(832) Dumb Witness by Agatha Christie

The other day I met an old woman in the hospital. She bemoaned about the fact that she depends on monthly allowances her six daughters gave her. She said, "Wouldn't it be nice to have my own money and not to have to depend on my children?"

While I was telling her the gift of gratitude: to be thankful that each of her daughters cares enough to give her $50 each month, and to be grateful that her deceased son's fiancee allows her to stay in her apartment rent free; I was thinking of Emily Arundell of Dumb Witness. Arundell did not marry but she had two nieces and one nephew. They each had inheritance from their parents, but one way or another they spent or speculated it. Each of them was waiting for their aunt to kick the bucket so that they could get their rightful share. From my way of looking at life, this woman in the hospital is much more fortunate than Miss Arundell who was independently rich.

You may disagree with me and said Arundell was just a fictional story. That is true. But in real life, things are not that much different! I had a close friend who inherited at least one million from her dad. She has the ambition of not touching the principal nor interest, and she wanted to build the fortune for her children. I suppose life is not fair. She happened to marry a man that her father and kin despised. As things turned out, those relatives of hers were right in that her husband did marry her so that he needs not work anymore but can live a soft and comfortable life. She found herself scrimping and pinching even though she is an heiress. Neither her husband nor any of her children wants to live frugally. It won't be long before they would be waiting for her to die so that each of them could spend her tightly held money.

Money in itself is neutral, but the love of accumulating more money has caused my friend a rift from her comfort loving family. She is not wrong in wanting to add a little more to her holdings. Her family members are not wrong to want her to release some extra money to add to their enjoyment in life.