| "Hi Mom and Dad, I'm coming
home, but I've a favor to ask. I'd like to bring a friend home with
me." "Sure" they replied. "We'd love to meet him." "There
is something you should know," the son continued. "He was hurt pretty
badly in the fighting. He stepped on a land mine and lost an arm
and 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 are asking.
Someone with such a handicap would be a terrible burden to us. We
have our own life 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 leg. He himself was the man he wanted to bring home to his
Mom and Dad. |