The Ring and Bill’s Will

Well, what a day it’s been so far and it’s not finished yet. I still have to finish writing my Will. When I think of my family, they mean the world to me. So why in the world is my son so ungrateful? I’ll never understand it. I’ve always been the most kind and caring father. My beloved wife is gone, but I will be by her side in heaven one day.

The worst part of today is, I have to fix my Will, which was written years ago. My name is Bill. I’m seventy years old and my wife, Susan has been gone now for twenty-five years. My wife and I wrote the Will together, but so much has changed since then. Our life as youngsters was full of love, but we could hardly make ends meet. We got married at the university church in June 1985. Although we had little money and everything went to our school bills, I had to get the best ring ever for my Susan. I mean I wanted her eyes to sparkle when she opened it. So I looked everywhere for the perfect ring. I even had my best friend Bob help me search. I finally found it at a small jewellery store in town. It was a large, round, solitaire diamond with a wide, platinum band. The largest they had! It was perfect. I couldn’t wait to give it to her! So we went out for dinner to a small restaurant near the university and I proposed. She cried and smiled the most beautiful smile. It was the best day of my life.

Since then, we’ve had two, amazing children, William and Anna. William was named after me. I was a young lawyer, just finishing school and trying to join a firm. We still had to finish paying for school. My wife was home with our children and was an amazing mother. We made our Will to the best of our ability back then, but now it needs to be changed. Unfortunately, my beautiful wife became gravely ill in her forties. I could hardly breathe, it was like my world crashed underneath me. Our entire lives were spent together, day in and day out ever since first year university. We loved each other and never fought. It was truly a match made in heaven. She was the only one in the world for me. She stayed by my side throughout university and then when I continued my legal studies at Yale. She studied design and loved being a designer. We married in New England and lived in a small house, while raising our children. Eventually, I graduated with honours and began my career in the best law firm in Maine. We were able to move out of our small home and into a large home by the water with a white, picket fence. When the love of my life passed away from cancer, I continued working. It was the only way I could survive and continue to support the children. What am I saying? By this time they weren’t children anymore. They both went away to university leaving me in silence.

Once Susan was gone, my life was not the same. I couldn’t cope with much, as I was dealing with her passing. So I worked and didn’t see much of my teenagers until they had their own families. They were home and I worked out of the home. I didn’t just work, I mean I worked day and night. I had court cases galore. In fact, I became the best lawyer in town and everyone wanted to hire me! I was always busy and often in court. As a successful lawyer, I was able to give my children everything their hearts desired. I even opened my own law firm. They in turn became successful adults. William became a lawyer after following in my footsteps and Anna studied design just like her mother. I was incredibly proud of them. They gave me four amazing grandchildren. William had two boys and Anna had two girls. How I wish my wife was there to see them grow up. My grandchildren became my life aside from my career, that is. I never moved from our beautiful home. How could I? It held all of our memories. 

So, I sit here today in my home office on my favourite leather chair. My wife helped me design it. She was amazing at choosing the right style and colours. It wasn’t your typical office. Yes, it had a huge library full of books that covered the wall on one side, which was dark mahogany wood, but the other walls were painted a soft lavender. It always reminds me of her. My desk is one of those big, lawyer desks and my chair is a navy blue colour, which Susan chose. So now I have to decide what my children will get and make it fair to both of them. I never had trouble with Anna, the problem was William. I expected more from him. Don’t get me wrong, he’s a wonderful father and terrific lawyer, but with me no matter what I did for him, he just wanted more and more. He was never satisfied. He was angry after losing his mom and never truly recovered. Like me, he didn’t handle his mother’s passing very well. When she was sick and in the hospital, he’d never go to see her. This was upsetting for Susan, but he just couldn’t handle it. He’d spend so much time making her get well cards and gifts for me to bring to her, but he never went to see her. We were lucky though, because one day she was well enough to come home. So he did get to see her again for one blessed week. The nurse was there everyday to help. This only lasted a week though, because she was rushed back to the hospital and was never able to come home again. This was devastating for all of us. William tried to cope just like me. He studied hard at Yale and followed in my footsteps. He became a lawyer and worked hard and for this I was grateful. 

So, as I sit here and revise our Will from years ago, I have such difficult decisions to make. I mean I hope everyone will be happy. I will leave the house to my darling, daughter Anna and I will leave my company to William. I mean seriously, William doesn’t need the home, he has a beautiful place down the road. Anna‘s home on the other hand is quite small, like the home we first lived in. I will also leave her our dishes and all the furniture. William will get my Mercedes. I will leave each of my grandchildren an inheritance and everyone will get something to remember Susan by. But Bob will get the ring. He could give it to his grandchildren. My children don’t need it and William just doesn’t deserve it. Ten years later, Bill passed away. It was the anniversary of their wedding day. William and Anna were by his side in the hospital this time. They were both sad. Anna cried everyday without being able to stop, but William just went into work. He coped just like his father. Then the day came for the reading of the Will. They were both pleased at the outcome. They loved their parents deeply, but sometimes couldn’t show it. There was just one problem, which William didn’t understand. The ring, where was the ring? No one knew, but deep down, he had wanted that ring for so long. His mother’s engagement ring from their father. He was going to keep it and give it to his wife one day, because he wanted her to have something special. He knew it was worth thousands today. His wife had rings of course, but this one had so much meaning to him, because it was his mother’s. But where was it?

He decided to ask his sister, but she didn’t know either. I mean she wanted it too. Although they weren’t that close anymore, especially since they had their own families, they did meet occasionally for a lunch to sit and chat. They always had family dinners during the holidays with their father, which everyone enjoyed. So at lunch one day they decided to contact their father‘s best friend from school, Bob. Bob knew where the ring was, because Bill left it to him. He had it in his safe. He was saving it for his only granddaughter. She deserved it. She was the light of his life and Bill was her Godfather. So when Anna and William arrived that day, he was expecting them to show up. Bill even warned him that they would. Bill told him the ring was the most important thing he had left and Bob promised to keep it safe. So they arrived right at his door and asked where it was. But he just smiled politely and said, “I have no idea!”