For years, I carried a heavy weight in my heart. I wanted revenge on my father for abandoning me when I needed him the most. The anger had burned inside me for so long that I thought I’d never let it go. But when life gave me the perfect chance to hurt him back, I hesitated.
One evening, I heard a knock on the door. When I opened it, my breath caught in my throat. Standing before me was the last person I ever wanted to see—my father.
“Hi, son,” he said, his voice uncertain. “I’m sorry to come like this. I tried calling, but you didn’t answer.”
I crossed my arms. “Yeah? What do you want?”
He hesitated, looking down at his worn-out shoes. “I was wondering if maybe I could stay with you… I don’t have a place right now.”
A bitter laugh escaped my lips. “You can stay. But you have to pay rent.”
His face fell. “I… I don’t have any money. You’re the only person who can help me.”
I clenched my jaw. The pain from the past came rushing back. “I don’t care. You can live on the street for all I care. Honestly, I wish God had taken you instead of Mom!”
Without another word, I slammed the door in his face.
Julie, my wife, had been standing behind me the whole time. Her face was pale with shock. “Nick, what the hell was that?!” she demanded. “How could you say something like that?”
“You don’t understand, Julie,” I said, my hands shaking. “You have no idea what I went through because of that man.”
“Then tell me,” she said, her voice softening. “Help me understand.”
I sighed, rubbing my temples. “It all started when I turned eighteen. My mom had passed away two years before that, and my dad was left to raise me alone. I thought he was still adjusting, trying to figure things out. On my birthday, he even threw me a surprise party. It was nice. Until he ruined it.”
“What happened?” Julie asked.
I swallowed hard. “After the party, he sat me down and asked what I planned to do about my living situation. I was confused. Then he told me that since I was an adult, if I wanted to stay in the house, I had to start paying rent.”
Julie’s eyes widened. “He asked you to pay rent? To your own father?”
I nodded. “I was furious. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I asked him what was wrong with him. How could he ask me for money when I was his son? He just looked at me and said it was time for me to grow up. And then—” I took a deep breath, “—he told me he couldn’t afford college. If I wanted to go, I had to pay for it myself.”
“Oh, Nick…”
“I felt so betrayed, Julie. That’s why I left. I moved into a dorm, worked myself to the bone, and made something of myself. And now? Now he comes crawling back, asking for my help? No way. He kicked me out like a stray dog. I won’t forgive him.”
Julie reached for my hand, but I pulled away. “Nick,” she said carefully, “your father reached out to me a few days ago. That’s how he found our address.”
My eyes snapped up. “You… you gave it to him? Without telling me?!”
“I thought you deserved to know he was struggling. I thought… maybe you’d want to talk to him.”
“No! Julie, I work day and night just to keep us afloat. And him? He abandoned me when I needed him the most. He doesn’t deserve my help!”
Julie sighed. “Come on, honey, he’s your father.”
“So what? That doesn’t change what he did! Only my mom truly loved me. She would never have let him throw me out like that.”
Julie hesitated, then asked something that shook me to my core. “Nick… have you ever thought about his side of the story? You lost your mom, but he lost his wife. Have you considered how that affected him?”
I felt my chest tighten. “That’s enough,” I snapped. “I don’t want to hear it. I’m done.”
Julie’s eyes filled with tears. I hated fighting with her, and deep down, I knew she was only trying to help. But I needed to get out of the house, so I grabbed my coat and left.
As I walked through the quiet streets, I let the cold night air calm me. Eventually, I passed a row of benches. Something made me stop. A man was lying there, curled up against the cold. My heart skipped a beat. I knew that face.
“Dad?” I said hesitantly. “Dad, wake up! Are you okay?”
His eyes fluttered open, and he gasped. “Nick? Is that you?”
My stomach twisted. “Dad, I’m sorry… I—”
“No, son,” he interrupted, his voice shaking. “I just wanted you to have a better life. I wanted you to do good. That’s why I pushed you.”
Tears welled in his eyes. “You were sitting on that couch all day, doing nothing. I thought… if you had to pay rent, you’d find a job, take responsibility. I didn’t want to throw you out—I wanted to push you forward.”
His words hit me like a ton of bricks.
“I know I couldn’t pay for college,” he continued, “because I invested everything into my business. I was going to give it to you someday. But I lost everything, Nick. And then… I lost you too.”
Something inside me cracked. I finally understood what Julie meant. I had never stopped to consider his pain. I had only seen my own.
“Dad…” My voice wavered. “If it wasn’t for you, I might have never done anything with my life. You forced me out of my comfort zone, and because of that, I have a career. A family.”
He nodded, tears streaming down his face. “That’s all I wanted for you.”
I took a deep breath. “Dad, I thought you betrayed me. But now I see… you were trying to help in the only way you knew how.”
“I hurt you, son. Can you forgive me?”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. “No, Dad. You should forgive me. I held onto this anger for so long… But now, I understand. I was wrong.”
For the first time in years, I let go of the pain. I took my father’s hand and helped him up. “Come on, Dad. Let’s go home. We have a lot to talk about.”
His face lit up with gratitude. “Thank you, son. I love you. I’ve always loved you.”
As we walked home, I turned to him with a smile. “By the way, you’re going to be a grandfather.”
His eyes widened. “Wait—what? Is Julie pregnant?!”
I laughed. “Yes, Dad. You’re going to be a grandpa.”
What can we learn from this story?
We should always appreciate our parents. They’re human too, and they make mistakes. We never know the struggles they’ve faced for us. Forgiveness can set us free. I held onto resentment for years, but in the end, forgiving my father gave me peace I never thought I’d have.
