For several years, a man in his mid-twenties could not wait for the day life would give him the chance to take his revenge on his father, but his actions surprised him on the day he got his chance.
Henry quickly ran to his door wearing his pajamas and slippers amid sleeping eyes. He had a late night and had planned to sleep till the late hours of the morning, but the loud doorbell ruined his plans.
As he approached his door, he wiped his eyes and asked, “Who is there?” with a voice that showed he was in no mood for a visitor but was compelled to receive one that early.
His visitor kept silent even as he quizzed on his identity; however, the 25-year-old opened his door to see who it was and get things sorted out, but what he saw next drove any bit of sleep left in him.
It was his father, Wayne, whom he had not seen in ages. With a summoned smile, Wayne said, “Hi son. Sorry, I just popped up at your place; I tried to reach you but you were not picking up.”
For a minute, Henry was stunned, but it did not take long for him to realize that this was the man who had hurt him the most in his life, and he had no idea what he wanted from him.
Finding his voice, Henry asked, “What do you want?”
“I was recently kicked out of my place, and I was wondering if I could stay with you until I have things sorted out?” Wayne asked.
After a short pause, Henry told his father that he could stay with him on the condition that he paid rent and took care of some bills in the house. Shocked, Wayne explained that he had no money or anyone to turn to.
“It doesn’t matter to me,” Henry said as he realized his heart was beginning to tighten. “I can’t imagine you would come to help after all these years. It doesn’t matter if you stay on the street at this point,” Henry blurted out.
At that moment, Henry became overwhelmed by his emotion and slammed the door behind his father. As he walked back to his room, he saw his wife, Kim, staring at him in surprise over what had just happened.
Henry and Kim got married two years ago. He had just gotten his big break as a salesman for a pharmaceutical company, and they had both kept things clean and plain between themselves.
Kim had never seen her husband this disturbed and emotional since they got together. She walked to him as he sat on the dressing table sobbing and asked him to tell her about the bitter history that made him shut his dad out.
Henry explained that the story began when he had just turned 18. At that point, he was living with his dad, and they were both grieving the death of his mom, who had died two years before then.
Wayne pulled a big surprise party for him to mark the beginning of his adult years, and it was one of the best nights he had. At least, it was a good escape from the sadness of losing his mom.
After the celebration, Wayne called Henry into his study. He said, “Son, we need to talk,” in a voice that indicated the seriousness of the conversation.
Wayne asked his son about his plans for his living condition since he had just become an adult. He asked if he planned to move out or continue staying in the house. “If you want to stay here, you’d have to pay rent,” the 55-year-old Wayne said.
Henry was shocked that his father would ask him to pay rent. He felt that was cruel. “What do you mean pay rent, dad?” Henry asked, not being able to withhold his surprise.
Wayne argued that Henry was now a grown-up and had to pull his weight around the house. Henry claimed he would rather stay in a college dorm than pay rent to his father.
“About college, you might have to pay for that yourself or take a loan because I can’t afford that right now,” Wayne said to the disappointment of his young son.
Turning to his wife, Henry said, “It was then I decided to leave. I felt betrayed, Kim, that my father would do that to me.”
At that point, Kim confessed that Wayne had reached out to her a few days ago asking for their house address, and she gave it to him without mentioning it to Henry.
“Would it be too much if you forgave your father?” Kim asked. “I mean he was wrong but he is your father nonetheless,” she continued.
The thought of forgiving his father felt like too much for Henry. He remembered the difficulties he had to endure after being abandoned by his father. “No Kim, I can’t forgive him,” Henry retorted.
They got into a fight over the matter, so Henry decided to go for a walk. It was during his walk that he saw his father lying on a bench in the street. Concerned, he asked, “Are you okay?”
Suddenly, both men got emotional as Wayne stood up to the embrace of his son, who visibly regretted his actions. Henry was about to apologize for his actions earlier when his father motioned him to keep still.
Finding his voice, Wayne said, “I’m sorry son, but everything I did was for your good. I wanted to motivate you to move on and make something out of your life. All you did was sit on the couch and that was not helping you.”
Wayne explained that he could not afford Henry’s college because he invested his entire funds into a business he had planned to pass down to him, but unfortunately, everything failed.
At that point, Henry realized that if it were not for his father, he would have remained lazy and never accomplished anything. He also admitted he was all his father had left, and turning his back on him would be a huge moral failure.
Henry finally forgave his father, and he felt like a huge burden was lifted from him. He carried this pain for several years but choosing to forgive his father gave him the peace he needed in his life.
