A man suffered his entire life and eventually moved into a nursing home where he celebrated his birthdays alone. But on his 75th birthday, the sons and grandchildren he never knew about appeared, telling him something he could never believe.
It’s hard when your life doesn’t go according to plan. At least, when it doesn’t have a happy ending or hell, many happy moments. I gave up on joy many years ago, and my cynicism might have led to even more struggles later. But by then, I couldn’t help it. That’s what I told myself anyway. At six, my father died from a sudden heart attack. At 16, my mother died in a car accident, and I was sent to live with my grandmother, Jolene. She was the best woman in the world, and sometimes, I believe she was the last person ever to love me.
Sadly, she passed when I was in my sophomore year of college, and I was on my own until I met Catherine. I thought she was the love of my life. She was so beautiful. So warm. So loving. I was planning on proposing by graduation, but just a month before the ceremony, she dumped me for our classmate Adam.
“Well, I don’t know what to say…” I told them and looked down. Could it be? Should I do it? What would happen if I did it? Would anything change?
To this day, I have no idea why she did that. I didn’t even know she had been cheating on me with him. But Adam came from a wealthy family in Philadelphia, and in hindsight, I knew Catherine cared about money. Therefore, I tried to move on. I met Penelope a few years later, and we got married. I never loved her like I loved Catherine. I knew that deep down. But she was pretty, and our relationship was steady. We had two children, Darla and Lena. They were the light of my life, and I wanted the world for them.
I started working double shifts and every extra job I could get to add to their college funds. I wanted them to have the brightest future in the world. Unfortunately, my choices led to me missing many of their events in life.
I had no idea they started resenting me, and Penelope fueled that animosity. Eventually, she filed for divorce and took the girls with her. They wanted nothing to do with me because I was “a stranger to them,” apparently. I blamed myself for that. Maybe, I was too stuck in my head, so I never held a grudge against them, although on days like today, I wished they would call or send a car.
During the divorce, Penelope took everything from me. I had to sell my grandmother’s house, and she kept half of it. I also had to pay child support and alimony. All my money went to them, and I had almost nothing by the end of the month. I lived in a sad little apartment and had no social life.
It was the darkest time in my life, but it also made me see that I couldn’t depend on anyone. I was alone in this life. Everyone I loved died or left me, and I found peace in that knowledge. Once I did that, I continued working and living the rest of my days.
Eventually, Penelope remarried, and I didn’t have to pay alimony. When the kids were over 18, I could stop child support, as they had their college funds which were more than enough for them to have a big future. But they never invited me to graduations, birthdays, weddings, or zilch. I was nothing to them, but I also didn’t expect anything.
I continued working, saved up as much as I could, and when I retired, I moved into a nursing home. Here, I found a few residents I could play cards with in the afternoons, and the staff was always cordial. I knew someone would at least care for me when I was too old to do it alone.
But now, on my 75th birthday, all I could think of was my mistakes. My regrets. I was at peace, but the idea of “what if” ran through my mind often. The staff had brought in a cake and sang happy birthday to me, but they had to leave and keep working. So, I was celebrating alone, as I’ll always be.
Suddenly, someone knocked on the door. It must be one of the staff coming to take the cake with me, I thought. “Come in,” I said and opened the book I had been reading last night.
“Hello,” a strange voice said. I frowned and looked up, only to encounter two men and four younger men entering my room.
“Hello? Who are you? Can I help you?” I asked, standing up.
“Are you Mr. Carter?” one of the older men asked, and there was something familiar about him. I couldn’t place it. Maybe, I had met him before, but I wasn’t sure.
“Yes, I am. But call me Lloyd. Who are you?”
“Sir, my name is Ferdinand. This is my brother, Franklin, and these are our children, Matthias, Robert, Carlson, and William. We…” the man introduced everyone but stopped for a second.
“Go on,” I encouraged, frowning.
“We are…your sons and grandsons,” Ferdinand continued, shrugging.
My world stopped for a second. Sons? Grandsons? That was impossible.
