No one knew they had so much going on in their lives, as everything looked just fine from outside. The two kids were going through hell. The drunken father did not hesitate to use foul language. He was a successful lawyer who had fought many cases for human rights but always found it hard to keep himself in control. He would fling pates at his kids and would smack their mother when she interfered.
Christopher’s dad was a terror among his friends. He would yell at him and abuse him right in front of his friends. It was very difficult to impress him, as he never bothered to pay attention to his kids’ performance at school. Christopher and Elena made sure they always get A’s on their report cards. Their mother spoke less but her eyes were always full of concern for her kids.
Christopher hated his father ever since he was a child. He still remembered the days when his father had given him a nice beating just because he had come an hour late. His father had a troubled childhood. His mother had left him at an orphan age home as she had given birth to an illegitimate kid. He hated to call himself an illegitimate son.
Christopher’s sister Elena did not hate her dad but she wanted to move to some other place where she could study to be physician. Elena was his elder sister who always had her own ways to get things done. She left the place as soon as she got out of college. She moved to some other city and studied to give life to her dreams. Elena wanted Christopher to stay there with his parents, as she loved her parents regardless of anything else.
Time went by. One day when Christopher was on his way to college, he received a call from his mother who was crying. He rushed back home and got to know that his sister Elena had met with an accident and died. His father did not cry as if no one was important to him except his glass of wine. Christopher hated him. He held him responsible for everything that went wrong. He knew it would be hard for him to stay there under the same roof. He was worried about his mother who asked him to leave, as she knew he was dying every moment. The day when he went to his father to inform him that he had a got a job in some other city, he had nothing much to say. He just asked him not to come back to his house.
Christopher would talk to his mother every week, as he was worried about her until one day when a neighbor called him to inform him about her death. Christopher went there to be at the funeral. He hated to see his father who had made their lives a living hell. He was happy that his father was not around. He was not there in the house. He had not come to attend the funeral of his wife. The day Christopher was about to leave he received a call from the hospital authorities telling him about his father. He went to the hospital not to meet him but to see how miserable he looked without his family by his side.
The moment Christopher saw his dad he was shocked. Doctors told him that he was not able to speak and had lost his ability to recognize people. Christopher had to take care of him since he had no one else to do that. He did it for his mother and sister who loved him. He was angry with him. He wanted to tell him that he was responsible for their troubles but it was useless.
Months went by. Christopher could no longer control his emotions and one day he laid his head down in his father’s lap and cried his eyes out. He no longer hated him. He had forgiven him. Hatred had gone away. He was just a loving son taking care of his father who was going through hell.
Forgiveness gives you the peace of mind and makes you able to love those who hurt you the most.
