I’m Coming Home

A story is told about a soldier who was finally coming home after

having fought in Vietnam. He called his parents from San Francisco.

 

“Mom and Dad, I’m coming home, but I’ve a favor to ask. I have a friend

I’d like to bring home with me.”

 

“Sure,” they replied, “we’d love to meet him.”

 

“There’s something you should know the son continued, “he was hurt

pretty badly in the fighting. He stepped on a land mind and lost an arm

and a 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’re asking. Someone

with such a handicap would be a terrible burden on us. We have our own

lives 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 one leg.

 

The parents in this story are like many of us. We find it easy to love

those who are good-looking or fun to have around, but we don’t like

people who inconvenience us or make us feel uncomfortable. We would

rather stay away from people who aren’t as healthy, beautiful, or smart

as we are. Thankfully, there’s someone who won’t treat us that way.

Someone who loves us with an unconditional love that welcomes us into

the forever family, regardless of how messed up we are.