Grandma Left My Cousins $90K Each and Me a Sewing Machine—The Repairman Whispered “Don’t Tell Them.” — Transcript

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1. 0:01Two days after my cousins laughed at my
2. 0:03inheritance, a repairman named Sal
3. 0:05Benedetto set his screwdriver on my
4. 0:07kitchen table and told me to lock the
5. 0:09front door. He had spent four minutes
6. 0:11under my grandmother's Singer. His hands
7. 0:13shook when he pulled the last screw from
8. 0:15the wooden base, and by the time he
9. 0:17looked up they had stopped, which scared
10. 0:19me more. He said, "Kate, don't tell
11. 0:21them. Not your aunt, not your cousins,
12. 0:24nobody in that family. There's a" Then
13. 0:27he stopped. My Aunt Pat had offered me
14. 0:29$2,500 for that machine in the parking
15. 0:31lot after the will reading. I had said
16. 0:34no. By the end of that week, I
17. 0:36understood why she kept asking. My name
18. 0:38is Kate Hollis.
19. 0:40I'm 31 years old and I sew costumes for
20. 0:43a theater company in Duluth, Minnesota.
21. 0:45My grandmother Edith Hollis ran Hollis
22. 0:47Alterations on Calder Street for 44
23. 0:50years. She died on March 3rd at 87. On
24. 0:53March 21st, her five grandchildren sat
25. 0:56in folding chairs in the office of her
26. 0:58attorney, Gerald Whitlock.
27. 1:00Brooke and Tanner sat their parents, my
28. 1:03Aunt Pat and my Uncle Dennis. Lena and
29. 1:05Wes, the children of my Uncle Gordon,
30. 1:08sat across from them. I took the chair
31. 1:10by the door. My mother, Ruth, was
32. 1:12Grandma's oldest child. She died nine
33. 1:14years ago, so I came alone. Whitlock
34. 1:17read for six minutes, then he reached
35. 1:19the page everyone had come for.
36. 1:21"To each of my four grandchildren,
37. 1:23Brooke, Tanner, Lena, and Wes, the sum
38. 1:26of $90,000.
39. 1:28And to my granddaughter Kate, my Singer
40. 1:30sewing machine."
41. 1:32Brooke laughed first. Tanner followed.
42. 1:35Dennis covered his mouth with one hand
43. 1:37and laughed into it. Pat leaned toward
44. 1:39him and said, loud enough for me to
45. 1:41hear, "At least it's antique."
46. 1:44Lena looked at the floor. Wes checked
47. 1:46his phone. I didn't argue. I learned to
48. 1:49sew on that machine, and I had spent
49. 1:51most Sundays since at the back table of
50. 1:53Grandma's shop. I carried it out to my
51. 1:55car, wooden base and all, and buckled
52. 1:58the seatbelt across it in the backseat.
53. 2:01Pat caught me in the parking lot.
54. 2:03She had stopped laughing somewhere
55. 2:04between the office and the door. Kate,
56. 2:07honey, that thing weighs 40 lb and you
57. 2:09rent a one-bedroom, she said. I'll give
58. 2:11you $2,500 for it today, check or cash.
59. 2:15I told her it wasn't for sale. She said
60. 2:17think about it and stood there until I
61. 2:19pulled out.
62. 2:21Sal Benedetto is 68. He has repaired my
63. 2:24grandmother's machine since 1987, and
64. 2:27every April he drove to her shop with a
65. 2:28canvas tool roll and a can of oil.
66. 2:31On March 23rd, I called him because the
67. 2:34handwheel on the Singer stuck halfway
68. 2:36through every turn. He came to my
69. 2:38apartment after his own shop closed at
70. 2:405:00. He laid the machine on a towel and
71. 2:42started with the bobbin case. Nothing
72. 2:45wrong there. He pulled the needle plate,
73. 2:47then the feed dog, then turned the
74. 2:49machine on its back to check the motor
75. 2:50mount. That is when he stopped talking.
76. 2:54This base isn't original, he said. The
77. 2:56factory cases came with a plain pine
78. 2:58board.
79. 2:59Somebody built this one. He ran his
80. 3:01thumb along the bottom edge. Walter
81. 3:04built this one. Your grandfather was a
82. 3:06cabinet maker, right? I said yes. Walter
83. 3:09Hollis built the shop counter in 1974
84. 3:12and died in 1998. Sal counted eight
85. 3:15screws on the underside. Six had gone
86. 3:17dark with age.
87. 3:19Two were bright brass, newer than
88. 3:21anything else on the machine. He backed
89. 3:23those two out and slid a thin panel
90. 3:25sideways and a cavity opened underneath.
91. 3:283 in deep and as long as the case.
