Just Stay~

[RettsMom]

Just Stay 

A nurse took the tired, anxious serviceman to the bedside. 



'Your son is here,' she said to the old man.



She had to repeat the words several times before the patient's eyes opened.



Heavily sedated because of the pain of his heart attack,

he dimly saw the young uniformed Marine standing outside

the oxygen tent.

He reached out his hand.

The Marine wrapped his toughened fingers around the old man's

limp ones, squeezing a message

of love and encouragement.



The nurse brought a chair

so that the Marine could sit

beside the bed.

All through the night the

young Marine sat there

in the poorly lighted ward,

holding the old man's hand

and offering

him words of love and strength

Occasionally, the nurse

suggested that the Marine

move away and rest awhile. 

He refused.

Whenever the nurse came

into the ward,

the Marine was oblivious of her

and of the night noises

of the hospital -

the clanking of the oxygen tank,

the laughter of the night staff members exchanging greetings,

the cries and moans

of the other patients.



Now and then she heard him say a few gentle words. The dying man said nothing, only held tightly to his son all through the night.



Along towards dawn, the old man died. The Marine released the now lifeless hand he had been holding and went to tell the nurse. While she did what she had to do, he waited.



Finally, she returned.

She started to offer words

of sympathy,

but the Marine interrupted her.



'Who was that man?'

he asked. 
The nurse was startled,

'He was your father,'

she answered. 

'No, he wasn't,' the Marine replied.

'I never saw him before in my life.'



'Then why didn't you say something when I took you to him?'



'I knew right away there had been a mistake, 
but I also knew he needed his son, and his 

son just wasn't here. 
When I realized that he was too sick to tell 
whether or not I was his son, 
knowing how much he needed me, I stayed.'



The next time someone needs you ... just be there. Stay. 
************** 
WE ARE NOT HUMAN BEINGS GOING THROUGH A 

TEMPORARY SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE.



WE ARE SPIRITUAL BEINGS

GOING THROUGH A TEMPORARY HUMAN EXPERIENCE.

[Queenb03]

Dec. 2, 2008 at 10:05 AM

that was really good....... i new some friends who were marines.... and they really do conduct themselves well towards helping people... their code of honor is very strong

[godzgirl21]

Dec. 2, 2008 at 10:08 AM

WE ARE SPIRITUAL BEINGS

GOING THROUGH A TEMPORARY HUMAN EXPERIENCE.

 

This says it all! Great post!

[realtorshelly]

Dec. 2, 2008 at 10:53 AM

AWESOME!

[julianjordan]

Dec. 2, 2008 at 11:05 AM

That was a beautiful story. Ty for sharing it.

[peacelily3]

Dec. 2, 2008 at 11:55 AM

That was awesome!

[halfadozenofem]

Dec. 2, 2008 at 11:56 AM

I love this.....no matter how many times I see it, it touches me. Thank you for posting!!

[gkemama]

Dec. 2, 2008 at 2:03 PM

That was great!

[karmaforjesus]

Dec. 2, 2008 at 5:15 PM

Very touching! Thanks for sharing!

[friends4me]

Dec. 2, 2008 at 8:58 PM

I SURE WISH MORE PEOPLE ACTED LIKE THAT MARINE.

[Seriously92]

Dec. 3, 2008 at 1:34 AM

I have goose bumps.  Great post!