Children Attend Mom's Funeral to Divide Inheritance, See Her Open Her Eyes at Final Farewell — Story of the Day

In Hendersonville, North Carolina, a funeral took a bizarre turn after a woman's children noticed their dead mother's eyes open during the ceremony.

Susan's husband Rick was a wealthy businessman, and after he died in a tragic car accident, he bequeathed his entire estate to his beloved wife. Naturally, Susan or her children never struggled financially, and they never missed out on anything.

However, as Susan's old age approached, her children, who were all well settled by that time, never bothered to look after their elderly mother. In fact, when the older woman had a heart attack, none of her children bothered to pay her a visit at the hospital.

Martha, Susan's helper and sole support in her old age, had called all of them, but three of them didn't even bother to answer the phone, and the one who did, Susan's eldest son Jason, asked Martha not to bother him again.

"Why are you bothering me if mom is already in the hospital and doctors are looking after her? It's not like she's dead!" he yelled at Martha, then hung up the phone.

When Susan regained consciousness, she discovered Martha with wet eyes by her bedside. "Are you okay, ma'am?" she asked, her voice trembling. "I tried calling them, but..."

"It's fine, Martha," the elderly lady said weakly, knowing that her sons had not come to see her. "They are my sons. I raised them alone after Rick died. I had a feeling they wouldn't show up."

As a result, when Susan recovered, she immediately called her lawyer and wrote a will, the contents of which no one was supposed to know about – at least not until she died. Little did her children know that the day would come soon when the will would be revealed, and their mother would depart for her heavenly abode.

A few days after Susan was discharged from the hospital, Martha called Jason again.

"What is it, Martha? How many times have I told you not to call me?" Jason snapped.

"I'm sorry to bother you, Jason," Martha explained, "but Mrs. Henderson has passed away. Her dying wish was for all of her sons to attend her funeral, so I called you."

Jason didn't want to travel all the way from New York to North Carolina to attend the funeral, but then it hit him. Because her mother had died, the lawyer would read the will, and he would learn what his mother had left to him. If nothing else, it would be a lot of money, so Jason didn't argue with Martha and boarded a plane the next day to say goodbye to Susan.

His three other brothers, Harry, Tom, and Paul, were also prompt in accepting their mother's funeral invitation, and they were all present at their mother's house the following day before the funeral began.

Susan was lying inside the coffin in a beautiful black dress and diamond jewelry, and Jason stood the closest, pretending to be a dutiful son and shedding crocodile tears.

Suddenly, Paul spoke up. "Where is everyone else, Martha? Are we the only ones who were called for the funeral?"

"It was Mrs. Henderson's last wish that her funeral should be held privately with just the four of you. The priest will arrive soon, but in the meantime, I would like to ask that you all pray together for your mother's soul to rest in peace."

Tom burst out laughing. "I believe her soul has already found peace. Take a look at her. Even when she's dead, she's loaded with diamonds. If I had those, I'd be more than content."

"I agree with Tom," Harry added. "Do we really have to wait for the entire ceremony? Can't we just get done with it quickly?"

"Well, children," Martha said, "your mother loved you a lot. The very least you can do for her is pray for her one last time and kiss her goodbye."

"Look, Martha," Paul snapped back. "We just arrived here to meet with mom's lawyer. She's no longer alive, and we're only interested in the money. So get rid of this nonsense as soon as possible because we have a meeting with the lawyer."

"All right then," Martha said in a low voice. "I'd like to request that you all visit your mother one by one and bid her farewell."

"Yeah, whatever! Let's start with the eldest and get this done with," Paul suggested, instructing Jason to go first.

However, as Jason approached the coffin, he noticed his mother's eyes moving. "I must be exhausted after the flight," the man thought, taken aback by what he was witnessing.

But Susan's eyes seemed to move a little more as he moved closer to the coffin, and she eventually opened her eyes. "This is not possible!" Jason froze in shock and screamed at the top of his lungs. "Guys, you have to come here right now! Mom...her eyes... they're open!"

Perplexed by Jason's words, Paul, Harry, and Tom dashed to the coffin and discovered Susan's eyes were indeed open.

"Don't be surprised, kids," Martha said as she rose from the coffin bed. "You can still go to the lawyer's office, but you'll be met with disappointment because your mother is still alive!"

"What the hell, mom? Did you plan all of this with that stupid maid of yours?" Jason screamed at her. "Let me tell you, mom, this was ridiculous! Do you think all of this is a joke?"

"And do you guys think I'm a fool?" Susan raised her voice.

When their mother did that, all of her sons were terrified. They'd never seen her so enraged. "We didn't mean to, Mom..." Paul began speaking, but Susan cut them off.

"Didn't mean to what, Paul? After Rick died, I was left to raise all of you on my own. The only thing I wanted was for my sons to wish me a happy farewell, but here I heard them arguing about my death and when they would receive their inheritance. Do you really have no feelings for me? If you just want the money, tell me, and I'll transfer it in your name!" Susan almost burst into tears as she spoke.

All of her sons, who had assembled only for the purpose of stealing her money, couldn't help but feel humiliated at this time. They stood silently, their heads down in shame, not saying a word as they realized how wrong they'd been.

Jason, who was just 15 years old at the time of their father's death, knew how difficult it had been for their mother to care for him and his younger brothers while masking her grief at the loss of her husband. So, seeing how sad their mother was as a result of what they'd done, he instantly apologized to her, and the other brothers swiftly followed suit.

"I'm sorry I hurt you so much, mom," Jason said, hugging her. "I should not have been so mean to you. I am really sorry."

"Yes, mom," Harry added. "We don't want your money. We're sorry we hurt you so much! We will never do it again."

Tom and Paul apologized to Susan too and hugged her. "We're sorry, mom, and we'll never leave you alone again. We became so engrossed in our lives that we never bothered to care for you, and we are sorry for that," said Paul.

Over time, the sons demonstrated to their mother that they had improved. They paid her visits on a regular basis, and once a month, they all got together at their mother's house.

Susan, who didn't get to enjoy her sons' company for long because she died 5 years later from cardiac arrest, was content that her boys were with her in her final days. So she changed her will a bit later on.

When the lawyers read the will after her death, the boys discovered that she'd left half of her estate to her caretaker Martha, who stayed by their mother's side at all times, and gave the remaining half to be divided equally among her sons.

She'd also left them a note in which she expressed how much she loved them and how happy she'd been in her final days, requesting that they should not feel bad because she'd left the majority of her estate to Martha.

Now, every year on their mother's death anniversary, all of her sons pay their respects at her grave with a bouquet of her favorite flowers, occasionally dropping by her house where Martha now lives and spending time with her as well.

What can we learn from this story?

• Older people need love and care, and you should never refrain from giving it to them. As people grow old, they want to be loved and supported, as Susan also wanted from her children.
• Parents always love their children equally, even though they sometimes forget to care for them. Susan had changed her will in such a way that each of her children received an equal inheritance, and none of them were left empty-handed.

If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a boy who returns home for the holidays and finds his mother missing.

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