A young nurse tasked with caring for a lonely old man sacrifices everything to help him fulfill his last wish, and in return, he leaves her a mysterious gift that changes her life.
Harry Finch was an extremely rich man who made his fortune off multiple investments and his job as a stockbroker. His whole life had been centered around his work because he had a passion for numbers. The hardworking man was literally married to his work, and that left little space for relationships with others.
When he was younger, he was all about making more money and being independent, so he had no time to pursue love. “I need money to have a happy love life,” he always told his mother, who later passed away without ever seeing her child get married.
“There’s time yet,” he would tell his father when the man asked about his love life, and so it was until the man also passed.
Before Harry realized it, the years became decades, and he was past his prime. At 66, with millions in his account, Harry decided to retire and move to a nursing home.
People around him were very aware that the rich man had no family to inherit his wealth, and they all sought to cozy up to him so they could win his heart and have a chance to get a lick of his wealth.
A shrewd man, Harry always saw through the ruse, and it made him extremely unhappy. “Nobody cares about me, they just want my money,” he would think during the long lonely nights at his mansion.
It was a big house that sat on large hectares of land, but for all its luxury, it was a lonely place, and Harry felt it deeply.
His decision to move to a retirement home came one day after he fell down the stairs and spent most of an hour in a prone position because he could not move.
Later that night, he had seen an advert on TV about a new retirement home that boasted of friendly staff who actually cared about the occupants.
Who better to care for me than people paid to do so? he thought. The very next day, Harry packed some things and made his way to the retirement home, where he planned to live out the rest of his days.
He was admitted by a fair-faced young woman who also showed him to his room, and she was so nice; Harry was convinced he had finally reached a place where he could receive genuine care and not be alone.
Harry made sure no one knew of his wealth in the nursing home because he wanted to make sure that he was getting the same treatment others were. He told no one about the millions in his bank accounts, so they saw him as a regular old guy with no family.
On his second day, Harry was assigned a nurse to care for him — she was a 23-year-old woman named Jennifer Smith, and her cheery nature quickly endeared her to him.
They had a mutual connection and were always together; he would tell her about his life story, excluding the part about his wealth, and she loved to hear about them.
Not only that, but the woman also had an incredible sense of humor that allowed her to keep up with Harry’s wit and jokes. “What did 50 cents do when he was hungry?” he asked one day while she checked his blood pressure.
“Why don’t you tell me?” she answered with a smile, immediately aware that he was about to make one of his jokes.
“58,” he said, and she rewarded him with her gentle laughter that always reached her eyes.
“That’s a good one,” she said when the laughing subsided.
Indeed, Harry enjoyed her company, so he was always gifting her handmade toys he made or sweets he had the janitor get him secretly. In return, she cared for him like she would a family member, especially since she knew he had no one in the world.
In a way, they were kindred spirits because Jennifer herself had also experienced loneliness like him. She was born an orphan, and she didn’t have any relatives either.
As time went on, she and Harry got even more closer, and the man knew what it was to have someone in your corner. Life was great.
Until one day, Harry received a devastating mail from his doctor, Mr. Goddard — it said he had only one more month left to live and there was no remedy.
He had just finished reading the diagnosis that day when Jennifer walked in with his tray of food. He tried to hide it, but one look at his face and she instantly knew something was wrong.
“My doctor says I have only a month left to live,” he said sadly, watching for her reaction. It was a sad one, and as soon as the words left his mouth, the tray of food fell from her hands to the floor.
“It’s okay,” he said, trying to soothe her as he saw tears well up in her eyes.
“No Harry, it’s not, I’d rather you stick around,” she said with a sob.
“I have only one wish, Jen,” he told her. “I wish to see the ocean one more time.”
His words made her cry even more, and she had to leave the room to get her emotions under control, giving him time to process as well.
When she returned, Jennifer had an intense desire to help him fulfill his last wish. “It’s your last month, I’ll help you fulfill your wish so you can have no regrets,” she said.
“Thank you,” he answered, stunned that a stranger he had only met earlier that year was offering to help him.
Jennifer thought about his wish as she walked home that day after her shift. She wanted very badly to help him fulfill it, but she was a poor woman.
Still, she decided to go through with her decision to help, opting to empty her savings just to get enough money to help Harry. It wasn’t nearly enough, so she had to sell some of her possessions.
She purchased flight tickets and booked a hotel in Miami with the money, and they went there together and spent a memorable weekend. The trip made Harry feel more alive than even his job used to make him feel, and he was satisfied.
When they returned to the nursing home, Harry felt his health declining daily, but he could smile through the pain because he had managed to make memories with someone who genuinely cared about him.
The days sped by, and before they both realized it, Harry was moved to a hospital where his health was being monitored as he had gotten weaker.
On his deathbed, he had the nurses leave the room so he and Jennifer, who had refused to leave his side ever since she learned of his condition, could be alone.
“I’m sorry,” he rasped as she watched him with teary eyes.
“What for Harry?” she asked.
“I told you my last wish was to see the ocean again but that’s not true. My true wish was to see my family now that I’m passing, however, I haven’t ever had any.”
“It’s okay Harry, I’ll be your family and I’ll be here for you till the very end,” Jennifer told him.
The gesture warmed Harry’s heart, and he said, “The time I’ve spent with you made me regret not having a family, people who would be there for me like you have been. Thank you for everything.”
His words made Jennifer cry because they sounded too much like a farewell and eventually turned out to be.
After his death, she decided to quit her job because of her heartache. As she packed her things to leave, she found a handmade toy like those Harry used to give her. It was a small koala that had a pocket that held a sheet of paper in it. There was a note attached to it that read:
“You spent all your money to make me happy. Now it’s my turn to do the same. I love you, my lovely granddaughter, this old geezer is signing out.”
The sheet of paper contained a written will that named her as the heir to his wealth. Jennifer was surprised when she saw this, but she later put it to good use by spending it on charity.
She created a foundation she named after Harry, and its primary goal was to care for orphans like her and old people who had no family. They never forgot Harry’s name and Jennifer never did either.