A Father's Gift

Young Love

In a small farm town in Illinois, what served as a safe place for a younger woman was the company and live-in relationship with an older man who had been a husband in a previous marriage. The man was a busy farmer who owned two farms and had full custody of his 4 sons from his previous marriage. The two met at an in-town local diner where the young woman worked as a waitress.

She was so taken by his stature and easy-going jovial personality that seemed to always capture her attention. In general, he was a quiet man but his steel-blue eyes and infectious smile would always have her prying with him in efforts to learn more about him. After some casual visits to the diner, and mutual attraction towards one another, the two started seeing each other on a steady basis.

It wasn't long before the young woman found herself living with the man at his farmhouse. Their relationship grew as she served as a surrogate mother for his sons as she quit her job at the diner and stayed at the farmhouse. She worked on the farm helping out with his boys and the daily chores that were required as living on a farm there is always work to be done.

The quiet man was tough on his boys as he expected a great deal out of them with their work ethic and knowledge. The man was smart as he could balance his checkbook down to the penny in his head without writing anything down. He was always conducting business deals with the buying and selling of property as well as farm livestock.

Rearview Losses

After some time in this relationship, the young woman wanted nothing more than to get married to this man that she loved dearly. With the previously failed marriage, this idea did not sit well with the quiet thinking farmer as he was not ready for this. The young woman found herself pregnant a little later on and pursued this topic of marriage even more with him.

The stubborn farmer told her that he didn't mind the relationship that they currently had, but he was not going to go through this again. In a desperate attempt to try and change his mind she threatened to leave him as she was so vexed by his decision. The young mother stayed hoping the fondness of their new child would convince the stubborn farmer and change his heart.

A few years went by living and working on the farm but there was still no change in the stubborn farmer's decision when it came to marriage. The young mother thought for sure that if she left he would surely chase her in efforts to keep their family together. She packed their things and gathered her son and told the farmer that she was leaving.

The teary steel blue-eyed farmer regretfully accepted her decision and asked her where she was going. She told him that she was heading a few states south as she wanted to live in Texas. He took her car and filled up the gas tank and put four brand new tires on the car. He brought her car back to the farm and put a good sum of money in the ashtray.

The boys came out of the house with great sadness to hug their surrogate mother and see her off. The teary-eyed farmer hugged them both and told her if she ever changed her mind she could always come back. She put her son in the car and proceeded to get in and drive down the long dirt driveway. Looking back in the rearview mirror she cried as she watched her dreams fading away in the background.

New Beginnings

The young mother found her place in a small country town in central Texas where she worked and went to school while providing for her son. She dated a few guys but none of them seemed to want to stick around and take on a ready-made family. One day her neighbor invited her over for lunch as she had someone she wanted her to meet.

The neighbor introduced her to a man who was a soldier in the Army that attended her church. He was very charismatic, funny, and very good with kids and seemed to meet the desires of the young mother. The two began dating and seeing each other regularly as he loved spending time with the little boy.

The soldier would come by when he could and take the little boy to the park and spend time playing with him. The little boy would get so excited when he would come and visit as he was so proud to know a soldier. It wasn't much longer the soldier moved in with the young mother and her son. Her dream was coming true as she had finally found someone who loved and accepted her and her son.

They decided to get married as this little family unit seemed to be the greatest blessing that she was praying for. The new stepfather decided that he wanted to adopt the little boy because he wanted everyone to share his last name. Yes, life was finally looking up for this young family with so much joy and happiness.

Dr. Jekle and Mr. Hyde

Shortly after the adoption, things started to change with the family dynamics and the stepfather's behavior. He became very abusive, overly controlling, and strict with the little boy. This was so different from the man that everyone first met, as now this had become a home filled with fear for the little boy.

The little boy would be woken up early every day and given beatings in case if he did something during the day that the stepfather didn't catch. This continued for years as the boy became withdrawn and despised his stepfather greatly. The boy longed for his real father and wished that his mother just would have left him behind with his brothers.

