened, she braced for their reaction.
Beef Time
Their eyes turned wide with surprise. A couple cousins tried to bicker that Melody should sell the house and divide that money as well, but most of them were thankful for her honesty and that she had thought of them.
It might not have been a perfect ending, but it was something she knew her grandparents would be proud of her doing. And she was going to use a bit of the money to try some Kobe beef on behalf of Grandpa Norm.