I Wrote My Son Daily from a Nursing Home with No Reply until a Stranger Came to Take Me Home — Story of the Day

After my son convinced me to live in a nursing home, I wrote letters to him daily telling him I missed him. He never replied to any of them until one day, a stranger shared why and came to take me home.

When I turned 81, I was diagnosed with Osteoporosis, which made it difficult for me to move around without assistance. My condition also made it difficult for my son Tyler and his wife Macy to take care of me, so they decided to move me to a nursing home.

“We can’t be tending to you the entire day, mom,” Tyler told me. “We have work to do. We’re not caregivers.”

For illustration purposes only. | Source: Pexels

For illustration purposes only. | Source: Pexels

I wondered why he suddenly felt that way towards me, as I always tried to stay out of their way so I wouldn’t disrupt their daily schedules. I would stay in my room and use my walker to assist me whenever I needed to walk to another area of the house.

“I’ll stay out of your way, I promise. Just don’t send me to a nursing home, please. Your father built this house for me, and I’d love to keep living here for the rest of my life,” I begged.

Tyler shrugged me off, saying that the house my late husband James had built was “too big for me.”

“Come on, mom,” he said. “Leave the house to Macy and me! Look at all this space – we can have a gym and separate offices. There’s plenty of room to renovate.”

At this point, I understood that his decision to move me to a nursing home was not because he wanted me to get proper care but to get my house for himself. I was deeply hurt, trying to stop myself from crying upon realizing that somehow, Tyler had grown up to be a selfish man.

For illustration purposes only. | Source: Pexels

For illustration purposes only. | Source: Pexels

“Where did I go wrong?” I asked myself when I got into my room that night. I thought I had raised a well-mannered man, but it seems I was wrong. I never expected to be betrayed by my son.

Without giving me much of a choice, Tyler and Macy took me to a nursing home nearby, where they said I’d get round-the-clock care from the nurses. “Don’t worry, mom, we’ll visit as much as we can,” Tyler assured me.

Hearing this, I realized that maybe moving to a nursing home wasn’t too bad because they’d come to see me anyway. Little did I know, Tyler was lying and simply trying to get me off his back.

For illustration purposes only. | Source: Pexels

For illustration purposes only. | Source: Pexels

Every day at the nursing home seemed like an eternity. Although the nurses were friendly and the other patients were nice to talk to, I still longed to be with family and not in a place full of strangers.

Without a phone or tablet, I wrote letters to Tyler every day asking him to visit me or how they were doing. Not once did I get a response nor a visit.

After two years in the nursing home, I lost any hope of anyone coming. “Please, take me home,” I would pray every night, but after two years, I tried to convince myself not to get my hopes up anymore.

For illustration purposes only. | Source: Pexels

For illustration purposes only. | Source: Pexels

One day, however, I was surprised to find out from my nurse that a man in his forties was at the counter, looking for me. “Did my son finally come to visit?” I said, getting my walker quickly before making my way to the front.

When I got there, I had a big smile on my face thinking it was Tyler, but to my surprise, it was another man I hadn’t seen in ages. “Mom!” he called out and gave me a tight hug.

“Ron? Is it you, Ron?” I asked him.

“It’s me, mom. How have you been? I’m sorry it took me so long to visit you. I just arrived back from Europe, and I went straight to your house,” he said.

For illustration purposes only. | Source: Pexels

For illustration purposes only. | Source: Pexels

“My house? Did you see Tyler and Macy there? They put me in this nursing home a couple of years ago, and I haven’t seen them since,” I revealed.

Ron looked at me sadly and asked for me to sit down. We sat in front of each other on the couch, and he began to fill me in on what had happened in the past two years I was inside the nursing home.

“Mom, I’m sorry you have to hear this from me. I thought you already knew,” he started to say. “Tyler and Macy died in a house fire last year… I only found out when I went to your house and saw it abandoned. I decided to check the mailbox to see if I could get information on where to find you, and I saw all your unread letters,” he explained.

For illustration purposes only. | Source: Pexels

For illustration purposes only. | Source: Pexels

I couldn’t believe what Ron was telling me. Although I felt resentment towards my son for what he did to me, hearing about his death still broke my heart. I cried that entire day, mourning him and my daughter-in-law Macy.

