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.
PLEASE PASS THIS ONE ON AND GOD WILL BLESS YOU!
HAVE A GREAT DAY AND BLESS SOMEONE ELSE IN SOME LITTLE WAY TODAY!
(Source: Sri’s Collection)
December 20, 2009 at 1:04 PM
touchy one, theory lessons learnt, practical implementation pending.
December 20, 2009 at 6:01 PM
Aise hi logon me Bhagwaan chaitanya rehte hain. ….
Pranaam ! ! ! !
Jai Ganesh !
December 21, 2009 at 3:43 PM
hats off to the marine!
December 21, 2009 at 6:57 PM
An email on the Similar lines that I just now received..
——————————————————————————-
It was a busy morning, about 8:30, when an elderly gentleman in his 80’s arrived to have stitches removed from his thumb. He said he was in a hurry as he had an appointment at 9:00 am.
I took his vital signs and had him take a seat, knowing it would be over an hour before someone would to able to see him. I saw him looking at his watch and decided, since I was not busy with another patient, I would evaluate his wound. On exam, it was well healed, so I talked to one of the doctors, got the needed supplies to remove his sutures and redress his wound.
While taking care of his wound, I asked him if he had another doctor’s appointment this morning, as he was in such a hurry.
The gentleman told me no, that he needed to go to the nursing home to eat breakfast with his wife. I inquired as to her health.
He told me that she had been there for a while and that she was a victim of Alzheimer’s Disease. As we talked, I asked if she would be upset if he was a bit late.
He replied that she no longer knew who he was, that she had not recognized him in five years now.
I was surprised, and asked him, ‘And you still go every morning, even though she doesn’t know who you are?’
He smiled as he patted my hand and said, ‘She doesn’t know me, but I still know who she is.’ I had to hold back tears as he left, I had goose bumps on my arm, and thought,
‘That is the kind of love I want in my life.’
True love is neither physical, nor romantic.
True love is an acceptance of all that is, has been, will be, and will not be.
With all the jokes and fun that is in e-mails, sometimes there is one that comes along that has an important message. This one I thought I could share with you.
The happiest people don’t necessarily have the best of everything;
they just make the best of everything they have.
I hope you share this with someone you care about.
I just did.
‘Life isn’t about how to survive the storm,
but how to dance in the rain.
December 21, 2009 at 8:09 PM
A heart-moving and tear-bringing example.If the marine hadn’t sat with the old man that night,he would never have got a chance to meet his father.
December 23, 2009 at 12:18 PM
that is Love & humanity:)
December 28, 2009 at 3:34 PM
Execellent words –
‘WE ARE NOT HUMAN BEINGS GOING THROUGH A
TEMPORARY SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE.
WE ARE SPIRITUAL BEINGS GOING THROUGH A TEMPORARY
HUMAN EXPERIENCE.’
January 13, 2010 at 6:46 AM
it is divine………….