dear diary,

today we went over my uncle’s will. i don’t think anyone was expecting to find what was inside. we assumed after so many years of isolation,  he would’ve rejected us and left everything to his husband. but he didn’t.

uncle peter left half his fortune to jim. and the rest was split evenly among all the rest of us. those who left him. those who scorned him. those who ignored him. those who forgot him. he left us all something.

dad said it was a ploy to force us to remember him when we would’ve rather forgotten. grandma said it was him trying to guilt us. grandpa said it was “sinner’s money” and resisted taking it for a while. aunt rachel told him not to spite peter’s memory like that.

i’m writing because i’ve been dwelling on this for hours. why would uncle peter leave his money to a family who hated him? not for who he was, because for thirty-two years, he was funny pete who had too many stories about near-death experiences and not enough about dating. at thirty-three, we found out he was not only dating, but getting married to a man we thought was his hunting buddy. he wasn’t. uncle peter didn’t even like hunting, as it turned out. but he did like jim. he loved him, actually. more than anyone else would love peter after he told us.

his motive might’ve made more sense if he had killed himself. then we would know he wanted us to know it was our fault. then we would’ve known that he wanted us to feel guilty and sorry. and then he would’ve been spiting us with the will. but it wasn’t like that. it was a natural death–well, as natural a death as cancer can be.

so why did he want us to benefit? why was he so loving to people so hateful to him for his love? why was he good?

i’m starting to think maybe the things we inherit aren’t money or fortune. they’re guilt and tears and memories.

and, most of all, regret.

with love,

me

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Hello, friends! I’m back on the right day and with a somber little diary entry.

Today’s prompts were: dwell, what we inherit, and dear diary. Dear diary was an obvious start to a response where emotions were very accessible, and I wanted the writing style to feel very organic and flowing. Inheriting something is emotional in the case of a death, and the idea of dwelling always makes me consider memories and regrets. So regretting the death of a gay uncle seemed appropriate. Respecting everyone’s love is very important to me. Not everyone understands that, and sometimes when they do, it’s too late, such as in the case of this response.

In this day and age, love and respect are essential. Go forth and love. Share your experiences as you see fit. Feel free to respond to the prompt in the comments, as always.

That’s all for now. Thanks for reading.