A story is told about a soldier who was finally coming home after having fought in Vietnam. He called his parents from San Francisco. “Mom and Dad, I’m coming home, but I have a favor to ask. I have a friend I’d like to bring home with me.” “Sure,” they replied, “We’d love to meet him.”
“There’s something you should know” the son continued, “He was hurt pretty badly in the fighting. He stepped on a land mind and lost an arm and a leg. He has nowhere else to go, and I want him to come live with us.”
“I’m sorry to hear that, son. Maybe we can help him find somewhere to live.” “No, Mom and Dad, I want him to live with us.” “Son,” said the father, “you don’t know what you’re asking. Someone with such a handicap would be a terrible burden on us. We have our own lives to live, and we can’t let something like this interfere with our lives. I think you should just come home and forget about this guy. He’ll find a way to live on his own.”
At that point, the son hung up the phone. The parents heard nothing more from him. A few days later, however, they received a call from the San Francisco police. Their son had died after falling from a building, they were told. The police believed it was suicide. The grief-stricken parents flew to San Francisco and were taken to the city morgue to identify the body of their son. They recognized him, but to their horror they also discovered something they didn’t know, their son had only one arm and one leg.
The parents in this story are like many of us. We find it easy to love those who are good-looking or fun to have around, but we don’t like people who inconvenience us or make us feel uncomfortable. We would rather stay away from people who aren’t as healthy, beautiful, or smart as we are.
Thankfully, there’s someone who won’t treat us that way. Someone who loves us with an unconditional love that welcomes us into the forever family, regardless of how messed up we are.
Tonight, before you tuck yourself in for the night, say a little prayer that God will give you the strength you need to accept people as they are, and to help us all be more understanding of those who are different from us!!
4 comments to THE SOLDIER
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Unknown Dear Tiger,
Indeed that is the measure of true parental love.
It is very challenging to bring up such a child and a good friend of mine once told me this when I was very worried about my pregnancy.
You have to be a very special person to be chosen by God to have a 'special' child.
The wisdom of her words hit me and have remained in me till today.
Truly you brother-in-law and his wife are special parents, endowed with that extra capacity to love, to give and to persevere even in the face of tough challenges. They have my deepest admiration and respect and I pray that God will continue to bless them with strength and wisdom and to bless your nephew in ways that we cannot imagine.
Thanks so much for sharing, Tiger.
May God bless you and your family too.
Shalom.
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mamasita Paula,
I love all your stories but sometimes I tak tahan the sad ending! Boohooo boohooo!
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Unknown Dear Datin Mamasita,
Sebenarnya, saya pun tak tahan the sad ending...but in time, ever since posting sentimental stuff, I think I have become slightsly more resilient. Walaupun ada menangis, kini tangisan air dah berkurangan...tak seperti air terjun dahulu :-).
Thanks for sharing, dear friend.
As usual, we are two real sentimental ladies :-).
hugs
Tiger My brother in law (wife's eldest brother), has a son who was born with brain damage.
I have watched both his wife and him bringing up the boy with all the love despite him never being able to speak or interact with them.
That's what real parental love is.