Almost 40 years ago,my little blue-eyed, blond-haired five-year-old daughter was diagnosed with leukemia. Her mother and I had been divorced for about a year and she had taken up with another man.There had been some very harsh words between us that had almost come to blowson several occasions, as is sometimes the case in these situations.
One day I got a call from him and he said he wanted to meet me after I got off work from my construction job. He wanted to meet at a local pub and I agreed,not having a clue what was in the offing, although I strongly suspected a fight might be on the menu.
I met him in the parking lot and he suggested we go inside and get a pitcher of beer. It kinda' surprised me, but I agreed and as we sat and drank our beer I began to see a side of him I hadn't seen before.
After we had almost finished the pitcher and were feeling it's glow, he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small envelope. He put it on the table, pushed it toward me and said, "I think this is something you should ave."
My daughter had had radiation and chemotherapy and was losing her hair at an alarming rate. My ex-wife decided that rather than let our daughter's hair fall out gradually, she would just cut it off all at once.
I looked in the envelope and much to my surprise, it contained a lock of my daughter’s flaxen blonde hair! He had secretly saved it, tied a pink ribbon around it and placed it in the envelope. In an uncommon act of kindness, he arranged our meeting and gave it to me.
So, Joe Brennan, wherever you are, I'll never forget you…. your compassion and your amazing act of human kindness during some very troubled times.
********************************************************** Note: My daughter survived her ordeal with leukemia, thanks to the wonderful doctors and nurses at Stanford Children’s Hospital in Stanford, California! As aresult of the chemotherapy and radiation, they told us that she would be infertile, unable to bear children. Well…. they were wrong! Twenty years later, she presented her mother and me with a beautiful, healthy granddaughter! Time has passed and about a year ago, I was blessed with a great grandson, Kieran!
Don't you just LOVE stories with a happy ending?
Last edited by Dewman; 07-02-2018 at 07:02 AM.
Post #1 by Dewman
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