An inspiring story

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Source:holy_trinity (AT) googl (DOT) com

 

A nurse took the tired, anxious serviceman to the bedside.

 

" Your son is here, " she said to the old man.

 

She had to repeat the words several times before the patient's

eyes opened.

 

Heavily sedated because of the pain of his heart attack, he dimly

saw the young uniformed Marine standing outside the oxygen tent. He

reached out his hand. The Marine wrapped his toughened fingers around

the old man's limp ones, squeezing a message of love and

encouragement.

 

The nurse brought a chair so that the Marine could sit beside the

bed.All through the night, the young Marine sat there in the poorly

lighted ward, holding the old man's hand and offering him words of

love and strength. Occasionally, the nurse suggested that the Marine

move away and rest awhile.

 

He refused. Whenever the nurse came into the ward, the Marine was oblivious of

her and of the night noises of the hospital - the clanking of the oxygen tank,

the laughter of the night staff members exchanging greetings, the cries and

moans of the other

patients.

 

Now and then she heard him say a few gentle words. The dying man said

nothing, only held tightly to his son all through the night.

 

Along towards dawn, the old man died. The Marine released the now

lifeless hand he had been holding and went to tell the nurse. While

she did what she had to do, he waited.

 

Finally, she returned. She started to offer words of sympathy, but

the Marine interrupted her.

 

" Who was that man? " he asked.

 

 

The nurse was startled, " He was your father, " she answered.

 

" No, he wasn't, " the Marine replied. " I never saw him before in my

life. "

 

" Then why didn't you say something when I took you to him? "

 

" I knew right away there had been a mistake, but I also knew he

needed his son, and his son just wasn't here. When I realized that he

was too sick to tell whether or not I was his son, knowing how much

he needed me, I stayed. "

 

The next time someone needs you ... just be there. Stay.

 

WE ARE NOT HUMAN BEINGS GOING THROUGH

A TEMPORARY SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE.

WE ARE SPIRITUAL BEINGS GOING THROUGH

A TEMPORARY HUMAN EXPERIENCE.

 

Gokulmuthu Narayanaswamy <gokulmuthu