The Perfect Gift

Saying Goodbye (Day 1)

We used to live with my grandmother after Grandpa and my dad disappeared. They vanished out of thin air one day and were never found.
Mom used to say we lived with her because grandma got lonely easily, so I was always right by my grandma's side while we lived in her house. I later found out it was because we couldn't afford our own house without Dad's income.
I didn't want grandma to be lonely though, so even after we moved out, I would come and visit twice a week, but as I got older and started working, I stopped visiting as much and then stopped completely when I moved away a town over so I could live with my boyfriend at the time.
Only two years after my dad's disappearance, my mom married this rich jerk, and we moved out of my grandmother's house into this big house that always felt really empty. I got in trouble constantly just for playing because I was 'messy' or 'too loud' for him.
My mom never visited grandma because they used to always fight and yell at each other until after we moved out, then they just didn't talk.
When I moved away, I would call my grandmother once a week to check in on her, but after a while, she stopped answering. I thought she could be busy, but when she didn't answer the next week either, I called my mom and had her go check up on her.
Now I'm back in town for my grandmother's funeral and the reading of her last will. She had been passed for over a week, and no one knew. I was so upset that I cried through the whole funeral and didn't speak a word to my mother.
At the reading, everything my grandmother had was written into her will to go to me. Her house, her possessions, and her money all went to me with the stipulation that I lived in the house for at least the next year.
Obviously, my mother was not happy about this, but she had to accept it because of a section in the will specifically stating that she gets nothing because, "She had plenty of financial and housing help from Raymond, myself, and her new husband that she was so quick to marry. "
I moved in a week later without my boyfriend because when I called to give him the good news, there was a woman's voice in the background calling him back to bed and when I talked to his friends they confirmed that this had been going on the whole time I was gone at my grandma's funeral.
I spent the week packing my things in tears while he stayed with his best friend after I kicked him out of our apartment.
It is a two story, four bedroom, and two bath house with a conversation pit in the living room and stained glass windows. The house hasn't changed since it was built and is in amazing condition for it, too. The house was much cleaner and "up to date" than I expected. It still had that wonderful 70's style look, but there was wifi, newer appliances, and even some new furniture.

At least something good came out of this month. Hopefully it won't be the only thing with my birthday coming up in a week, but I doubt it will be a very good one considering the circumstances.