Article Source: msnbc.com
from:msnbc.comAt NY hospital, unlikely dad, daughter reunion
Seeded on Sat Sep 4, 2010 3:40 PM EDT (msnbc.com)
— Filed under: health
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GOD does have HIS way of giving blessings ! ! ! !
Yes, I am sure it was a blessing from God that her father stayed out of her life for 41 years
To maggie - Dont be sorry narrow minded. Yes, just may be it WAS God's blessing he was not in her life for 41 years. Just may be he was a complete jerk (or worse) for the vast majority of his life. Just may be, by God's grace, she didn't have to experience that. Just may be he straigthened himself out at some point and didn't feel worthy of trying to make contact with his daughter that he had abandoned. You don't know . . . and . . . Just may be God has done something for you and you are too blind to see.
The Lord does all thing in His time and with His wisdom. Its easy to second guess that sometimes but who knows why He does the things that He does sometimes. It my be a prayer answered for her, at least she can spend time with her dad and hopefully get some closure! You can't change the past and it doesn't help anyone to harbor such resentment. I would only hope that if I were in that situation I could be as forgiving.
Your on the bottom end of a glass half full maggie, Listen, Maybe you could ask God to help you in whatever you are looking for? Certainly won`t hurt maggie, give it one good shot. With love to you maggie, Ted
No matter whether he was in her life or not he is her father. Now she has the chance to get to know him. If she would have let that opportunity go by she would have regretted it. Once he's gone there is no second chances. Yes, he made a bad decision but it sounds like he's sorry that he made that decision. She is blessed that she now gets the chance to know him before he's gone forever.
He doesn't deserve this reunion. That woman is more forgiving than I think I could ever be.
Life is too short to keep such resentment. You may feel differently if you were in her shoes.
You'd be surprised how forgiving one can be. My husband was in her shoes and after reunion with his mother, he provided a home for her and care for her final years. He was blessed for doing so. Forgiveness is gain.
He knows that.
I couldn't agree more, Ippster. Real Love is forgiveness because it's unconditional. A life with as little resentment as possible is the most peaceful but requires strength of character, courage and humility.
Him not deserving it is the best part, isnt it?
Having been bitter and angry for 4/5 of my life, I know the freedom that comes from all that being taken by Jesus and replaced by His love.
It was a ball and chain I drug around for way too long.
Better late than never. Now she won't have to wonder "if".
Amazing! "Salvation" in Love, Forgiveness and Grattitude.
Maybe he doesn't deserve this reunion but she does, and obviously she welcomes it, so be happy for her.
She must be an incredibly loving and forgiving person to accept her father after he abandoned her family.
He's right, he doesn't deserve this reunion. Why is it that dads can skip out on their children, never be in contact at all, and yet be welcomed with open arms by their adult children?
"To err is human, to forgive is divine."
Dads and daughters are different than dads and sons.
@Kathleen McKenzie - from someone that had to put a relationship with a father back together after many years, it was important for me to make that connection and put the past behind me. I love the saying "holding resentment for someone is like taking poison and expecting them to get sick". It only hurts us if we hang onto that resentment.
Some how when she comes to the end of her journey on this earth, I don't think she is going to regret her choice to just accept him unconditionally. And isn't it nice that she does not need anyone's approval?
I wonder if it happened to be the cardiac wing where they met?
It takes a very special person to work in a Hospice program. No one is saying she has to forgive him, but being able to connect and spend time together really is a blessing. Being there with people of all ages at the end of their life, she has probably heard hundreds of "I wish I could have done it differently" stories. Now she is actually a part of one!
When I forgave my dad for walking out of my life in 1996, it allowed Jesus to work in his life. He died in March, but he had quit drinking before he did.
How wonderful!
He doesn't deseve a damn thing, but if she feels she needs closure, then she should indeed get it. Personally, I think she's a bigger woman than me. He skipped out on her and his responsibilities and got to live a carefree life while her mother was left to take care of her every needs. How could anyone walk out on their baby? I probably would've want his last memory on earth to be for me to cut off his oxygen and to spit in his face.
Wow. How sad.
sounds like some issues Carolyn..serious ones.
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. ...
