Two years ago in December, my mother passed away unexpectedly. She was in her late 70s but had COPD issues due to a lifetime of heavy smoking but otherwise members of our family tend to live well into our 80s and 90s. So mom's passing was unexpected and I can honestly say that even at my age, I miss her greatly every single day.
Mom never had much. Abandoned by my father when we were still small children, plus health issues she had mid-life made life tough on our family but Mom kept us together. She raised us, loved us, and was thrilled as each of us grew to adulthood. But for herself she never had a lot. One thing she did have was free and clear ownership of her home from her early 50s onward.
It was a small home in a small town in eastern Ohio. It wasn't worth a lot. She had little savings. Plus it took us two years to sell that house. Because of her financial situation, my guess at the value of the house, legal fees, funeral expenses, house maintenance while we waited for it to sell, etc., I didn't expect to get much from my mother's estate.
Anything would have helped, of course, but I expected a few thousand dollars total.
Before I go further, I've budgeted out about $15,000 for my trip to Thailand for my gender confirmation surgery. I've waited a lifetime for this and could wait a few more years as I saved the money.
So imagine my surprise when I was informed that I and my siblings would each be receiving approximately $16000 as our last gift from Mom.
I'm sitting here with tears in my eyes today, looking heavenward, and repeating "Thank you, mom". For even in death, her last gift to me turned out to be perfect.
An Unexpected But Perfect Gift