Throughout my crying, Ron never left my side. He consoled and stayed with me without saying a word until I was ready to speak again.

Ron was a boy I once took into my home. He and Tyler were childhood friends and were inseparable when they were younger.

For illustration purposes only. | Source: Pexels

For illustration purposes only. | Source: Pexels

Unlike Tyler, who had everything he could possibly want, Ron lived in poverty and was raised by his grandmother after his parents passed away. I treated him like my own son, fed him, clothed him, and made him live with us until he moved out to study college in Europe.

After getting a high-paying job in Europe, Ron didn’t return to the US, and we eventually lost touch. I never thought I’d see him again until he showed up at the nursing home.

“Mom,” he said after I finally calmed down. “I don’t believe you belong here in this nursing home. Will you please allow me to take you home? I would love to take care of you,” he said.

For illustration purposes only. | Source: Pexels

For illustration purposes only. | Source: Pexels

I couldn’t help but cry once more. My own son kicked me out of my house, and in front of me was a man who wanted to take me in, even though I wasn’t his blood relative. “Would you really do that for me?”

“Of course, mom. You don’t even have to ask that. You raised me to be who I am today. Without you, I’m nothing,” Ron said, hugging me.

That evening, Ron helped Jude pack her things and took her into his newly-purchased home. There, Jude discovered he had a large family, and they welcomed Jude warmly. She spent her last years in happiness, surrounded by people who truly loved her and cared for her.

What can we learn from this story?

Respect your elders and never forget what they’ve done for you. Tyler didn’t show appreciation to his mom despite everything she had done for him. He didn’t want the responsibility of taking care of her when she got older and chose to send her to a nursing home.

Family doesn’t always mean blood. Ron didn’t see Jude for years but never forgot about the kindness she showed him when he was younger. Ultimately, he decided to repay her kindness by taking her in and caring for her for the rest of her life.

Share this story with your friends. It might brighten their day and inspire them.

If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a son who visited his dad at a nursing home, only for the nurse to say that his carbon copy had taken the old man home a day before.

I Became a Burden to My Father after I Lost the Ability to Walk – Story of the Day

I Became a Burden to My Father after I Lost the Ability to Walk – Story of the Day
I was paralyzed and trapped in a wheelchair in an accident, and my father refused to be burdened with me. But then he gets taught an important lesson.

I was 19 when I was run over by a car on my way to work. For me, it was the end of the world: a screech of tires, darkness, and pain. And when I woke up, I heard the voices say I’d never walk again.

I kept asking for my father, but he only showed up three days later, looking the worse for the wear and I knew he’d been on a bender while I’d lain there fighting for my life.

She was injured in a horrible accident | Source: Shutterstock.com

She was injured in a horrible accident | Source: Shutterstock.com

My mother died when I was 12, a victim of breast cancer. I remember her as a sweet, weary woman, always cringing from my father’s cruel words, working to keep food on the table while he drank his paycheck away.

As soon as I turned 14, he ordered me to find a part-time job to help with the bills, and when I was 16, I dropped out of school and started working full time to support myself — and him.

But when my father finally arrived at the hospital to visit me, there was neither compassion nor gratitude in his eyes. The doctor explained that although my spine was not severed there had been severe bruising and compression.

I might — by a long shot — recover my ability to walk, but most likely, I would be in a wheelchair for the rest of my life. And that was when my father walked away. He said to the doctor, “She’s over 18, isn’t she? She’s an adult, right? So she’s not my responsibility anymore. You take her.”

My father was an alcoholic | Source: Unsplash

My father was an alcoholic | Source: Unsplash

I remember my doctor’s horrified expression and my father’s gaze sweeping over my limp legs. “Useless! Useless like your mother!”

Those were the last words I’d hear from him for the next six years. A little while later I was transferred to a recovery center where I was lucky enough to be assigned to a therapist named Carol Hanson.

Family is built on love, not a biological bond, or shared DNA.

She was an older, motherly woman who immediately took me under her wing. Carol was as loving as she was demanding, and she was very demanding. Over the next year, she pushed me towards a recovery I’d never dreamed possible.

The day I stood on my own two feet and took my first step, I cried like a baby, and so did Carol. It was only the beginning, and the next few months I worked even harder, but finally was pronounced healthy.

