At first glance (when we first look at the situation), Walter Samaszko, Jr. did not appear to be a rich man when he died a few months ago in Carson City, Nevada. He had less than $1,200 in his bank account. He lived alone in the house where he and his mother had lived since the 1970s. He was something of a recluse (someone who doesn’t talk to others, usually living alone and isolated).
After he died, people came to clean up his house. When they did, they found something amazing in his garage: a box full of gold.
More cleaners came in (entered the house to work) and started searching other parts of the house for gold. They found gold coins from Austria, Mexico, and the United States. They found gold money that dated from (from the year) the 1840s. Gold, gold, and more gold.
By the time (When) they finished, the cleaners had found close to $7,400,000 worth of gold.
Samaszko and his mother had collected gold for many, many years, keeping all of it in their house. They had very detailed records (lists) of all the gold they bought.
No one knows what Samaszko did for a living (what his job was). He lived in a small house in an average neighborhood. But most of the gold appears to have been purchased (bought) by his mother many years ago, when gold was relatively cheap. Gold in the early 1970s was only $100 per ounce; today, the price is $1,700 per ounce.
What happened to all the money? Samaszko had a first cousin (the child of one of Samaszko’s aunts or uncles) living in California who works as a teacher. She will inherit (receive from someone who dies) it all.*
~Jeff
* = That’s the part that will probably never happen to you.
Photo credit: Gold Eagle Coin, Wikipedia CC
Hello everyone
Wow, I did not hear about this one on the news. That’s incredible.
They must have been uncommon folks. Later I am going to see if I can find something more about this odd couple.
What do you collect all that gold for? Interesting. This are those kinds of news that draw my attention.
I would like to know what’s the driving force that pushes people doing this strange things.
The ending it’s funny.:-) Thanks Jeff.
Dear Jeff,
every person is a mistery for the other, what seems to be odd for other is the rule for oneself
and so forth.
It seems these persons were happy looking to the gold coins, counting them and thinking they
have something really unique as these old gold coins.
More or less to me it could be the same as a person who pays a lot of millions to buy a Picaso a
Dali or a Van Goth, yes that is art but what is the meaning of havin a picture or two that costs
so much money hunging on the wall at home?.
I like art, of course, but I prefer to have at home my cat “Gatufo” that a Picasso, my cat gives
me too much pleasure, he gives me happiness just when I look to him jumping and he gives me
the best…..company and love, he is alive, but….gold coins or a Picasso or even a Rembrant told
me nothing, givesme not pleasure or love……
So every one is every one, not understable for other that´s the point.
As always Thanks a Lot Dear Jeff, sure you disagree with me now….sure, as you like art so
much and disagree cats too……….not Gatufo I hope.
emiliano
Lucky man/woman.
Lots of people forget that more important than inheriting money is to inherit knowledge from that who passed away.
Nice text.
That´s right Rafael, yes I agree with your comment absolutely.
Now that my father and my mother passed away I remember them
by their good knwledge and all the good things they taught me.
Hi Dan, sure it never could happens to me or to you….but who knows?.
and to you Jeff?.
May be in Ireland you may have a very distant relative that gives you
a surprise in future?.
Being a millionaire we hope you don´t present us your dimission as our
dear best Teacher.
emiliano
Hi , this is the most amazing story that I’ve ever heard … collecting things
is a strange habit especially gold … cause it didn’t give you anything in your
life except for uneasy mind and, at a same time,make you more greedy!!!
Although we still don’t know he’s real motivation but I think it’s been really
awesome if he gave it (even part of that ) to some charity or something by
himself. and I believe he didn’t experience the pleasure of giving things and
maybe always ,as Emiliano said, be happy by counting them and looking at
them…
Javad
Thank you for posting it Jeff. It´s an interesting story, Samaszko’s cousin is very lucky and I hope he or she will be wise as well spending or investing the money, because most of the times people don´t appreciate what´s free and easy. I would like to have that money, and I think I will, but not because someone will give it to me, but because I´ll win it by myself working, investing, saving…
Warm regards!
Hello everyone
I would wait before saying that Samaszko’s cousin has been lucky. That is a big change is someone’s life.
But not necessarily a positive one. That could be the worst thing that happens in her life.
Along with the money you have to have a well working mind. So many people are better off poor.
Uncountable persons ruined themselves with money.. so I would wait..
I do not want to judge this man and his mother. Who knows maybe despite all that gold they were decent people.
It looks like there was some sort of mental issue with this people.
Well, I would thanks Mr. Samaszko and his Mom for at least giving us something to reflect on..
R.I.P. Mr Samaszko and Mom
Man ,sometime extraordinary things happen for ordinary people. I m wondering why these happy incidents never happens to me.
Everyday ,at a specific time ,you roll out of bed , wash up , nosh on sth , and hit to work.
You do everyday for God knows how many years.
The same routine over and over again.
