A Note from Beyond Bristol

Sometime after the turn of the last century, a widowed mother married a middle-aged bachelor from Bristol, Tennessee. The businessman moved his new wife and her two children into his mansion in a well-to-do part of town. Their marriage was good, he was a wonderful stepfather, and after a couple of years, they were blessed with a child of their own. 

Throughout their marriage the couple developed a habit of leaving little notes for each other on a large pad in the kitchen. One rainy evening the wife returned home to find a note that said her husband was on a business trip to Kingsport and would not be home for dinner but would return late in the night. The children were fed and put to bed, and the wife turned in soon after her nightly chores. 

Around midnight, the wife was awakened by a knock at the door. Thinking her husband had forgotten his key, she hurried to let him in out of the rain, only to be greeted by the police and the news that her husband had been killed in an accident.

In the days and sleepless nights that followed, the woman, again a widow, wondered how she would support her young family. One of her thoughts was to sell household possessions, and the first she chose to part with was a hideous old wardrobe she had never cared for. With a plan to call a furniture dealer the very next morning, the young widow finally dozed off to sleep.

Late in the night, the widow awakened to see a light on in the kitchen. Thinking one of her children was up, she rose to check on the child. The woman entered the kitchen only to find it empty. She looked around, but the only thing she found out of place was the notepad she and her husband had used. It was lying in the middle of the table. As she stepped closer, the woman saw a note written upon the pad. 

In her deceased husband’s handwriting, the woman found a note that told her the old wardrobe she so disliked actually had a false bottom. The note went on to give instructions on removing the false bottom, and the woman quickly went to work. By the time the sun rose, the young widow had discovered tens of thousands of dollars that her husband had been saving for a “rainy day.” 

Thanks to her wonderful husband and his note from beyond, the woman was able to provide a comfortable life for herself and her children from that point forward.