Eventually, as the boy grew into a young man the abuse changed to that of mental and verbal abuse from his stepfather. By this time the young man was privy to the head games of his stepfather, and he began resisting and fighting back. Once in high school, the abuse stopped for the most part as the young man was planning his escape from his abusive and dysfunctional family.

The plan was to join the military and leave as soon as possible once he graduated high school. The young man found himself angry with his real father for not coming and saving him from the clutches of his abusive two-faced stepfather. There were so many unanswered questions that plagued the young man's mind concerning his real father that his mother had no answers for.

The last year of high school came and the young man went and enlisted into the Marine Corps as he would leave for Bootcamp 3 days after graduation. Finally, the young man was traveling the world doing his duty but still thought about his real father often. The young man's unit got deployed overseas and he promised himself that when he got back he would take his vacation and go visit his real father.

Unexpected Answers

A few months into the overseas deployment the young man received the most disturbing news that he could not believe. Inside a phone booth on the phone with his mother, the young man learned that his real father past away. His knees buckled as he slumped down inside the booth speechless trying to gather his thoughts while overcome with shock and sadness.

The young man went on having to accept the situation for what it was and not having the power to control any of it. The questions remained in his head that he knew he would more than likely never get answers to. After months went by the young man's unit rotated back to the United States, and as he settled into his new room there was a knock on his door.

His squad leader came by to drop the young man's mail off to him as he had received a package from his older brother. Recognizing the name of his brother on the package, the young man opened it very quickly to find a note from his brother along with this little black notebook. The note read; "This was dad's personal notebook and he specifically wanted you to have it. We love you and hope you are staying safe. Your brother -Jim-"

The young man's hands began to shake and tremble as his eyes started to fill up with tears. His emotions were a tornado of sadness and loss of his father, the happiness of receiving some form of communication from his father. The young man spent the rest of his night reading each page slowly and intently of his father's words that were only meant for him. His father wrote of how much he thought of his son throughout the years and how proud of him he was.

His only wish was for his son to grow up and be a better man than him when it came to being a father to his own kids. He explained his lack of display of love because he never had a good example of it growing up himself. He painfully and deeply regretted not marrying the young man's mother as she was the best thing that he let get away because of his fears. With this final note; "Always strive to be better than me!" the young man turned the page to find a folded-up check for 20,000 dollars.

Closure

The young man called his mother and told her that he was taking her on a vacation in a few weeks, but did not tell her where they were going. He sent his mother plane tickets and picked her up at the airport once she arrived. They spent a few days on the road stopping and checking out attractions and some sightseeing. Midway through their trip, she noticed they kept traveling north but she did not question it as she was enjoying the quality time with her son.

Driving through the familiar small farm town that wasn't so small anymore his mother started crying as she reached over and held his hand. Her son remained quiet and kept driving making his way back to the farmhouse where it all began. Back on that long dirt road driveway seeing the farmhouse his mother could not contain herself as she cried immensely. She was overcome with emotions as she saw the white farmhouse in the distance with the sunset cascading on the cornfields in the background.

She noticed to the right of the farmhouse a little way's was this small little cemetery that had only one burial plot and headstone. He put the car in park at the front of the house and all of the familiar smells of that farm brought back so many memories to both of them. His mother quickly got out of the car and made her way up to the headstone where she collapsed crying. He knelt beside her and held onto his mother and began to tell her; "This is our place now. Dad left it to me and if you want you can come live here you are more than welcome. He gave me $20,000 so I can get you moved here and you won't have to worry about bills. I am getting out soon and I'm coming back home".

She began nodding her head yes as she felt that she was finally home while holding onto her son with a tight grasp. He stood up and pulled out the little black notebook and began reading his father's words to her of how much she meant to him and his deepest regrets. As he finished reading to her car's started pulling up in the driveway as the rest of the father's sons quickly got out and made their way up to them. There was not a dry eye amidst any of them as they were all reunited with feelings of joy and sorrow.

What started because of love endured a time of great pain that ended in healing. Thank you for taking the time to read my story.