92. 3:31His hands shook. He lifted out a
93. 3:33zippered bank bag, opened the first page
94. 3:35of the notebook inside it, read, and
95. 3:38turned to the second. Then he set his
96. 3:40screwdriver on my table and said, "Lock
97. 3:42the door." I locked it. "Kate, don't
98. 3:45tell them," he said. "Not your aunt, not
99. 3:48your cousins, nobody in that family." He
100. 3:51waited a full minute before he finished
101. 3:52the sentence. There's a ledger in here
102. 3:55and your aunt's name is on every line of
103. 3:57the last 12 pages.
104. 3:59The bank bag held five things. A green
105. 4:02spiral ledger lay on top written in
106. 4:04Grandma's slanted blue hand, the same
107. 4:06one she used on alteration tickets. The
108. 4:09first entry was dated December 4th,
109. 4:112023. Pat says the checkbook is easier
110. 4:14with her. $6,000 to Draper Building LLC,
111. 4:18not my signature.
112. 4:20The last entry was dated January 29th.
113. 4:23Between them sat 31 transfers, each with
114. 4:26a date, an amount, and the bank's
115. 4:28confirmation number. She had boxed the
116. 4:30total at the bottom of the last page,
117. 4:33$214,380.
118. 4:36Under the ledger sat a stack of
119. 4:38photocopied bank statements, every
120. 4:40transfer circled in pencil.
121. 4:43Below those, a certified copy of a deed
122. 4:45recorded in November 2023, moved 41
123. 4:48Calder Street, the building that held
124. 4:50the shop and the apartment above it,
125. 4:52from Edith Hollis to Patricia Draper for
126. 4:55$1. A sticky note on it read, "Signed by
127. 4:58Pat under the power of attorney I gave
128. 5:00her for my hip surgery.
129. 5:02Pat did not ask me." Next came a
130. 5:05two-page addition to her will, called a
131. 5:07codicil. Grandma had typed it, dated it
132. 5:10February 9th, and signed it, and a
133. 5:13notary at her credit union had stamped
134. 5:15it with two tellers listed as witnesses.
135. 5:18It left 41 Calder Street to me. It also
136. 5:21stated that the deed to Pat had been
137. 5:22signed without her knowledge or consent.
138. 5:25At the bottom lay a letter addressed to
139. 5:27me, "Kate, if you are reading this, the
140. 5:29four of them got their $90,000
141. 5:32and I wanted them to have it. Your aunt
142. 5:34Pat has been taking money from me since
143. 5:36December 2023.
144. 5:38I could not prove it until I counted, so
145. 5:40I counted. I did not take this to Gerald
146. 5:43Whitlock because he has handled Dennis's
147. 5:45business closings for 15 years and I
148. 5:48would not put him in that spot. I left
149. 5:50you the machine because you would keep
150. 5:52it and Pat would sell it. Take
151. 5:54everything to a lawyer who has never met
152. 5:56our family. Then finish it. Love,
153. 5:59Grandma. I read the letter standing at
154. 6:01my kitchen counter. Sal stayed in the
155. 6:03doorway and said nothing. When I
156. 6:06finished, I set the notebook beside the
157. 6:08toaster and counted the transfers
158. 6:10myself. I got 31. Sal came with me to my
159. 6:14credit union the next morning.
160. 6:16We put the originals in a safe deposit
161. 6:18box and kept photographs on my phone. He
162. 6:20refused payment for the house call.
163. 6:22"Your grandmother paid me $40 a visit
164. 6:25for 39 years," he said. "Keep your
165. 6:27money." On March 26th, I sat in the
166. 6:30office of Priya Raman, a probate
167. 6:32attorney whom Sal's niece had hired for
168. 6:34her own father's estate. Raman read the
169. 6:37codicil twice before she touched the
170. 6:39ledger. Then she ordered the county
171. 6:41recorder's file on 41 Calder Street. It
172. 6:44arrived 4 days later and showed
173. 6:45something Grandma never knew. 11 days
174. 6:48after the deed went to Pat, she had
175. 6:50taken out a $140,000
176. 6:52mortgage against the building. The money
177. 6:54went into the account of Draper Building
178. 6:56LLC, Dennis's contracting company, which
179. 6:59had owed a lumber supplier $188,000
180. 7:02since the fall of 2023.
181. 7:05Between the mortgage and the 31
182. 7:07transfers, $354,380
183. 7:11had reached Dennis's company.
184. 7:13Pat called me on April 2nd. She started
185. 7:16warm.
186. 7:17"Mom told me to handle things for her,
187. 7:19Kate. Every dollar was a loan. Dennis
188. 7:21was going to repay it when the business
189. 7:23turned around." I said nothing. She
190. 7:26offered $4,000 for the singer, waited,
191. 7:29offered $9,500,
192. 7:32waited, and offered 15,000.
193. 7:34Then she said, "Mom kept a green
194. 7:36notebook. I watched her put it in that
195. 7:39sewing case in January.
196. 7:41If it's in there, it's family business
197. 7:43and it belongs with the family. I told
198. 7:46her to call my attorney, gave her
199. 7:47Roman's number, and hung up. Roman told
200. 7:50me to save every text and not answer
201. 7:52another one.
