Henry VIII, William Shakespeare
September 24, 2001... the front of the house was loud, some laughter, some crying... a young man, still in his sunglasses, sobbing, retelling the story about the time my father refused to take his money after betting on the Saints because it was his crop seed money... the crowds of mourners paying their respects to the family.
I retreated to the master bedroom looking for some piece of him to carry with me through the coming days and weeks. On the bedside table was the deck of cards he mindlessly played solitaire with for hours - life's lesson about odds, certainty... clearing your mind. And as I reached into his pants pocket, it was still there. The treasure I had adored all my years as his daughter - a small stone of green jade, a worry stone, if you will, that he rubbed while most, unknowingly, would have just thought he was jingling coins... the lesson that things may not always be what they seem but it is critical to maintain your composure even if your world is falling apart. Next to his handkerchief lay a beautiful German coat brush he used to maintain such a coiffed appearance, it was all in the details; life too. The backgammon set - surely it was only luck which would determine the winner, by the simple roll of the dice? Not exactly. The repeated mathematical computations expected to be put to memory... I mean why not? Preparation, strategy and planning will always prevail. The poetry of Robert Service, Keats, Shelley, all handed to me to be recited was far greater than the mere printed words on paper. All of it was about emotion, love, loss. Being real. Being prepared to step outside my comfort zone in a moment's notice. The last bottle of wine he gave me so I could be a great hostess. All the lessons he lived and taught resound in my head most days and it was the greatest inheritance he could have ever given me.
And the marble ball? “A sculptor wields the chisel, and the stricken marble grows... to beauty.”
-Helen Merrifield Dupree
THE SOUBEL LENS
The Inheritance is about the habits that stay with us: preparation, composure, attention to detail, curiosity, and the way lessons learned early can shape judgment much later.