Wednesday 1 July 2015

The mystery of the missing fortune.


Daiane Decothé
My great grandfather left Italy with his wife and children. They arrived in Brazil with nothing but the clothes on their back. He started cleaning people’s houses for a living and worked in plantations.

From servant to businessman

I never got to know him, but I believe he was a strong-willed man. He worked hard and managed to build a legacy. He went from being a mere servant to becoming a very prominent businessman in São Paulo, Brazil.

You would imagine that with such success, his family’s quality of life would improve drastically, right? But, my grandfather told us that they continued living poorly.

A well kept secret

My great grandfather was so afraid of losing everything, that he saved everything he earned, without ever spending much. No-one understood what my he did with all his fortune. It was a well kept secret.

In the late 50s, my great grandfather passed away and his children inherited everything. Many years went by and unfortunately they lost the businesses and had to sell the house, still wondering where my great grandfather’s fortune had ended up, since he didn’t even have a bank account.

The mystery unravelled

Well, as they were about to hand over the house to its new owner, the mystery was finally unravelled. They found a safe full of money hidden behind a portrait on the wall. They had finally found the missing fortune!

But, there was just one problem! So much time had passed by, Brazil had gone through a currency change and all that fortune had now become worthless.

What my great grandfather had feared the most happened. Everything was lost. All the fortune he left behind only served as a remembrance of nights of hard labour and a life sacrificed in vain.

Young Daiane with friends.
What did I learn with his story?


Don’t live your life based on fear and don’t depend on material riches, because everything that is material has a validation date. It will expire one day.

By the way, I forgot to tell you that everything that was in that safe was given to all the great grandchildren, including me. It all became great toys for us kids to play with.




By Daiane Decothé


5 comments:

  1. This is a very inspiring story. I think Mrs Daiane's great grandfather feared so much, that at the end of the day he couldn't enjoy what he had worked so hard for. He didn't live at all, and we can't live our lives like this—always in fear and worried about tomorrow. God said He would take care of it. :)

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  2. This is so true, what we most fear always happens because we are a subject to that fear. Everything that the person will do will be on the base of that fear and things will always go wrong.

    Thanks for sharing!

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  3. Thank you so much for sharing!!
    One thing this blog has taught me is that no matter how much you think holding back because of fear is a blessing, it's actually more profitable to share. For myself, I found it difficult to share and how many times did it just backfire on me? So sharing is really important. As I type, my conscience is reminding me to put it more into practice!

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  5. Thank you for sharing.
    He gave in to the worries and anxieties he had concerning the future, and it stopped him from enjoying the NOW.
    What a waste when this is done!
    Can't wait for the next story.

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