I was up in norcal a couple years ago waiting in a bank lobby for a bank rep to grant us access to my recently deceased dads safe deposit box. Dad had left me the key to it, but hadn’t told me what was in it.
A friend from my childhood happened in the bank and we chatted for a while – I hadn’t seen him in going on 35 years.
He asked why I was in town and I told him. He asked what was in the safe deposit box and I said I honestly had no idea.
He smiled as he walked away and said “hope you find a gold bar!!”
That has stuck with me. I’m going to buy a gold bar for each of my kids and leave them in my safe deposit box. They may be tiny gold bars, but gold bars nonetheless. And I’m not going to tell them they are there. It will be my little post-passing surprise for them.