Them, one day , out of nowhere a wonderfull ,crazy fluke knocks in your door. It falls tonight on your hip. Out of no where you revive a windfall. And,from that day forward your like tunnel all around. A yesterday man who lived on the edge is a man of high life today.
It is amazing how one isolate incident single handedly turns the tables for some certain individuals. Sometimes it is a happy ,welcoming incidence and some times it is an unfortunate a natural disaster ,a bad luck. a mishap and such.
U never know , you have no control over it. You know ,life can turn on a dime.
Life throw curves at you ,the kicker is you never know why ,u never know how
Cool,
I m back in game
Sorry ,I have some sorts of difficulty for a short while.
Sorry ,for all the typo errors in my pervious blog comment.
The thing is , I always write down my coo meant on the note book of iPhone to avoid tons of typo errors occurs during my interacting with this page ,then I copied and passed it here on the blog
The sad thing is , for no apparent reasons the system does let me copy and pays my writing here and send it up there anymore. As a result, I had to jet down everything here.
I tend to write down my thought quite fast and autocorrection mood messes it up.
Chances are you never read my comments.But,if you do , sorry fellas
The thing is I never write here . I just talk here
Yours ,
Hi Betty
If you are reading this I want you to know that we miss you.
I personally would like to see you more active on the blog.
It is important to have the perspectve of a woman and from that part of the globe.
Morover, from a woman as sweet and intelligent as you are.
Something that i do not get is why there are so few Chinese user of the blog.
They say there are half a billion internet user in China! I would have expected far more folks writing from that region.
Thanks
Hi Dan
Thanks for your message.
I am writing now. I read all your messages, embarrassed sometimes because I am not all that sweet.
I take pictures for myself with my iphone and almost certainly I delete them because I did not like to see my face. So ugly!
That’s why I will not join facebook. Sorry emiliano, I don’t think I will join facebook.
I think most Chinese are good at Chinese and they don’t write English that much. A lot of them are learning and reading our messages here but they don’t have time or courage to write.
However, I could be wrong.
It took me quite a long time to finally successfully posted my first message here.
The CAPTCHA Code was quite difficult to do and I nearly gave up before my first message appeared.
I must go now, need to go to see my father. He is old and he will think that his children have abandoned him or dislike him if we don’t keep going to see him.
I will keep writing as much as possible, I promise.
Best Regards
Betty 🙂
It’s a nice story. Do you have any history’s stories?
Betty, dear friend “You do not need to published your photo if you do not want”
I fact I use to publish Gatufo´s face nearly in a lot os sites.
First Dan didn´t published his photo, now he have only three friends that could
see his photo….by the way very nice boy an Italian face, thats clear…..his
three friends in facebook are Cuca, emiliano y Gatufo.
Every word Dan and Peter said about you it is absolutely true, sweet, nice, educated,
good writing, incredible good manners and a lot of quite good qualities.
My friends here in Madrid, that do not write in the Blog also, always are telling me
good, very good eulogies about BETTY.
Meli, Ana, Cuca, my daughters……and so forth.
Please, don´t be so shy you are Splendid my dear Betty.
Dan, also Sergio before (please Sergio forgive my silence I was in bad form you know it), have
been chating with me in English. It is an incredible good way of learning and thinking in
English.
Of course I respect which ever decission you like to take, but think a little about it.
The best for you as always…..dear Betty think: who was the one who said to you write, write
more and you did? How about the results in your own life? in ours life?
emiliano
By the way dear Betty, if you writhe in google search: desembuches gatufo
you may see emiliano´s face……..that is the face of my dear Cat Gatufo.
So it is not necessary to put your face if you don´t like.
desembuches gatufo is emiliano´s blog, nearly all in Spanish but some of
the notes are in English, if you like to read them…..
Sorry Jeff, Sorry Lucy, it is evident: emiliano has a very hard face to
tell his site with your nice complacency.
Delete this note if you think it is inappropriate to publicise it here but
you know I am a frustrated writer that wants to be read, the same as
other than wanted to be a singer……..ja, ja.ja but He is better singing
than me writing.
Thanks. emiliano
Hi! As all is confused in my mind I have started to read “The Great Republic, A History of America” by Winston Churchill and
“America, A Narrative History” by George Brown Tindall.
Reading about Andrew Jackson, the 7th President of the U.S., I found that he was influenced in his politic by Martin Van Buren, his secretary of state.
Who was Van Buren? I remember you told us about him in English Cafe 355/2012. He was the 8th President (1837 – 1841).
Hi! May I share with you my recent knowledges in History? Elected in 1828, Andrew Jackson was the first President to come from West and
not from Virginia or Massachusetts.
After his election, Jackson invited everyone who voted for him to come to Washington, D.C., for his inauguration.
So, rough frontiersmen stood on the furniture of the White House to get a better view of their hero.
People in Washington were shocked by the frontiersmen’s manners as well as by their clothes. Jackson’s election was important to these people from the frontier.
