The page in Dad’s hand was a notarized deed of gift Grandma had signed years earlier, identifying the cello by its maker, photographs, appraisal, and serial markings. She had legally given it to Nora and kept it in her music room only for safekeeping until Nora was older. Grandma looked at my parents and said, “The cello was never mine for you to inherit, borrow, or sell. It already belonged to Nora.” Suddenly, the new swimming pool did not look like a generous gift to Danielle’s children. It looked like $72,000 spent from the sale of an eleven-year-old’s property.
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