I woke to discover I was paralyzed | Source: Unsplash

I woke to discover I was paralyzed | Source: Unsplash

It was a bittersweet moment for me. I was healed from my injury and I was walking again, but I was terrified. I had nowhere to go, no family. I was all alone in the world.

Carol walked in and found me crying. She sat beside me on the bed and put her arms around me. “Jenny,” she said to me, “it’s all right to be scared. You’re starting your life again.”

“I have no one, and nowhere to go,” I whispered, remembering other patients leaving surrounded by loving family, “I’m alone.”

“No you’re not,” Carol said firmly, “I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that. Would you like to move in with me? Just until you get your life together again…”

I was stuck in a wheelchair | Source: Unsplash

I was stuck in a wheelchair | Source: Unsplash

So I did, and it was lovely. Carol and I got on beautifully, and she gave me my own room, a pretty room, the prettiest I’d ever seen. “It was my daughter’s,” Carol explained with tears in her eyes. “I lost her like you lost your mother.”

I started googling for jobs the next day on Carol’s computer, but when I came down to breakfast there were some informative flyers on the table from the local high school announcing night classes for adults wanting to complete their secondary education.

“I think,” said Carol firmly, “that you need to go back to school so you can go back to college.”

My mouth dropped open. “College? I can’t afford college!” I gasped. “Carol, I don’t have a cent to my name and no way to support myself if I don’t get a job, and quickly.”

The physiotherapist helped me heal | Source: Pexels

The physiotherapist helped me heal | Source: Pexels

Carol shook her head: “No, Jenny, you can’t afford NOT to go to college. Listen, I will lend you the money, and when you graduate, you pay me back — just like a student loan with a bank.”

Anyway, she talked me into it, and I quickly completed the high school certification I needed and applied to the local college. I’ll admit Carol’s example inspired me to become a nurse, and four years later, I graduated summa cum laude.

I started working at a local hospital and ended up specializing in neo-natal care. One day, a TV crew came in to do a news story on a set of identical triplets and ended up interviewing me.

For a while, I was a bit of a celebrity, but the attention brought me an unwanted visitor. The doorbell rang and when I opened it, I was stunned to see my father standing there.

I became a nurse | Source: Pixabay

I became a nurse | Source: Pixabay

He looked terrible, like a bum, and he reeked of alcohol and sweat. “Jenny, my sweet baby girl!” he cried, reaching out his hands. “I’ve finally found you again.”

“Found me again?” I asked sharply, “You abandoned me in the hospital because I was useless, remember, like my mother?”

He squeezed out a few tears. “Oh my baby,” he sobbed. “Forgive me, I was frightened and in shock… You won’t turn your dad away now, would you? I haven’t been well…”

“You look fine to me,” I told him coldly, but my trained eye had already noted the yellow tinge to his skin and eyes. He had some kind of liver disorder, probably due to his drinking.

An unexpected visitor | Source: Pixabay

An unexpected visitor | Source: Pixabay

He shuffled forward. “I’m sick, Jenny, daddy really needs you…And…” he licked his lips thirstily. “And I’m broke, baby, no money for food…You’re not going to let your daddy go hungry, are you?”

“Like you left me to my fate? Helpless in a wheelchair? Guess what ‘DADDY,’ I am. Get out.” I slammed the door in his face and walked back into the lounge.

Carol looked up at me and smiled. “Who was that, Jenny?”

“Oh, just some man selling something!” I went to the sofa, sat down beside Carol, and hugged her fiercely. Carol hugged me back.

Carol adopted me | Source: Pexels

Carol adopted me | Source: Pexels

“Jenny,” she said, “there’s something I’ve been meaning to talk to you about. Would you allow me to adopt you? Become your mother? Because in my heart you already are my daughter.”

I started crying and I just couldn’t stop. I had been cursed with a terrible childhood, and now as an adult, I had been lucky enough to find a loving home and a parent who cherished me.

What can we learn from this story?

1. Family is built on love, not a biological bond, or shared DNA.

2. What you give is what you get, as Jenny’s father discovered.

Share this story with your friends. It might brighten their day and inspire them.

If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a beautiful socialite who humiliates an old friend and ends up regretting it.

This account is inspired by our reader’s story but written by a professional writer. All names have been changed to protect identities and ensure privacy. Share your story with us, maybe it will change someone’s life.

Related Posts

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*