“I don’t deserve it, Emily.”

“What?  What are you talking about, Sam?”

“Look at this, this letter I just got from Aunt Sarah’s estate lawyer. She left me $20,000!”

“Really, Sam? Are you just kidding me? You never liked her. Did you?”

“Well, I didn’t dislike her. She was just not a warm person to me, or anyone as far I could see. But, golly, this is a lot of money… and I don’t deserve it. I feel guilty. I never had a good word to say about her…”

“Gee, I guess you aren’t kidding me. What’s wrong? Are you crying?’

(Sam sniffling) “It couldn’t have come at a better time, could it, with my layoff and all? I just can’t figure it, it doesn’t seem real. Why would she do this? Gosh, I wish I had been nicer to her. I just kind of ignored her, never responded very much to her.”

“Well, Sam, you must have done something she considered nice. She wouldn’t have given money to someone who she didn’t consider nice, would she?”

“I guess. But if she did think I was nice, I must have fooled her. I mean, if I did something to please her it must have been because I thought I ought to, not because I was sincere or anything. Ohhh.” (sobs).

“C’mon, Sam, buck up. This is a good thing has happened, isn’t it?”

“Gosh, yes. Now we don’t have to worry about meeting the house payments for a year. I’ve got a chance to really look for a job without feeling and looking desperate…. But I don’t deserve it!”

“Well, I think you do deserve it, Sam, or she wouldn’t have given it. You’re a good man and that can’t be hidden, can it? C’mon now, it can’t, can it?”

“I guess you’re right, you usually are. I guess there’s a lesson here, but I’m too choked up now to think of what it is. I think I’ll lie down and rest for a while.”

END