Poor Boy Refuses to Sell Late Granddad's Foosball Table for $5k, Later He Finds Stash Inside – Story of the Day

A boy on the verge of poverty is compelled to sell his late grandfather's belongings, but he refuses to sell the foosball table despite being offered $5000. Later, he finds the table isn't ordinary; something is hidden inside it.

Dylan was a happy boy until his granddad died of a heart attack one night. To put it mildly, it broke Dylan on the inside that Grandpa Ronald was no more.

Ronald was all Dylan had. His parents had died in a car crash years ago, and Ronald had raised him since then. Who knew life would take him away too?

After Ronald's death, Dylan didn't know what to do. He was only 15, and the only relative who took him in wasn't particularly nice to him. So Dylan decided to build a life of his own and get out of the mess. But there were two problems: he was pretty young with no knowledge of how the world worked, and he only had $20 on him.

If Dylan refused to live with his guardian, he would be forced into the foster system, which he didn't want, and if Dylan continued to live with his so-called family, he would compromise on many things, including necessities. So Dylan found a way to help himself survive comfortably: make money! And Ronald helped him with that.

Ronald had a huge collection of antiques in his garage. Collecting the relics of the past was his favorite pastime, and most of it was very valuable.

"I have a lot of expensive antiques with me that will help you live, Dylan," Ronald would say. "However, it is up to you to decide if money or the memories of your grandfather are more valuable to you."

Back then, Dylan would shrug his shoulders and say, "Come on, Grandpa! You know I love you the most, and I would never trade your stuff for anything!"

But Dylan didn't keep his promise. He contacted some buyers online on a site and organized a garage sale with Ronald's things to make money.

Money can never buy the love and warmth of a family.

The buyers, of course, were pretty impressed with the collection, and because Dylan was a young chap, some took advantage of his naivety by offering him peanuts for great pieces.

"$100, and I bet that's a good deal for this watch, boy!" a man told him. He wanted to buy the pocket watch Ronald's father had left him, which had cost $200 several years ago.

"That's too little, sir. I wouldn't sell it for less than $200!" said Dylan.

The man laughed. "Then you're going to stay broke, boy! Nobody will buy all this if you keep charging such nonsense rates!"

Dylan sighed. "Fine, I guess you can get it for $150 then. Not a dollar less than that, please! I need the money!"

The man grinned. "Cheer up! $150 done! I'll take it."

Dylan accepted the money and was about to hand over the watch to the man when he suddenly heard a voice calling him.

"$4000 for this foosball table!" said the voice. "I'll take this!"

The table was not for sale. Dylan would never sell it since it reminded him so much of his Ronald. But $4000 was a huge amount! That would be of so much help to Dylan!

"$5000!" offered the man, raising the price. "That's a great deal. Come on, man! This table's a limited edition model, and I wanna buy it. "

"But…that has memories of grandpa," muttered Dylan. "I - I can't sell it!"

Suddenly, it hit Dylan that what he was doing wasn't right. All of the items for sale, including Ronald's watch, stamps, and the foosball table, had many of his and Ronald's memories.

Dylan and Ronald would frequently play foosball, especially when Dylan felt down or upset. While at it, they would share each other's worries, and Dylan would be all smiles in no time.

Dylan's eyes welled up as he recalled all of those memories. "I'm sorry, Grandpa! How could I choose money over you?" he cursed himself.

"I am not selling it," he told the man. "I'm sorry, but I'm not selling any of it. The sale ends here."

The buyers were all grumbling as Dylan asked them to leave, but he was proud that he didn't fall for the money.

After everyone left, Dylan stood by the foosball table, and his tears didn't stop falling. He started rotating the rods, crying like a child as he remembered Ronald. Since Ronald's death, Dylan hadn't even touched the table. Suddenly, he heard a strange noise from the table and was startled.

Curious, Dylan began inspecting the table and felt a particular bulge on the playing surface. He knocked on the surface with two fingers, and that made an odd sound, so he tried removing the playing surface. And to his utter shock and surprise, it peeled off.

Dylan stood frozen as he saw the table wasn't ordinary. Inside was Ronald's stash, which contained $100,000 and a note from him.

"If you discovered this, you must have been playing foosball a while ago. That suggests you're upset as well. Don't be that way. Remember how I asked you which is more valuable: me or the worth of the antiques? I'm delighted you didn't sell it and instead chose to keep it. This is your reward for it."

Dylan's tears didn't stop falling. "Thank you, Grandpa," was all he could say.

Later, with the money, Dylan bought vintage restoration equipment and converted Ronald's garage into a workshop and mini-museum. As word about him opening a workshop spread around the city, residents began bringing in their old artifacts for restoration, which helped him make money.

Dylan wasn't an expert at the job, but he'd learned a lot while restoring and repairing some of the antiques in Ronald's garage. And he was proud that, in the end, he was able to preserve his granddad's collections.

What can we learn from this story?

• Money can never buy the love and warmth of a family. Dylan couldn't bring himself to sell the antiques for money when he thought about the valuable memories associated with them.
• Take time to appreciate your grandparents; many of us did not have them. Dylan restored Ronald's antiques and made a mini-museum of the collection out of love for him.

Share this story with your friends. It might brighten their day and inspire them.

If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a wife who bought an easter egg at a flea market with her last $50 and found something shocking inside.

This piece is inspired by stories from the everyday lives of our readers and written by a professional writer. Any resemblance to actual names or locations is purely coincidental. All images are for illustration purposes only. Share your story with us; maybe it will change someone's life. If you would like to share your story, please send it to info@amomama.com.