Memories vs. Money

1 - Edith Macefield

According to Jessie J.’s song, “Price tag”, it “seems like everybody’s got a price”. However, there are some people who believe that memories and time spent with your loved ones are much more valuable than money. At least, this is the case of Edith Macefield, an 84 year-old woman who turned down U$S 1 million to sell her house to a shopping mall.

In 2006, an important company started to build one of its many Shopping Malls in the Ballard neighbourhood, Seattle. The company needed to tear down Edith’s house in order for the shopping to take up the whole block. Due to this, the corporation offered U$S 1 million to Edith for the house, claiming that with this tidy sum she would be able to afford another similar house.

2 - Edith's house during the construction of the shopping centre

Nevertheless, Edith refused the financial proposal alleging that she would never sell the house where she lived so many beautiful moments with her mother and friends. Because of this, the company had to change the mall’s blueprint and was forced to build around Edith’s house. 

When this story was publicly known, Edith became like a sort of heroin for her neighbours, because she gave more importance to her memories. Two years later, Edith died and willed the house to Barry Martin, the building’s construction superintendent, who took care of her during those years.

3 - Edith's house when the mall was finished

Evidently, this old woman thought that there are certain things that money cannot buy. Nowadays, in an era in which capitalism sets the rules and makes us believe that everything and everyone has a price, it’s heart-warming to come across this kind of news.

This is the kind of stories that fill us with tenderness and hope, teaching us that money cannot buy memories, love and happiness. Our experiences, our adventures, and each moment we live and share with those we love are the things that make us rich people.

When I found this story, I immediately remembered a part of Roald Dahl’s “Charlie and the chocolate factory” in which, after having found the golden ticket to visit the factory, Charlie decided to sell it so as to give the money to his parents, to which grandpa George replies:

“There's plenty of money out there. They print more every day. But this ticket— There are only five of them in the whole world, and that's all there's ever going to be. Only a dummy would give this up for something as common as money. Are you a dummy?”

Sources:

- Edith Macefield. (2014). In Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edith_Macefield

- Image 1, retrievd from: http://cdn.labioguia.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/140903_EYE_EdithMacefield1.jpg.CROP_.original-original.jpg

- Image 2, retrieved from: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/Edith_Macefield's_house.jpg

- Image 3, retrieved from: http://www.myballard.com/images/edith_dec.jpg 

- La Bioguía. (2014). "Rechazó un millón de dólares por su casa y forzó a un centro comercial a construir alrededor de ella". Retrieved from: http://www.labioguia.com/rechazo-un-millon-de-dolares-por-su-casa-y-forzo-a-un-centro-comercial-a-construir-alrededor-de-ella/
- Roald Dahl. (1995 edition). Charlie and the chocolate factory. Penguin books. UK.