"wathched the past unfurl millions into our laps"

[bud-bar]

I've recently watched a movie "The Descendents" and came accros [STRIKE]into[/STRIKE] a sentence I found [STRIKE]hard[/STRIKE] difficult to understand. Can anyone help me out with it? Here it is:

"Between his land deals and her huge inheritance generations of their descendants, all of us, have watched the past unfurl millions into our laps through leases and sales."

The first part is not difficult at all but what does the second mean? That the descendents have watched that the past inheritance (which wasn't that big at all) was becoming bigger and bigger through many deals etc. and finally went to their own pockets (laps)?

Am I reading it well? If not, I'd really appreciate your help with understanding it

BTW: Sorry for any mistakes, as you probably have figured [STRIKE]it[/STRIKE] out by now, I'm not a native speaker so I'm aware of the fact that there's plenty of things for me to learn (I rechecked the post before sending it and corrected mistakes I found but I'm sure there's more left, so don't get confused by the striked words, one bolded dot I forgot to write at the beginning etc. it's just for me so I could remember these mistakes and hopefully prevent myself from making them again) And sorry about the topic title but I didn't come up with anything more specific so I just put a part of the problematic sentence.

It was originally supposed to be a short post but...

 

[bhaisahab]

I've recently watched a movie "The Descendents" and came across [STRIKE]into[/STRIKE] a sentence I found [STRIKE]hard[/STRIKE] difficult to understand. Can anyone help me out with it? Here it is:

"Between his land deals and her huge inheritance generations of their descendants, all of us, have watched the past unfurl millions into our laps through leases and sales."

The first part is not difficult at all but what does the second mean? That the descendents have watched that the past inheritance (which wasn't that big at all) was becoming bigger and bigger through many deals etc. and finally went to their own pockets (laps)?

Am I reading it well? If not, I'd really appreciate your help with understanding it

BTW: Sorry for any mistakes, as you probably have figured [STRIKE]it[/STRIKE] out by now, I'm not a native speaker so I'm aware of the fact that there's plenty of things for me to learn (I rechecked the post before sending it and corrected mistakes I found but I'm sure there's more left, so don't get confused by the striked words, one bolded dot I forgot to write at the beginning etc. it's just for me so I could remember these mistakes and hopefully prevent myself from making them again) And sorry about the topic title but I didn't come up with anything more specific so I just put a part of the problematic sentence. As for your changes, "hard" was fine.

It was originally supposed to be a short post but...

"Between his land deals and her huge inheritance, generations of their descendants, all of us, have watched the past unfurl millions into our laps through leases and sales."
Your understanding of the text is good. I think the comma that I have marked in red is necessary. "hard" is fine by the way.

 

[BobK]

:up: But I think the word 'unfurl' is poorly chosen. It means, roughly, 'unroll and spread out'. It is used frequently (figuratively) in collocation with 'generations' or 'the past'.

But here, though accidentally next to 'past', it is collocated with 'millions'. And while one might be said to unfurl a note (probably in a context that implies defiance or insolence - as 'flags' are typically 'unfurled') I don't see how it is possible to 'unfurl millions'.

b