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.
**
There is a problem with that story and the conclusions. Unconditional love only exists between blood. All the rest is conditional. The young man was an idiot and most like suffering from some form of PTSD. Its rather common for families to take care of disabled vets till they die. That is family. That is unconditional love.
Taking responsibility of someone who is not family, who has not done anything for you - that is self sacrifice. Not unconditional love.
^yes had the parents known of the accident happened to their son their response would hav been different.this response was for an unknown stranger.
who says everybody loves beautiful n perfect .hav u never seen parents with deformed kids n kids with down syndromes.they r not easy to raise but only heartless person would hate or giv up his deformed or handicapped kids.
^ but he was hurted by their responce...coz we often think our parents are so loving and nice...and when it comes in such situation so its like they might do same thing with us...
i mean when son said he is his best friend and has nowhere else to go..but still they say NO...and as he was already hurted and their answer made him more disappointment...and he couln't bear to tell them truth thats why he killed his self...
he was hurt coz only he knew the friend he was talking abt was he himself but his father didn't. the dad was nodoubt a bit too rude n straightforward but y did the son thought that his family will treat him the same way they treated his unknown friend.he should hav taken the conversation to next level n if the parents after finding the reality had acted heartlessly to him then his suicide could hav been justified.it was his severe depression n his own illusion that the family would think him a burden took him to that decision.
unconditional love is only for ppl we know n cherish esp blood relations, spouses n very dear friends.taking a strangers responsibilty for lifetime is not an easy thing.
anyways Kinzz the story sure is touchy n very tragic.thanks for sharing
but still what im thinking is he might be thinking that what if they will feel im a burden on them and thats why he didnt wanted to put burden on them....
i know he should've told them real situation...but he was very frustrated with his accident...isliye kehte hain jald bazi mai fasile nahi karne chahye :(
That is sad. Had the father and mother known that the person in question was in fact his son, he would have said yes in a heartbeat :( Parents let a lot of things slide when it comes to their children and when it boils down to it most parents go out of their way to protect their children.
Only very humble and compassionate people would let in a total stranger and care for him like their own.
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.
YES UR RIGHT THAT IS VERY SOROWFUL AND IT IS ALSO THE BITTER TRUTH THAT SUCH PPL ARE NOT TREATED GOOD IN OUR CRUEL SOCIETY WHICH CREATES COMPLEX AMONG THESE PPL.