LA NOTA

LA NOTA

 

Lee stopped by a Good Will store on his way to work in order to drop off a load of clothing he and his wife no longer needed. He opened the bin and noticed an envelope, tied with a fancy pink ribbon.

Curiosity got the better of him and he opened the envelope. Inside, there was a perfumed note. It stated: “You are a very charitable person. Muchas gracias! Stop by the following address. It will be worth your while.”

Lee dropped off the clothing, pocketed the note and proceeded to his job. All day the note seemed to burn a hole in his pocket. By the end of long day, all Lee wanted to do was go home, kick off his shoes and sit down with a snifter of his favorite brandy.

Instead, he decided to check out the address on the note. He drove for a while, reaching the town of La Belle, where he located the address.

After some hesitation, he knocked on the door. He was immediately greeted by an elderly couple right out of a Grant Woods painting.

 

He showed them the note and they exclaimed: “Bienvenido a nuestra casa”!

They showed him in. After serving him tea and biscuits, they explained the note to him.

The man, Jose Materita, stated that, since coming to the U.S. from Guatemala, he and his espousa, Elena, started farming and now were the proud proprietors of one of the largest citrus groves in the state of Florida.

They had become extremely wealthy and wanted to give away a good portion of their money to charity. They thought leaving the note would be a good way to accomplish it.

Lee told them that there were easier ways to do this than placing a note in a charity collection box. He informed them about the various ways to contribute to charities.

After thanking them for their hospitality, he got up to leave. The Materitas thanked him, assuring him their money would go to good causes.

 

 

 

 

Many years later, Lee received a call from an attorney informing him that the Materitas died in an automobile accident! Their will named him as executor of their estate, estimated at over $25 million! They felt he was the only one they could trust.

Lee, guardedly, accepted the responsibility. Eventually, he doled out millions to charities across the world. He was widely praise in the media and given many honors, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

But Lee had another plan. Some of the charitable funds found their way into Lee’s pockets. Slowly, over the years, he was able to skim a considerable sum, which he used to purchase a villa in southern Spain, where he and his family lived out their lives in total luxury!

Every year, on the date Lee first found the note, another note mysteriously appeared in the same charity bin.

In each envelope was a good deal of money, thanking the donor for his charity and urging he or she to donate it to charity.

Lee switched to “Romate Brandy de Jewrez Solara Reserva” for life!