The people mentioned in a will can tell you a lot about the relationship they had with the person who wrote it. They usually will leave money or property or any other valuables to those who they considered worth it, leaving the unworthy unmentioned.
But this grandma thought that she would still mention her estranged daughter in her will. Although it was not because she wanted to leave an inheritance for her; rather, she calculated that her daughter still owed her money.
More info: Reddit
Family found it funny how grandmother didn't allow her daughter to get away with borrowing money and not returning it
Image credits: Jessica Merz (not the actual photo)
In her will, the grandma left money for her all of her children and grandchildren except for one daughter who received only a message: "You still owe me 14 dollars”
Image credits: Marcin Wichary (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Christopher Holden (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Spycenrice
Which was a slap in her face as the only thing she was worried about after her mom died was her money, but not paying back her debts didn't pay off
The Original Poster (OP) is 17 years old and for 7 years of her life, she has lived with her grandmother as she almost always had an absent parent. She described her grandma as a strong and independent woman who wasn’t afraid of hard work and had a way of handling money well.
The grandmother had 3 children who became addicts, so she also raised her granddaughters. However, the OP never blamed her grandma for how her children turned out because their reasons were unrelated to their mom. She also added that she and her sisters are going to therapy for reasons that are also unrelated to their grandmother, but at least they know they can get help.
Of the 3 children, OP’s dad and uncle became addicts but kept in touch with their mom, but her aunt, who she calls J in the story as she doesn’t even know her name, became estranged, although that didn’t keep her from asking her mom for money.
When Bored Panda got in touch with the granddaughter, she explained to us, why the woman even bothered lending money to a person who didn't want her in her life, "My grandmother loved her kids more than anything on the planet, and her grandkids. Couldn’t say no to them. It was one of her few flaws. Only over time did she learn tough love."
The OP doesn't really know the exact reason why her aunt got estranged but from what she has gathered, she could say her "grandparents were probably sick of tolerating [her behavior], and that made J mad. They loved their kids, but they would be told when they’d done something wrong, and my grandparents were strictly no drugs." The rest of the family didn't like J either because she would use them for money as well.
After getting diagnosed with brain cancer, the grandma lived on for two years and then passed away and because she was careful about her money, she had some to give her children. Every one of them got a piece except for J.
Money was the only thing the aunt could think about when her mom died, but not only did she not receive an inheritance, but her mom left a message to her in her will: “You still owe me 14 dollars.” Assuming she already deducted the inheritance from the debt her daughter accumulated over the years of not repaying her.
The teenager isn’t sure if the note legally required her to return the owed money or if it was just a petty message, but it made her grandmother even cooler in her eyes. She also told us that she doesn't know the aunt's exact reaction, "but I know she was most likely fuming."
She also shared her own reaction with us, "I found out about it while my mom was on a phone call with my dad, and when we heard it my mom and I looked at each other and she said,'That’s definitely YOUR grandma.'"
People in the comments also were pretty amused that the grandmother would leave such a message, but some of them were pretty suspicious about the family dynamics as her children became addicts and one even became estranged.
Image credits: Daniel Ramirez (not the actual photo)
The OP revealed more information in the replies to comments about the troubles her aunt and uncles went through and the events that lead them to find solace in drugs happened outside their mom's reach.
It is true that upbringing leads to various problems when the child grows up, but sometimes parents are not to blame and it seems that the teen wouldn’t put it on her grandmother either as she was also raised by her and loves her as well as her sisters do.
Restore Health And Wellness Center says that “Drug and alcohol addiction arises from both genetic and environmental factors.” You can’t really control your genetics and the only thing you can do about that is educate your children about family tendencies so they will be extra careful.
They also don’t put all the responsibility on them to control the children’s environment, either: “by the time a child reaches his or her teenage years, their increased independence means that they’ll likely spend more time away from home. This means they are away from the watchful eyes of parents, siblings, and other family members.”
That being said, commenters were not wrong either. Children & Young People Now says that if parents meet their children’s needs, they usually grow up “to have high self-esteem, to have developed a conscience and to be able to make satisfying relationships,” which require no need to use substances.
The only thing we can do is take the OP’s word for the truth and assume that her grandmother was a person who wouldn’t intentionally harm her children or grandchildren. Also, the point of this story was that she wouldn’t allow herself to be taken advantage of and showed her principles even from under the ground.
Do you have any stories of grandparents passing away but leaving a last message that will live on in stories retold from generation to generation? Share them in the comments and tell us what your reaction was after reading about the teen’s grandmother.
People in the comments loved the pettiness but couldn't shake off the feeling that the family was at least a bit dysfunctional
