CHAPTER FOURTEEN: The Eighth Tuesday, We Talk About Money

I came into House's room the next Tuesday. Instantaneously, he threw me a pack of sticky-notes. I clumsily caught them. "What's this?" I asked with confusion.

"They're called sticky-notes."

"Well, yeah, but why are you giving them to me?"

House replied, "Put a sticky-note on everything in this house that you want."
"For…for when you die?" I asked sadly.

"When did the State the Obvious Game become the new favorite among people? I still vote for Monopoly," House said sarcastically.

Chase looked around the house. "So anything I want here is mine?"

"Yep," House replied. "I was going to half of it all to Wilson, but since he said bye-bye, I guess it all goes to you. The stuff you don't want I'll send to charity."

"Wow, you have a lot of nice things, House. Wouldn't it be easier for me to put a sticky on the things I don't want?" Chase said with a smile.

House responded, "Depends. How much of this stuff are you willing to give to charity? Because I can make it REALLY simple for you, and just say, 'Screw the homeless. Let Chase have everything so he doesn't have to lift a finger and bother to put a sticky-note on it all.' How does that sound?"

Chase suddenly looked guilty. "Oh…yeah, I guess I was being pretty selfish."

"Darn right you were,"

"But you DID say that you wanted me to have whatever I desired of yours,"

House nodded. "Except my boxers. Those are going to Trinity. I think she deserves them. After all, they looked so good on her last night."

Chase rolled his eyes. "Well, maybe you should decide what you want to give to charity. I don't know the emotional value of anything here."

"Emotional value?" House said, sighing. "Let me ask you this, Chase. If you could take one thing from this house, would you choose the platinum ring or that old teddy bear?"

After pondering for a moment, Chase answered, "The teddy bear."

"The teddy bear? That's just stupid, Chase. Why would someone choose an old stuffed animal over an expensive piece of jewelry?"

"Um…because I assume the bear was an old childhood toy of yours?" I guessed.

House said, "That's right, but you could've very easily been wrong. The bear could've been a present from some woman I don't even know who came by and said, 'I heard about your cancer. Here's a teddy bear.' It could've been 'fake old', made that to look like an antique, but probably only worth $5.00."

"Okay, so your point is?" I asked.

"Well, first of all, not to assume things have emotional value. Secondly, even if it did have emotional value to me, why would it to you? Would it make you a better person to know you took an old toy instead of a piece of quality jewelry? Would it make you feel like you and I are emotionally connected by a shared item or something? Like father passes old bear onto son?" Before I could answer, House continued, "And thirdly, if this selfish motives were not yours, did you think maybe the homeless would benefit more from the platinum ring than the teddy bear? The adults would, surely, but what about the children? They don't know the value of platinum. But I bet they know the value of something to hug when they are alone or scared."

My mind was overcrowded by these notions. "Okay…I agree with what you said, but where do I go from here? Are you telling me to give the expensive things away to charity or the less expensive but more meaningful things away?"

"You figure it out," House said, ending the conversation. At the end of the day, unsure of what House wanted me to do, I ended up giving almost everything to charity. I kept a few things for myself, things I thought meant something to House personally. I wasn't really sure if they meant anything or if they were just clutter, but it make me feel better to have that old teddy bear by my side when I slept.