Two Pieces of Mail

Dearest Rachel –

It’s true that we get way more than two pieces of mail in any given day; the recycling bin can well attest to that. And, considering how early in the morning I’m writing you about this, I’m sure you can already figure out that these weren’t received today, in any event. But these two are what I’m dealing with at the moment, and the juxtaposition struck me as odd enough to be worth commenting on to you.

The first – and the one I actually have to do something about – has to do with the monthly water bill for your childhood home; the one your mom designed and commissioned to have built nearly sixty years ago. The place you occasionally would refer to as your older sibling (since in some ways, it was as much your mother’s ‘baby’ as you were). The place we left for their nurse-coordinator, since you saw little reason to keep the place; you had no desire to move back to your old home town, regardless of the fond memories you may have had of the place.

And yet, we still find ourselves dealing with a handful of bills like this one for the place, for whatever reason. I suppose that I could contact the city waterworks and tell them to send the bills to Twofeathers for her to deal with them going forward, but… what would you have said to me about this? You knew the hardships and privations she and her husband were going through; you saw these relatively little things (along with a monthly stipend we would send her directly) as both her due for taking care of your folks in their last few months and our own little way of expressing appreciation and friendship to them.

So, do I have the right to terminate those payments? I honestly couldn’t say. It’s not as if anyone could stop me if I decided to – you’re the only one who would, and you’re no longer here to do so. But the fact that I know what you would have me do keeps me from cutting them off. I may never have been able to read your mind, but there were some things that were obvious, even to me, and this is one of them. So, whatever bills I get for your folks’ old house, I’ll continue to take care of – along with Twofeathers herself. As the line goes, it’s what you would have wanted.

***

The other piece of mail doesn’t require nearly so much from me, despite the fact that it’s nearly twenty pages long (as opposed to the mere postcard received from the city waterworks). It’s simply the monthly statement from your folks’ old bank regarding the wealth management account set up in my name as the final disposition from your estate – which means it’s but one half of the total that had been there, as Daniel has the other half.

Now, you might ask, why the juxtaposition of these two very different pieces of mail? Well, among other things, this statement lists the changes in asset value from month to month. You may be aware – or not, as the financial situation of this one country in a corner of this cosmic dust mote no longer concerns you – that things have been… well, let’s just say they’ve been volatile, and leave it at that. Not much of the consistent growth that you might remember me commenting on in the months prior to your accident, that’s for sure.

And yet…

For once, though, things seem to be recovering, and everything appears to be growing in value. By how much? Well… enough to render the mild nuisance that is the water bill insignificant. The gains in this one portfolio for this one month would pay for fifty months of water usage at your childhood home.

And that’s the reason I thought to tell you about this. The fact is, as the old Christmas carol goes, those who bless others will themselves find blessing. It’s something you understood well already, but it’s always nice to receive tangible proof of it. We have enough coming in that we can send it out like this, even if it does seem like something of a waste. To be sure, there’s no point in making karma a motive for doing this, but the fact that I happens nonetheless is quite the bonus.

***

When I was in high school, one of my first encounters with MTV and the music videos that used to be its stock in trade included an animation for a group I’d never heard of before or since (although, considering its relative simplicity – ABC – it was bound to get confused with other, more prominent uses of the acronym), asking a question that many of us humans would like to know the answer to:

The strange thing is, while there’s the obvious interpretation of the question – “how do I become a millionaire?” – there’s another, more pointed question to deal with (especially in this day and age where, thanks to inflation, the becoming part is much easier than it was in the early eighties – although still not that easy); namely, how to behave as a millionaire, how to treat what you have with responsibility and respect.

I suppose it could be argued that, by paying someone else’s utility bills when we’ve left your parents’ house long behind isn’t particularly responsible. But when life hands you surplus, and you see others in want, sometimes it’s the respectful thing to do with it. And while the motive shouldn’t be one of trying to earn brownie points with God (or anyone else, for that matter), the fact that someone could see the act as trying to do so would suggest that in some way, it’s still the right thing to do, no matter how counterintuitive it may appear on the surface.

Besides, it’s what you would have wanted, no?

Anyway, keep an eye on me, honey, and wish me luck. I’m going to need it.