After a couple of days, with mounting bills, she decided to swallow her pride. She couldn’t drive because her hands were trembling, and she rode a bus to the bank in order to take the money.
When she put the card before the teller, the lady was confused,
and then concerned, calling the manager.
Sylvie got concerned. “Did he cancel it?” she wondered.
“No, ma’am. Walter left very clear instructions for your first use of this.” The man gave her a letter sealed in an envelope, and he showed her the balance in her account.
It was $48,216.73.
Sylvie was convinced it was just a glitch. But no. As the manager revealed, although it began with $2,000, every month for five years, Walter had been putting in some of his pension into the bank account, “
memo: For Sylvie’s due.”
She then opened the letter Walter left for her.
In it, he confessed that he did not tell her the true amount since he knew very well that she would never accept it from him considering how proud she was. Further, he told her that this was not an act of kindness nor a gift but a debt. He enumerated all the things she has done for which she was owed to. The last sentence almost broke her: “This money is not charity; it’s what you
are owed.”