202. 7:53Five days later, Whitlock mailed me a
203. 7:56letter on behalf of Pat as executor of
204. 7:58the estate asking me to deliver the
205. 8:00Singer for an inventory. Roman answered
206. 8:03in one paragraph. The machine was a
207. 8:05specific gift under the will. It
208. 8:07belonged to me and it was staying with
209. 8:09me.
210. 8:10On April 14th, she filed three requests
211. 8:13with the probate court. Void the deed,
212. 8:16remove Pat as executor, and accept the
213. 8:18codicil. The hearing was set for June
214. 8:2110th. Lena called me on June 2nd. We
215. 8:24hadn't spoken since the will reading.
216. 8:26She is 26 and works at a veterinary
217. 8:28clinic and she asked if she could come
218. 8:30over. She sat on my couch with her phone
219. 8:33in both hands. "I didn't laugh at the
220. 8:35reading," she said, "and I didn't say
221. 8:37anything either. I'm saying something
222. 8:39now."
223. 8:40She handed me the phone. It showed a
224. 8:42text from Pat to all four cousins sent
225. 8:44on March 21st at 12 minutes past 4:00.
226. 8:48"Whoever sees Kate first, find out if
227. 8:50she's opened the Singer. Mom kept her
228. 8:52notebook in it. Do not mention this to
229. 8:54Gordon." Lena had already sent a
230. 8:56screenshot to Roman that morning.
231. 8:59The hearing took place on Wednesday,
232. 9:00June 10th before Judge Annika Soderberg.
233. 9:04Whitlock had withdrawn after Roman
234. 9:05pointed out his years of work for
235. 9:07Dennis. So, Pat hired a new attorney, a
236. 9:10man named Calloway.
237. 9:12Calloway argued that Grandma had been
238. 9:13confused in her last year and that the
239. 9:16ledger recorded things she imagined.
240. 9:18Roman handed the judge the bank
241. 9:20statements. Judge Soderberg laid them
242. 9:22beside the ledger and checked the
243. 9:23entries one at a time. All 31 lines
244. 9:26matched the bank's figures to the cent.
245. 9:28Roman then entered a chart note from Dr.
246. 9:30Amara Lindquist dated February 2nd.
247. 9:33Grandma had scored 29 out of 30 on a
248. 9:36standard memory screening 7 days before
249. 9:38she signed the codicil. Pat took the
250. 9:41stand.
251. 9:42Raman asked, "Did your mother ever sign
252. 9:44the deed to 41 Calder Street?" Pat said,
253. 9:48"I signed it under her power of
254. 9:49attorney." "Did your mother tell you
255. 9:51to?" She knew about the loan.
256. 9:53"Where did she write that down?" Pat
257. 9:55didn't answer. Raman held up Lena's
258. 9:58screenshot. "On March 21st, you asked
259. 10:01four people to find out if Kate had
260. 10:03opened the Singer. What did you expect
261. 10:05was inside?" Pat looked at Dennis, then
262. 10:08at her hands. It took her 9 seconds to
263. 10:10answer. "My mother's notes," she said.
264. 10:14"About the money." Judge Soderberg
265. 10:16issued her order on June 29th. It ran
266. 10:18nine pages. She voided the deed, ordered
267. 10:21Pat to repay $214,380
268. 10:25to the estate, and pay off the $140,000
269. 10:28mortgage within 90 days, removed her as
270. 10:31executor, accepted the codicil, and
271. 10:34awarded me $31,500
272. 10:36toward my legal fees.
273. 10:3841 Calder Street was mine. Pat paid. She
274. 10:41sold her lake cabin on Island Lake in
275. 10:43August for $265,000
276. 10:46and borrowed against her house for the
277. 10:47rest, and the mortgage on Calder Street
278. 10:50cleared on September 12th. Dennis closed
279. 10:52Draper Building LLC the same month.
280. 10:55Uncle Gordon replaced Pat as executor
281. 10:58and filed the final accounting in
282. 10:59October. Brooke and Tanner kept their
283. 11:01$90,000 each and neither has spoken to
284. 11:05me since the hearing. Lena and Wes and I
285. 11:07meet for lunch on the first Sunday of
286. 11:09every month. I reopened Hollis
287. 11:11Alterations on October 1st. Sal rehung
288. 11:14the bell over the door. The Singer sits
289. 11:17on the back table where I learned to
290. 11:18sew. The compartment under it is empty
291. 11:20now, and I keep spare bobbins there.
292. 11:23Grandma spent 25 months writing down
293. 11:25numbers while her family decided she was
294. 11:27too old to notice them.
295. 11:29On the first of every month, I check my
296. 11:31own bank statements line by line. The
297. 11:34first ticket I wrote at the new counter
298. 11:36was for a woman named Mrs. Anders. One
299. 11:38pair of trousers hemmed, $18. I wrote it
300. 11:42on Grandma's carbon pad. The carbon
301. 11:44still worked.