Carolyn, have you not heard, "Honor Thy Father, and Mother"? I think this story is wonderful. My Dad died when I was just a child, and I never had to chance to know him, but if he was here today I would cherish him.
I agree with you Carolyn ... she's a bigger woman than you.
My mother cut my dad out of my life when I was 6 yrs old. By the time I was old enough to start searching for him...he passed away. My mother told me of his passing and I cried because I never got to know him aside from the bitter comments made from my mom. I never got to know him for myself rather than from the hateful eyes of my mom. I would have given anything to at least lay my eyes upon him and know what his face looked like and wonder if I look like him. This woman was very lucky indeed. Im happy for her.
I think Carolyn has daddy issues...or has just had a really bitter life.
Aren`t black hearted libs refreshing?
Why not just walk away? To do the stuff you're talking about not only reduces you to his level, it makes you a psychopathic murderer. You should immediately seek help.
There's so much to the story that we haven't been told, but the daughter is happy and I'm happy for her.
When someone is facing death, it's amazing how a heart can melt and much can be forgiven. I've been in similar shoes myself.
With all the ugly comments being made here let it be said that GOD works in mysterious ways and even the naysayers can't argue with HIM.
Don't let yesterday use up too much of today - Will Rogers
perfect.
Who can tell what their future will bring, but the fact she is willing to make and continue the contact is touching and brave. It's far easier to hold onto the anger and emotions of the past.
Who can say what kind of person he's become, or if that single act of highly unexpected kindness won't make a huge impact on him, hmm?
An emotional risk taken by her may have a profound impact on both their lives. I applaud her for becoming more than the sum of her past and taking it. I'm not sure it's something I'd be able to do myself... but I do find it admirable.
If you can't forgive in this situation, you aren't human. A nurse must have that kind of compassion.
especially in the hospice enviroment.
I have also experienced the reunion with my father whom I have not seen in 49 years. I was 2 when he left. There is no resentment, I waste no time on hard feelings. The relationship I have now is part of the personal journey I have chosen to take. The blessings are many, a huge family who have all welcomed me with open arms. Unconditional love. I believe things happen for a reason, and this woman was meant to find her father in this lifetime. Blessings to her and her family.
We don't know what kept him from contacting her. He may have known he wasn't father material. My parents stayed together and made my and my siblings' lives miserable with their constant fighting. He died a slow, painful death and I was with him as much as I could be, but more out of duty than love.
For those of you who are slamming this man, maybe this father thought life would be better for his children if he didn't interfer.
I know a gentleman that thought and felt this way and when he would visit his children it was not a good situation for him or them. Sometimes it is better to step away and hope that things will work out in the end and for him it did.
Until you walk a mile in someone Else's shoes .........
Just saying.
In forgiving her father, I hope she remembers the hardships he may have caused her mother.
And there are a lot of mean, bitter women. Maybe he wasn't allowed to see his kids. Maybe he didn't even know where they were.
How wonderful that she is able to open her heart to her father in his last days. May this angel of healing find the answers and father's love she wants & needs, bittersweet though it may be.
There are no 'accidents'... God above orchestrated this long ago.. So many many prayers have been answered in my life... and the ones that weren't? Well I can truly say they weren't answered for a reason that became clear later on.. AND thank God he/she didn't give me what I thought I wanted...
And in this whole life I've been given something to build and help develop that I could not in my wildest dreams ever thought would be placed before me.. something so much better than I would have ever asked for myself.... God knows our hearts better than we do.... so those of you without faith... I hope you will reconsider and pray wholeheartedly for what is the best and highest good for you and those it could affect... it doesn't fail.. I was stubborn for a good long while... not anymore.. I've seen the power of the Lord work in so many miraculous ways...
Great she found her minority dad who dumped his responsibilities on the us taxpayer long ago. Can the government now send him a $400,000 bill to reimburse for the 20 years of welfare payments her mom got in the bronx, from US Taxpayers?
*sigh*
Nice way to make assumptions based on NO evidence, Andrew. How do you know her mother wasn't like many single moms - working at least one, and possibly two jobs to provide for her family? I bet if this had been a Caucasian family, you'd never make that assumption - even though many, many white families are also on welfare.