My mom brought home a TV that didn’t belong to us

We were going through a harrowing time in my life. My dad was very ill and the outcome was uncertain due to massive heart failure and he was only in his mid 50’s. We were a middle class family that never really took vacations or bought new stuff. It was always “we’ll just have to wait and see” or “no, that’s too expensive”. <br><br>I remember my mom driving up to our driveway in her blue sundress, a usual summer outfit she wore with some sandals. She got out of the car and popped the trunk where I saw a TV already in there. We owned a small square TV with wood paneling and we had recently received a new, larger TV from my dad’s brother after he upgraded to a bigger one. We had it in my parent’s bedroom. I don’t remember the size but it was 4:3 ratio and pretty massive to my 7 year old eyes. This TV was a bit smaller than the one my uncle gave us. I don’t know why we needed a brand new TV as we already had two at the time. Anyways, my mom took it inside my brother and I’s room and plugged it in. It worked. She didn’t speak about it and none of us really asked about it. My brother and I were a bit too preoccupied with the health of our father and just dealt with it. <br><br>This new TV had a system where you could hit a button and play a tape so that you could record something on the TV. It was something totally foreign to me. Our VHS player was a separate console and we didn’t have anything like that on our other TVs. It was also really heavy. Seriously heavy. I don’t remember how long it lasted, but it just disappeared randomly one day. It was as if we never had it and we didn’t speak about it. <br><br>My dad is still alive and kicking, it’s been almost 16 years since then. Why did we get this TV? It didn’t belong to my parents or anyone in my family. It just showed up. The TV was in good shape and didn’t have any signs of damage. Nothing weird in the TV itself, it just existed and worked as TVs should. <br><br>I have no idea why my parents have never brought it up. They’re not the type to purchase used goods as they get paranoid someone will “slip something in”. Where did that TV come from?