During the funeral, dad asked to open his son’s coffin. When he touched him, he was shocked. A good stepparent can literally turn the life of a child around. It takes a strong man to accept somebody else’s children and step up to the plate another man left on the table. He adopted a role called being a father so that his child would have something mythical and infinitely important a protector.
Grief is a reaction to loss. But it’s also the name we give to the process of coping with the loss of someone who has died. Grief is a healthy process of feeling comforted, coming to terms with the loss, and finding ways to adapt. Getting over grief doesn’t mean forgetting about a person who has died. People often experience grief reactions in waves that come and go.
Often, grief is most intense soon after someone has died. But some people don’t feel their grief right away. They may feel numbness, shock or disbelief. It can take time for the reality to sink in that that person is gone. A father is a man who expects his children to be as good as he meant to be.
There’s no shame and fear, my father told me. What matters is how we face it. Daddies don’t just love their children every now and then. It’s a love without end. What you teach your children, you also teach their children.
When this woman went to the church to bury her son, she was also hiding a very dark secret and the priest didn’t even know about it. A few minutes later, another man walked in and discovered this one man. David, lived in a remote village with his parents in Russia. You see, while the rest of the world enjoyed constant electricity and a stable internet connection, it was a different situation in David’s locale. His community didn’t have a signal.
Hence they used landlines to communicate. To make matters worse, this man was an only child of his elderly parents. So he had no siblings to share his feelings with. Besides, all of his childhood friends left with their parents a long time ago. So he was left alone and often lonely.
Don’t you care about my feelings? We cannot continue to live here. We need to move to a big city, he told his parents one day. They told him they couldn’t consider moving at such an age. Even though they lived in a village.
David’s parents made sure he lacked nothing. They instilled the right values in him and raised him to love God. But if only they could just leave this God forsaken village, then his life would be perfect. This discussion continued for a long time until one morning, David packed his bags and decided he was done. However, he had only walked a few minutes when an emptiness suddenly engulfed him.
He felt like he was leaving a big part of himself behind. You see, his parents were already too old and could pass away any time. What if they died while he was far away in the city? David trembled at the thought. He knew he would never forgive himself if that happened, so he turned back and ran as fast as his legs would carry him.
On getting home, this young man flung the door open, ran towards them and hugged them passionately. We knew we were going to miss you, but if you want to leave, you have our support, his dad said. I’m happy here. I still have many years ahead. Someday I will leave, but for now, I’m here, he said.
Although Sasha decided to stay, he remained very lonely and depressed. But one day, his life turned around when a family moved next to their house. They had a daughter, Amanda, who is the same age as David. When they arrived, David wasn’t home. But upon returning, he saw Amanda in the front yard, moving some of her family’s belongings into the house.
Immediately, the two set eyes on each other. They were smitten. It felt like he had never seen a woman in his whole life. Amanda was dropped dead gorgeous. Her smile was flawless, and it looked like she had gathered all the stars in the world and kept them in her eyes.
However, the two said nothing to each other that morning. Little did David know Amanda had her own plans for the night. At night, Amanda went outside the house to fetch a farm instrument he had left outdoors. He was about to enter his house when he fell to hand. Suddenly pulling back, turning around, he came face to face with the damsel he had spent his whole day thinking about.
I saw you earlier today, Amanda said, and smiled. David wasn’t the chatty type, so Amanda did most of the talking while he listened with rapt attention. She was so cheerful and energetic. Everything about her made him fall even deeper in love. The chemistry between them was so high that they shared a kiss that night.
It was David’s first, and it left him shaking all over. He was glad he finally had a companion. Unfortunately, this charming lady was a friend in disguise. With each passing day, their relationship deepened, and they shared a lot of sexual delights. We had a nice connection, but it was primarily physical, David said.
It continued this way until one day, everything they shared became nothing but an unpleasant memory. That day, Amanda invited David over for supper. While eating, she said something that threw the poor man off balance. She told him she had been in town some days ago for an abortion. When David heard this, he was read with fury.
How could you do such a thing? Why didn’t you tell me you were carrying my child? He said, suppressing a scream. But he got an entirely different reaction from what he had envisioned. Amanda burst into laughter.
She chuckled so hard that she even shed a tear. How do you know it was your child, she said. David was so surprised by her statement, it clearly meant she had other men in her life. He realized Amanda wasn’t the naive, loyal girl she had made him believe she was. She was a far cry from the kind of woman his mom would have wanted for him.
I can’t believe you, he said, and dashed out of the house. He felt like a bomb of pain was exploding in his head. He couldn’t even think straight, so he went to a church nearby to relax his nerves. Although often he did this whenever he felt sad. Today’s trip brought him something that he needed most.
On getting to the church, David sat in the corner and meditated for the next 30 minutes. Everywhere was quiet until the cries of someone interrupted his thoughts. Looking back, he saw a woman, Victoria, holding a lifeless baby in her arms while shedding tears and begging a priest. Since she was crying so loudly he couldn’t make any sense of what she was saying, david moved closer so he could get a better understanding of the scene playing right before his eyes. When he was close enough, he learned the woman’s partner had abandoned her after she got pregnant.
David admired her strength and decision to go ahead with the pregnancy regardless of her partner’s painful actions. It also hurt him beyond words that she had lost the child. Unable to stand the woman’s tears, david approached the priest and asked what was going on. Then the clergyman explained the woman wanted a Catholic funeral for her baby. However, she could not do such a funeral because the baby had not been baptized.
The woman continued to plead, but the clergyman insisted his hands were tied and there was nothing he could do. Filled with pity, David couldn’t take his eyes off the woman and her baby that was suddenly noticed something frightening. He saw the baby’s hand move. Instantly, David rushed to the little child and took his pulse. Even though he wasn’t a doctor, he realized the child was still alive.
David quickly administered er, and soon the little boy opened his eyes and was breathing. Neither David nor the priest could understand what happened. They needed the woman to explain, and she did, amidst tears. You see, after Victoria’s partner abandoned her, she was also kicked out by her parents. With no job or any source of income, she knew she couldn’t take care of the child, so she had him sedated and brought him to the church so that he could be buried.
When this woman was done explaining, she fell to the ground and asked for forgiveness. David, who became a stepfather for the baby, was the man who saved his life. He was so glad to hear her plans hadn’t worked, but he understood the young woman’s plight and didn’t judge her. It even hurt him to imagine everything she had to pull through, and he felt a strong and convincing urge to protect her and her child. So he held the woman’s hands, carried the baby, and told her she could come home with him.
When David got home with the woman and her child, his parents didn’t disagree. They were glad and had good intentions for them and promised to support him later that evening. David and the woman spent some time sharing their experiences. Both of them realized they had given out so much love, trust and sacrificed a lot, only to have it thrown back in their faces. That night we spoke for a long time and grew increasingly close to one another.
We eventually fell asleep together. Since then we have been a bear. David thought that they received a lot of derogatory comments from the neighbors. David and Victoria paid no attention to them. They were just so happy and in love with each other, and that was all that mattered to them.
And in time, the neighbors also learned to accept their relationship. They saw how much they loved and respected each other and decided to just be happy for them. They were glad David had welcomed Victoria to his home and even accepted her child as his own. Not long ago, David reconnected with his girlfriend. Although it was now too late for her, she opened up to the man who once loved her about her struggles with life.
Since she couldn’t get a decent job, she now worked as a hooker. If only she could turn the hands of time, she could have done that the right way. Your woman is a lucky girl, Amanda said with tears gathering in her eyes. Today, David lives happily with Victoria and their child. What are your thoughts on David taking Victoria in?
