Inheritance: a patrimony left by a
deceased person and transmitted by way of succession. Some events which took place in 1997
have made me look at the word inheritance in a totally different light. Is the word
inheritance a dirty word? After all, it means receiving an asset that we have done nothing
to deserve, at least directly, other than being related to the person who disappeared and
left us the assets they owned. In fact, the heirs receive what was most precious to the
person, except those things the person decided to make disappear.
Is inheriting indecent? Not too long ago,
I would have answered yes. But now...
A statement made by Cardinal Turcotte
after the sad event of the bus crash during summer of 1997 at Les Éboulements completely
changed my point of view. It gave the whole thing a different dimension. That
simple thing the Cardinal said affected one of the most fundamental values in my life.
Life and death. All he said, in a very spontaneous way, was: «It is very sad to
see those you love disappear; but isn't life a relay race? The person who dies touches our
hand and tells us to keep on going, to go further...»
This brief statement has had a profound
effect on me: it has changed my vision of what an inheritance is. This neverending process
is even more important when one has to decide what to do with it.