I only had two daughters with my wife, and although I knew they had gotten married and had kids, they would never talk about me, let alone bring their children here. So, I shook my head. “I’m sorry. I only have two daughters, and they hate me. I doubt you have the right person. Maybe, there’s another Lloyd C. in the area?”
The man named Franklin approached me, “No, no, sir. It has to be you. But of course, we would need a DNA test to prove it. We…our mother was Catherine, and our father was Adam. Do you remember them?”
How could I forget? “Yes, I do,” I said tightly. “But I don’t understand. Why are you here if you’re Adam’s kids?”
“That’s the entire point. We’re not our father’s biological children. We can’t be, and we just found out about it. It was in our mother’s diary, and our blood type was inconsistent with our father’s. I saw some of his medical records at some point and finally connected the dots. He was type B, and our mother was O, but Franklin and I are both A. We’re twins,” Franklin explained further.
I was quiet. I was trying to remember the blood type charts they taught us in high school. A B blood type father and an O blood type mother couldn’t have A blood type children. I had AB blood type, which would work if Catherine’s were mine. But could it be?
“I mean…that’s not the only explanation, boys. There might be a million reasons, and a father is the one who raises you,” I told them, not wanting to believe I had more family. Family who would visit me here after everyone else had deserted me.
“I found grandmother’s diary, and I read through her passages,” one of the younger men, Willian, interjected. “I think we’re right, and we searched for you. We decided to come here together and ask if you’d be willing to have a DNA test. Just so we’re sure.”
“What about Catherine and Adam?”
“They passed a long time ago. That’s why we found the diary,” Carlson revealed.
“Well, I don’t know what to say…” I told them and looked down. Could it be? Should I do it? What would happen if I did it? Would anything change? Would they welcome me as family? Could I risk suffering more losses if I loved and they left me?
But I shook my head from those thoughts. I couldn’t think that way. If they were my family, I had to know.
It didn’t matter how life had treated me, or how many people had abandoned me. I couldn’t think that way. If there was a chance I could have people who loved me, I had to grab it and never let go. So, I nodded.
Just then, one of the nurses appeared. “Oh, Mr. Carter, you finally have guests on your birthday! I came to get the cake, but I leave you to continue this,” she said with a wide smile and walked away.
The men finally noticed the cake and realized it was my birthday. They congratulated me and sang an awkward but funny Happy Birthday song. Despite how strange this situation was, I laughed. It was the most light-hearted I had felt in years.
I went with them to get the DNA test, and a few weeks later, the results proved their words. I was Franklin and Ferdinand’s biological father; therefore, their kids were also my grandsons.
Soon, they started visiting me more, especially my grandsons. They took me on fishing outings, to the movies, and more. They invited me to their events, and I saw William graduate from college. Despite growing up with a father who had raised and loved them, they welcomed me so quickly. So effortlessly. And I realized I didn’t want to lose them.
I looked back at all my other mistakes, especially with my daughters, and promised myself I wouldn’t do that to them. So, I was there for everything. I helped whenever I could, despite my age. I gave them everything, and they returned it tenfold, treating me like I had always been part of their family. Franklin even offered me the in-law suite at his house, and I accepted.
They also encouraged me to talk to my daughters, and eventually, they came around too. They realized years later that I had worked for their sake all along, but I still asked for forgiveness. They granted it and introduced me to their spouses and children. I also told them about my sons, and they were shocked. I introduced them, and everyone was excited at the prospect of having more loved ones.
And I learned something. Family is all that matters in the end. You’ll have tons of ups and downs with relationships in life.
But try your best. Be better. Right your wrongs. And don’t settle for being alone. You deserve to be surrounded by love. Only then will you find real peace.
What can we learn from this story?
Everyone deserves a second chance. Lloyd alienated his family by working too much; sometimes, others left him for unexplained reasons. But he got a second chance when his unknown children and grandchildren appeared. He took that chance and made sure not to have more regrets.
Family is all that matters in the end. As you age, you won’t think about money, how hard you worked, or even the fun you had. You’ll remember the love you gave and received and the family you loved and who loved you in return.
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