Donald had to move in with his son Peter after his house burned down. However, he started to feel like a burden because Peter and his wife stayed out late every night. Therefore, the older man decided to move into a nursing home. But his son had the most beautiful surprise in store.
“I’m telling you, Donald. Your son will lose his patience soon and ask you to move. It’s better to be proactive and find another place before that happens and your relationship suffers,” Donald heard Mary say once again. She had been repeating this since they started drinking tea on his son’s porch.
Donald Harper’s house had burned down two months ago while he was at the supermarket, and he suffered a heart attack when he got home. He was taken to the hospital, and his son, Peter, and his wife insisted that he move in with them once he recovered. But they were a couple in their 30s with three young kids, and now they had to accommodate an older man in their home.
Donald had worried about being a burden for some time, but Peter and his wife insisted that they loved having him around, and the grandkids always enjoyed his stories. However, Peter’s neighbor, Mary, who was around Donald’s age, had been telling him otherwise.
“You think Peter and his wife are just being too polite to tell me to leave?” Donald wondered aloud, sipping his tea.
Mary nodded vehemently. “Of course! It happened to me, and I was only with my daughter for three weeks. She blamed me for everything that went wrong. She said I was too loud in the mornings and that I was driving up her electric bill. My house was only being fumigated, but I swear, I just wanted to go back home,” she continued. “We haven’t spoken in a long time because of that.”
Donald hummed and nodded, considering that Mary might be right. Obviously, his son was much more polite, as they had never said a bad word about him.
He also noticed that Peter and Sandra were coming home later and later each day. He was happy to watch the kids, but maybe, he thought, they were unhappy to have him in their home. He decided it might be time to move.
That night, Donald pulled his son aside and suggested moving to a nursing home, but Peter brushed it off. “Dad, now is not the time for that. We’ll talk about it later.”
Several months passed, and Donald grew more worried. Peter and Sandra looked exhausted every time they got home, though they always smiled at him. He had not brought up the nursing home again, but it was time to try once more. He had enough savings to afford a decent assisted-living residence, so it wouldn’t be awful.
He even searched online for places and found one nearby in Chesapeake, Virginia, only a few minutes away from Peter’s house. He printed out the information and was ready to show it to Peter.
“Okay, Dad. Let’s go visit it tomorrow,” Peter agreed that night, and Donald was relieved. Mary had been harping on about his extended stay, and Donald worried it would ruin his bond with his son and family.
The following morning, Donald got into the passenger seat of Peter’s car, and they started driving towards the nursing home. But Peter took several turns, making Donald frown. “Are you sure this is the right way? I feel like you’re circling back to your house,” the older man said.
“Oh, don’t worry, Dad. We need to pick up something first from 7-Eleven,” Peter replied, his hands steady on the wheel, eyes focused on the road.
Donald nodded and thought nothing of it. He picked up the paperwork he had printed and read aloud some of the benefits listed on the nursing home’s website.
He was so focused on reading that he didn’t notice when Peter stopped the car. “Oh, get me a bag of chips, please,” Donald said absentmindedly.
“We’re not at 7-Eleven, Dad. Look up,” Peter said.
Donald raised his head and looked at his son, who gestured toward the passenger-side window. The older man turned and realized they were on his old street, right in front of his house.
The last image he remembered of that place had been nothing but ashes and sorrow. He had bought that house with his wife, and they had raised Peter there. The shock of seeing it gone after a massive short circuit in the kitchen had been too much for his aging heart.
But what he saw now was nothing like what he remembered. The house was completely restored. Donald raised his eyebrows at his son. “No, you didn’t,” he whispered.
“Of course, I did. Well, we did. Sandra worked hard to find the best budgets,” Peter said with a huge smile.
“That’s too much money, Peter. Let me pay you back,” Donald said, tears gathering in his eyes.
“Absolutely not. Did you really think I would let my father live in a nursing home? I don’t know where you got that crazy idea. Besides, you and Mom raised me in this house. We couldn’t just let it go, even if I have my own place a few blocks away. I love this home, and this is the least you deserve for everything you did for me growing up,” Peter gushed, his eyes watering as well.
Donald started crying openly, and his son pulled him into a tight hug. They took a tour of the house, which Peter and Sandra had also furnished, though now in a more modern style.
Donald couldn’t believe what his son had done, and he finally understood why Peter and Sandra were always coming home late. He also realized he shouldn’t have listened to their nosy neighbor, Mary. Clearly, she had been wrong.
What can we learn from this story?
- One person’s journey doesn’t have to be yours. Mary told Donald that his son would grow tired of his presence based on her own experience, but she was completely mistaken. What happened to her didn’t necessarily have to happen to Donald.
- Take care of your parents in their old age. Sometimes, placing your parents in a nursing home is inevitable, but take care of them if you can because family is what truly matters in this world.
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This account is inspired by our reader’s story and written by a professional writer. Any resemblance to actual names or locations is purely coincidental. All images are for illustration purposes only.
Source: amomama.com