My brother Aaron’s materialistic tendencies became apparent when our parents passed away. Our childhood home was dilapidated, and we inherited two houses: the new house our parents lived in their last years. In order to satisfy our father’s dream, Ian and Aaron chose to renovate the old house instead of Aaron selling it.

Aaron pleaded with Ian, “Come on, we can do so much more with the money.” However, the house was precious to me, and I was unable to part with it.

My wife Laura and I started doing renovations. We discovered a message from my father telling us to excavate beneath the ancient oak tree as we were removing wallpaper. We discovered a box full of documents that included a deed to a beach house for whoever fulfilled his request and a savings account for the house’s renovation.

Aaron was really upset when we told him. He said, “Why should I get everything just because I kept the old dump?” I said, “It’s about honoring Dad’s legacy.” We didn’t talk for weeks, but Laura and I kept working on the house’s restoration and reliving happy memories.

Aaron acknowledged that he overreacted months later. After making amends, we sold the beach house and put the proceeds into our kids’ future. Ultimately, we fulfilled our father’s desires, safeguarded our family history, and started a new chapter in our lives.