A rich man seeks refuge from a snowstorm in a homeless man's hut only to discover a note written by his late father in the man's jacket.
John Keys, 35, had it all. He was rich. He had a wife named Meredith and two children, a boy named Todd, 8, and a girl named China, 4, both of whom absolutely adored him because he took his responsibility as a father and husband very seriously.
When he was 5, his parents took him to the orphanage because they were very poor and could not afford to care for him. "We'll be back for you soon okay," he could still remember his father saying.
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They told the man in charge of the orphanage that they would definitely return for their son after they earned some money, so he promised them not to get the boy adopted.
The day was a long one for John, who terribly missed his parents. He waited and waited as the hours ticked by, expecting his parents to return the same day.
One day turned to two, then it turned to a month, and a month became a year, but John's parents did not show up.
Thus, he was raised in an orphanage, but he never forgot the disappointment he suffered at the hands of his parents, which is why he promised himself to be a better parent.
John was a very clever child, and he took his studies very seriously until he finished school and entered college.
After that, he got a good job at a technology firm that paid him well and also provided him with brilliant opportunities to advance on his career path.
At noon one day, he was returning home from his office, which was 40 miles away, when a state of emergency was declared because of a huge snowstorm that made driving impossible.
John, who had gotten permission from his boss to leave work early, decided to ignore the warnings because of his son's birthday party.
"I won't disappoint him like my parents did me," he told himself.
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He knew how much his son had been looking forward to his birthday, and he had promised the boy that he would be there to celebrate it with him. They even had matching costumes they had to wear, and he wasn't about to pass that up.
He got on the road, but about thirty minutes later, he had to pull over because visibility had drastically lowered.
The snow fell thicker, and the cold spread through the car as he waited at the curb, so he turned on his ignition and his heater, quickly finding relief as the heat spread through his Porsche.
The relief only lasted two hours, about the same duration it took for his fuel tank to empty, after which he started freezing.
Suddenly he saw a small hut in the distance between the trees, so he decided to take his chances. He quickly left his car after securing it then went to the hut.
Inside he met a poor ragged homeless man who introduced himself as Simon. It was very dirty inside, and it was also very cold.
"Can I bother you for shelter? It's snowing buckets out here," he asked.
"Of course," the man said and quickly gave him a lot of old ragged warm clothes and blankets that he could use to keep warm.
John was reluctant about using them, but he didn't have a choice as he was feeling very cold.
"It's always a lot of snow this time of year," the man said as he tended a small fire in the middle of the hut.
"I know, I also knew about the storm but I hoped to outrun it since I got a pretty fast car," John said.
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"I guess it couldn't perform up to expectations. You should be more careful," Simon said.
"I need to be home for my son. Today is his birthday and I promised to be there, I do not wish to disappoint," John said.
"A doting father, that's nice to know. You should take lesser risks though so he won't lose you so soon."
The thought sobered John up, and they both lapsed into silence. As the minutes stretched on, John put his hands inside Simon's old jacket to warm them and came away with a sheet of paper from there.
There were some words written in it, and he had to strain his eyes to read them. "For my lovely son Johnny," it began.
"My lovely John, you can not even imagine how strong our love for you is. We have no money to take care of you, so we decided to take you to the orphanage and earn some money. We found a job at the sawmill in the forest near our town. Today we were returning from the sawmill to the hut where we spent nights. But suddenly, snow started to fall and we were stuck in the forest. We are freezing my son, and I think we will never see you again. We didn't want to leave you, we just wanted to make you happy. Be strong, John! I will leave this note with your Uncle - Simon. He went looking for help, but I don't think he will be back in time. I know he will take care of you. Your loving Dad and Mom."
John cried as he finished reading the letter and when he looked up, he found Simon looking at him weirdly.
"Are you okay young man?" Simon asked. "Do you need anything?"
With a sniffle, John turned to Simon, showed him the note, and called him "Uncle?"
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Simon was shocked. He couldn't believe what he was hearing, so he decided to verify. "Your father had a scar on his left breast, what caused it?" Simon asked.
"It was from a skating accident he had when he took me to the ice rink," John said without hesitation. It confirmed that John was indeed his blood relation.
"Your parents were living with me in this very hut and they worked together at the sawmill. I'm sorry for what happened John, I can never forgive myself."
Simon also revealed that he knew he didn't have money to take care of John, which is why he didn't take him from the orphanage. All these years, he remained in his hut, and the only time he left was to find some food.
The next morning they went to town together, and John proposed that Simon start living with his family. The older man wanted to refuse, but John would not have it.
"You will, uncle, or else we will move down here to join you," he said. "I may no longer be able to care for my parents but I will care for you." From then on, John took care of his uncle because he was the only family he had left.
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What did we gain from this story?
- Anyone can succeed. John lost his parents and got emotionally scarred in the process, but that did not stop him from going on to reach great heights. He worked hard and was able to make something of himself.
- Don't let the past decide the future. John was disappointed by his own parents, but fortunately for his kids, he decided they would not feel that way and made it so.
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