“Love is the greatest inheritance,” my late Grandma used to say. It took her shocking will reading for her greedy children to understand what she meant.

I was 15 when I spent my summer with Grandma Rosalind instead of partying. While pruning roses one day, she paused and asked me to promise to always stay true to myself. I had no idea how significant that moment would become.

A week before her 89th birthday, Dad rushed home with devastating news: Grandma had lost her hearing. Despite this, we decided to throw her a birthday party. During the celebration, I overheard my Uncle Bill and Aunt Sarah plotting to fight for Grandma’s house, calling her “old and stupid.” I confronted them, furious at their cruelty.

Later that night, Grandma revealed she wasn’t completely deaf; she could hear faintly. She knew everything and wanted to teach her children a lesson about their greed. We set up recorders to capture their harsh words, exposing their true colors.

When Grandma passed away peacefully in her sleep, her will reading was a spectacle. While my relatives received boxes containing recorders that played their own despicable remarks, I got a heartfelt letter from Grandma. She left everything to me, saying I saw her for who she was, not what she had.

As for my relatives, they each received a single dollar and a note: “Hope this is enough! Good luck!” Grandma’s final lesson reminded me that love, not wealth, is the true inheritance.