The couple had a good life. They married when they were thirty. Their son was born, and they became a lovely family. They had comfortable finances, bought a flat in London, and transformed their cottage in the Cotswolds into a beautiful, cosy home. They enjoyed holidays abroad, exploring places like Spain and Italy. Her husband was a loyal man; she never doubted his faithfulness or thought of anyone else.
Their son grew up and married a sweet girl. They were both in their twenties. Theyre just like us, the woman thought, delighted, only ten years earlier. The young couples parents helped them buy a small flat.
The woman felt content and grateful. Yet as the years passedperhaps due to age, or an unease that quietly crept inshe became anxious that such happiness could not last. Anything might happen
And so it did.
Her husband died.
It took the woman a long time to recover. Slowly, she learned how to live again. She started working, having been a housewife for years.
Everyone said she needed to sort out the inheritance. She visited the solicitor with her son. She didnt really understand the process but believed half belonged to her, half to her husband. As far as she knew, there were no other heirsher husbands parents had been gone for years.
The solicitor summoned her to the office. A woman she didnt recognise was already at the table.
Her husband’s share had been left to this stranger.
The woman was baffled. She looked from the solicitor to the woman, who was older and rather plain, perhaps in her fiftiesshe must have known her husband long ago.
The solicitor explained there was a will. Her husband had written it twenty-seven years before, and since hed never revoked it, it remained in effect.
A stranger
They had fallen in love, like something out of a film. Theyd been young, newly graduated, with their whole lives ahead. She was his first, which he cherished. He used to say, Youre my girl, even though they were the same age. She would laugh, full of joy.
One evening, they watched a film where the lovers left their wills to one another. The idea tickled them, so much so thatlaughingthey decided to write their own: Whats mine is yours. Always and forever. She said it was just a piece of paper, but wanted to make it official. They went to a solicitor, then toasted with champagne and spent the night together.
But then life changed. His father fell seriously ill, and he and his mother took him abroad for treatment.
Meanwhile, she met someone a few times and became pregnant. He proposed. Her mother urged her to settle downWhere is this old friend now? Here is a man you can count on. Her old flame never replied to her letters.
She married, and they moved to Manchester, where her husband had a new job. A daughter was born, but the marriage didnt last, and they separated.
She remembered that old will and wrote a new one for her daughter many years ago.
So, when she received the solicitors letter, she was astonished. She had, she thought, long forgotten her first love. But seeing his name, the memories came back. How deeply shed loved him!
Hed forgotten about the will as his fathers illness worsened. His father died, then his mother fell ill. When he heard shed married and left the city, he decided to move on. Eventually he married someone else. There was no great love, but he admired her serious character, and they had a steady life together.
What could be done now? The woman asked if this stranger would take half?
She couldnt help but wonderhe must have loved this woman deeply to have left such a will. Yet she decided she would accept this half as a memory of him.
Now half of what you own belongs to me, said the other woman.
And not just anythingshe meant the London flat, the cottage, the car, the money in the bank.
The womans heart nearly stopped. First her husbands death; now this felt like a betrayal.
All those years togetherhed never once mentioned his old flame!
And now shed have to hand over so much
She went to court, but the outcome didnt changeonly her nerves were left frayed.
The money was transferred to the other woman.
With it, she bought a new flat and took her daughter on a holiday to the seaside.
Thank you, she said each day.
Life, she realised, is full of surprises and the ghosts of old promises. Sometimes its what we do in our youth that shifts the shape of someones life years later. So choose your promises carefully and remember: happiness is best built on kindnessand learning, even in loss, to let go.
