After my wife died in an automobile crash in which I was severely injured I was left to live alone with a severe limp in my left leg and a two million dollar check which I received as a settlement. I was a press man in a printing shop, and my life at home was spent watching television with a wife who was childless. We were a happy couple and deeply in love. I had no desire to recreate my lifestyle, and I was not interested in looking for a new job, or wife, so I sat back and wondered what I was going to do.

I purchased a gift shop in one of the better hotels in Las Vegas and quickly learned how to operate the business. I replaced two of the three sales ladies, and my profits doubled within three months. Things got even better when the hotel signed up some top name performers. The rooms in the hotel were completely sold out and my gift shop became so busy that I had to hire three more sales ladies and two stock boys. I rented a duplex in the hotel completely furnished. It came with priceless works of art and fixtures made of gold. I was now living large and was also financially secure.

All work and no play Is not the best way to live, I was less than sixty years old, and had the looks and money to attract a woman. I started dating some of the customers I met in my gift shop. They were all high quality women that had the best of everything. I bought memberships in a few of the better golf and tennis clubs. My social life sky rocketed. A photo of me donating a ten thousand dollar check to a widow’s fund appeared in the local press.

One evening while alone in my duplex, after having three martinis, my mind wandered back to the past. I saw my dead wife’s tombstone in a graveyard that I haven’t visited in years. Her death was responsible for me having the wonderful life I now enjoyed. It is not fair that she is not with me to share it. The guilt overwhelmed me and I couldn’t go on. I awoke in the morning and contacted my business broker. In the next few months I sold out everything.

I donated most of my money to a widow’s fund and returned to my hometown. After visiting her gravesite I moved into a humble apartment. My new life is spent taking long walks and watching television. Her death has not benefited me, and I have the peace of mind that comes without guilt. I still miss my Las Vegas lifestyle but I just couldn’t accept it.

Melpol