Stuart and Dylan had been inseparable friends since kindergarten and were known at Jefferson High for their kindness and humility. They both came from families who struggled financially, but they always studied hard and dedicated their time to community service, such as tutoring and coaching Little League. One late September afternoon, while taking a shortcut home through the woods, the two 16-year-old boys heard a faint cry for help. They quickly found an elderly man lying crumpled near the roadside, surrounded by broken eggshells and spilled groceries, who had tumbled down a slope.
The boys immediately rushed to the aid of the elderly man, whose name was Michael. They carefully helped him drink some water and, despite his weak protests against calling an ambulance, the boys insisted on walking him home. They were shocked when Michael directed them down a narrow dirt path to a terrifyingly ancient and battered trailer. The structure was stained with rust and patched with cardboard, looking like it might collapse. Michael was embarrassed by his meager home and offered the boys a single red apple as a reward, saying it was all he had.
Stuart and Dylan refused the apple, explaining that they didn’t help him for a reward, which caused Michael’s eyes to grow glassy with emotion. The next day, the boys pooled their savings and returned to the trailer with heavy bags of groceries and materials to patch the broken windows. Michael’s eyes filled with tears, saying nobody had done something like that for him in years. This act of charity quickly evolved into something deeper; Michael became like family to them. They spent hours together, and Michael shared wisdom, saying, “A good man does the right thing when people are watching. A great man does it when nobody is.”
Michael continued to impart his philosophy to the boys, once telling them: “Money doesn’t make you rich. People do.” He became the grandfather neither Stuart nor Dylan had ever known. The boys consistently brought groceries and fixed various issues with the trailer as the months passed quickly. Then, one Tuesday in late spring, the boys arrived at the trailer to find it completely empty. They searched the nearby woods, called his name until their voices grew hoarse, and pleaded with a bored police officer, who dismissed the case as an elderly person wandering off.
The boys never stopped thinking about Michael, but life moved on; they finished high school, their dreams of college seeming impossible without funds. Then, one morning, Stuart’s phone rang. It was Alex, the attorney representing their friend Michael, asking them to come to his downtown office. Alex sadly told them that Michael had peacefully passed away two weeks prior. He then presented the boys with a sealed letter from Michael. The letter shockingly confessed that he had been deceiving them; Michael was not poor, but the former CEO of a company worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Michael explained in the letter that his vast wealth had brought him nothing but misery, as his own family only loved his fortune, making every relationship a selfish transaction. He was so lonely he could barely breathe. Michael confessed he was afraid to tell the truth, fearing the boys would stop visiting him if they knew he was wealthy. He wrote: “You gave me the greatest gift anyone has ever given me… you made my last years worth living.” Alex then revealed that Michael left Stuart and Dylan each $150,000 to pursue their dreams of becoming teachers, confirming that they had given Michael something far more valuable than money: family.
