I Accidentally Dropped The Piggy Bank My Granny Gifted Me 32 Years Ago and Diamonds Spilled from It – My Story

Gran Lola was the loveliest person in my life after my late mother, and I was devastated when she died. One day, I accidentally dropped the piggy bank she had left me, and from inside spilled diamonds… a LOT of them.

Grandmothers should love their grandchildren. Grandmother should know how to knit sweaters and bake cookies. Grandmothers should have gentle, tender hearts.

Gran Lola was neither of those things. She was a frail, bent woman who poked naughty kids in the tummies with her cane and laughed the most terrifying laugh when she watched her vintage TV.

"Gran!" Her laugh used to scare me at times. "You… You scare me, Gran!" I'd say.

"Oh, Morris, my boy!" she'd chuckle. "Life's too short for all that. Come, join me. Let's watch this show together!"

I'd sit beside her, hugging my stuffed toy, terrified that she'd turn into a monster and devour me. I was only four when my mom passed away, and after that, Dad brought Clara home, who became my stepmother.

Clara was not nice. She loved me only when Dad was home, and then she'd forget I even existed. Since Clara and Dad were both working, I and my step-sister, Andile, were sent to Gran Lola's house while they were away.

Gran Lola cooked the worst, most bland meals but fed us with love. Although she pretended to be this rough, tough, sassy granny, she had a lovely heart that knew how to love everyone around her. What a fool I was not to realize that!

"You see all that chicken I made for you two?" she boasted one day after ruining the chicken curry. "If you eat that, you'll grow as tall as a giraffe!" Then she laughed that terrifying laugh again.

I was scared of Gran Lola until I was ten years old. Six years... that's how long it took me to adjust to her cooking, laughs, and bad jokes. But by then, I couldn't imagine my life without her.

She shielded me from all the bad like a mother shields her child. She saw the wrong things that were happening to me, and she stood up for me.

Andile and Clara hated me. They loved my dad and wanted me out of their lives. So when Dad wasn't around, they'd say hurtful things to me and trouble me, and one night, Clara didn't give me dinner. Dad was on a business trip then, and she was looking after us.

When I went to Gran Lola's house the next morning, I hugged her and cried. And with my tears flowing freely, all my fear for her washed away too.

"Oh my, honey!" she asked me worriedly. "Why are you crying, Morris?"

I'll never forget the love and warmth I felt in her hug that day. It was the first time I had felt so safe and wanted after my mother died.

"She did what?" Gran Lola had asked.

Kindness is priceless, but sometimes it brings unexpected rewards.

"Clara didn't give me dinner, Gran…" I sobbed. "And I—I was so hungry…"

"Liar!" Andile yelled at me. "Don't believe him, Gran! He's lying!"

"Well," Gran Lola said wisely. "We'll find out who's telling the truth and who isn't!"

Gran Lola walked into the kitchen, made a big pot of her chicken curry, and toasted some bread.

"Eat!" she said, serving us both huge portions of the food.

I was so hungry that I pounced on the food. The curry was terrible, as always, but I was starving and completed everything in one go! Usually, I could only eat a few bites.

Gran was furious that day. Her anger was visible in her eyes. "How dare you and your mother do this to my grandson!" she yelled at Andile, who was barely eating. "What else have they been doing to you, Morris?"

That day, I poured my heart out to Gran, and she told Dad about Clara and Andile. But Clara made it all about herself, feigned an apologetic face in front of Dad, and succeeded once more in pretending to be a "good" woman.

You know, nothing changed after that. The only difference was that I began spending more time with Gran Lola and her friend, Mr. Tammy. He was Gran Lola's neighbor, and she cared for him after his family abandoned him.

Andile and Clara, as well as the rest of our relatives, made fun of Gran Lola for looking after Mr. Tammy and called her names.

"She's sleeping with that rich lonely neighbor of hers!" Clara would say about Gran and Mr. Tammy. "That old hag is shameless!"

I felt terrible when they said that about Gran, but Dad... I don't know what happened to him. It seemed like Clara had changed him. He just didn't care about anything happening around him. Gran Lola was his mother, and he didn't even care about her!

In fact, when Gran Lola became ill and was confined to bed, no one came to see her. I was 15 then, and I was the only one who looked after her.

"You are one loving boy, Morris!" Gran Lola had said one day. "You see, honey, all of your love and care will come back to you one day. Kindness is priceless, but it can also bring unexpected rewards."

***

Thirty-two years later, I looked at the piggy bank she had left me and remembered her loud, frightening laughs. Tears welled up in my eyes as I realized how foolish I had been to think she was a scary woman who would turn into a monster and eat me!

When Gran Lola died, I discovered she had divided her estate equally between Andile and me. But she had left me one more thing: her old piggy bank, which adorned my bedroom shelf.

One day, I was cleaning the shelf when I accidentally dropped it. As it broke into pieces, I was shocked. Along with the broken pieces on the floor lay stones… sparkling, shiny pieces… a lot of them!

Am I dreaming? Are they… diamonds?

Gran Lola had lived a rather simple life. She had an old broken television in her home that she had been using since her marriage. She never replaced that TV, nor did she move. Her old house was where she had spent her entire life.

I sat down, cleaned up the broken pieces, and sorted out the 'stones.' I'd read somewhere that real diamonds don't fog up when you breathe, and I was shocked to find out that those stones were... diamonds!

I was so confused about how those diamonds ended up with Gran Lola. That was until I lifted a massive broken chunk of the piggy bank and found Gran Lola's note.

The note read:

"My dear Morris,

Thank you for being the lovely grandson you were. Remember I told you how love and kindness would come back to you? Well, Mr. Tammy left these to me before he died. They are his family heirlooms which were passed down through the generations. He gave them to me as a reward for looking after him, and I wanted to pass them to you as a reward for being the best grandson to me.

These will come in handy whenever you need help. I always loved you, my little boy. Sorry that Grandma couldn't bake you cookies and knit your sweaters like other grandmas. But are grandmothers not grandmothers if they don't do all that?"

What do YOU think? Are Grandmothers always supposed to be these caring, loving figures? Or can they be witty, charming, clever, but still loving and caring like my Gran Lola?

Tell us what you think and 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 young boy who broke his piggy bank for an older lady and received a heartwarming surprise the next day.

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.