So the following morning, Donald got into the passenger seat of Peter’s car, and they started driving towards the nursing home he suggested. For some reason, Peter took several turns, and Donald frowned. “Are you sure this is the right way?
I feel like you’re going to circle back to your house,” the older man told his son. “Oh, don’t worry, Dad. We have to pick up something first from 7Eleven,” Peter replied, his hands moving the wheel and his 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 concentrated so hard 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 the 7Eleven, Dad. Look up,” Peter chimed in.
Donald raised his head and looked at his son, who gestured towards the passenger side’s 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 pure ashes and pain.
He had bought that house with his wife, and that’s where they raised Peter. The surprise of seeing it gone after a massive short-circuit in the kitchen had been too much for his older heart. But the image he saw now was nothing like he remembered.
The house was back in shape. It was completely remodeled. Donald raised his eyebrows at his son.
“No, you didn’t,” he whispered. “Of course, I did. Well, we did.
Sandra worked to find the best budgets out there,” Peter added with a huge smile on his face. “That’s too much money, Peter. Let me pay you back,” Donald said as tears started gathering in his eyes.
“Absolutely not. Did you 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 that house. We absolutely can’t lose it, even if I have one of my own just a few blocks away. I love this home, and this is more than you deserve for everything you did for me while I was growing up,” Peter gushed as his eyes watered too.
Donald started crying openly, and his son pulled him for a tight hug. They took a tour of the new house which Peter and Sandra had also furnished, although it was more modern now. Donald couldn’t believe his son had done this, and now he understood why they were always getting home late.
He also realized that he shouldn’t have listened to their nosey neighbor, Mary. Clearly, she was 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 tire of his presence in his house judging from her own experience, but she was utterly mistaken. Because what happened to her wouldn’t necessarily 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 all that matters in this world.
