They Never Visited Him
Years ago, I worked in a retirement community. There was an older man who came out late in life and moved into the community with his gay lover. He was a Korea veteran with multiple honors and a wall of medals. He was also a bit of a jerk most days, but he had his moments and his stories were fantastic.
His children over three years never once visited him. He had a heart attack and knew he was on his way out. His children showed up but demanded his lover leave during their visits. In his will, he left everything to his lover and his lover’s one child from a former marriage.
He wrote a long note about his kids’ hypocrisy of not visiting and their attitudes toward his lover. But that wasn’t all. He left each of his two kids a pail of coal ash, to be deducted from his estate.
He also had his estate pay for his lovers’ plot to be placed next to him and his wife, and in his long letter said that his kids, if they visited his grave, would be reminded of why they didn’t visit while he was alive. Frankly, it was awesome hearing his kids blow up about it.