Like them, he had lived on the western frontier. Like them, he judged people by their abilities, not by their wealth.
Jackson proved that a frontiersmen could fill the most important office in the land. And now, common,or ordinary, American men could vote.
For these reason, the period of Jackson’s presidency was called the “Age of the Common Man” and “Jacksonian democracy” the period (1830 – 1850).
Andrew Jackson fought for the supremacy of The Union and organization of a national economy.
Hi! In the mean-time I have read the poem who Montag from Fahrenheit 451 read to his wife : “Dover Beach” by Matthew Arnold.
May I write some lines?
“Listen! you hear the grating roar
Of pebbles which the waves draw back, and fling,
At their return, up the high strand,
Begin, and cease, and then again begin,
With tremulous cadence slow, and bring
The eternal note of sadness in.”
Hi!
“………………..we
Find also in the sound a thought ,
Hearing it by this distant northern sea.”
“Ah, love, let us be true
To one another! for the world, which seems
To lie before us like a land of dreams,
So various, so beautiful, so new,
Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light,
Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain.”
Hi! At first sight we can believe that “Dover Beach” is a nice love poem.
Matthew Arnold (1822 – 1888) is considered one of the most significant writers of the late Victorian period in England.
The poem “Dover beach” is considered one of the most important poems of the 19th century.
In fact, it represents the thoughts and doubts of religion. The loss of faith is the main theme of the poem.
Challenges to the validity of long-standing theological and moral percepts have shaken the faith of people in God and religion.
The poet lamented the dying of the light of faith , as symbolized by the light he sees in “Dover Beach” on the coast of France, which gleams one moment and is gone the next.
A very nice poem in my opinion. Thank you.
Dear emiliano
Thank you for your kindness in encouraging me to join Facebook.
Thank you also for your kind words. I did not know the word “eulogies”, so I looked up the dictionary. It says:
“Noun 1. eulogy – a formal expression of praise for someone who has died recently
eulogium
congratulations, extolment, kudos, praise – an expression of approval and commendation; “he always appreciated praise for his work”
2. eulogy – a formal expression of praise
encomium, paean, panegyric, pean
congratulations, extolment, kudos, praise – an expression of approval and commendation; “he always appreciated praise for his work”
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.”
I could not help but laughed again and again about the part that “someone who has died recently”.
Imagine someone died recently and still can write. It is possible nowadays with the help of all the modern technologies.
I have visited your blog site and I have read and enjoyed all those messages that are in English, thank you so much for that.
I wish I can understand Spanish so that I can read all the messages.
You are so clever, you have your own blog website!
Now I understand, Facebook does not mean you must let people see your face.
Perhaps I can upload an attractive and famous Chinese star and pretend she’s me.
On second thought, might be not, because this famous star will sue me.
However, might be it will be better she sues me because then I will become famous as well.
OK, I think I will spend some time to find out how to join facebook. How do I join you and Cuca and Gafuto and Dan on facebook?
I must go now, too much to do, but I will be back very soon.
I have a lot of things to say, but haven’t got enough time today.
Nice talking to you.
All the best wishes.
Betty 🙂
Dear Betty,
Yes, yesterday I could se that somebody from Hong Kong was reading “desembuches” because I could see
how many visits has the blog and which countries are the persons from.
I could saw….Honk Kong ..26 ….but never before Honk KonK appeared as a country of readers.
So I thought:”Betty is reading it or even some of her friends are doing the same”
I was really pleased with that, so a big thank you very much to you my dear friend, we write to be read
and despite I am a “frustated writer” the opportunity I have some years ago of writing here in the
ESL BLOG thanks to Jeff, Lucy and Warren gave me wings to return to something that I always wanted to
do in my life.
Why I wanted to write? I can´t explain it ….I could say only that sinc I was a child I liked to write and
I wrote my own life book, several in fact, lot of letters, some poems and so forth.
My profession was not being a banking proffesional despite ove there I have to write lot of letters, in
Spanish and in English too.
So again, thanks a lot dear Betty, it pleased me very very much.
Thanks also to my dear teacher and friends Jeff and Lucy that have gave me such a lot of opportunities
to do what I really like to do.
Don´t be afraid of Facebook, you can have only three or four or seven friends only to write with them
in English and your mind would be thinking in this Language.
I am doing it with Dan, and before I was sick with Sergio too.
It´s funny as Sergio now is Cuca´s friend more than me, and he asked Cuca about my health.
Thanks a lot Sergio.
In tweeter I have a photo of when I was a young man of 28th years only, and it is a handsom young
man who appears in the site not an old man as I am now…ja,ja…..
So, I am sure you have a nice photo of the prety girl you where (I am sure) some years before, or you may put
wich ever subject you like, it doesn´t matter.
What about you dear Tania? you are always in mi mind too as a friend and a mistery young girl/woman
who knows……………..world now it is very small.
It is enough, thank you Jeff to let me tell such a lot of words….thanks a lot dear teacher.
Bye,
emiliano