A selfish father chose to abandon his own daughter and adopt his new wife’s three children, but he lived to regret his actions.
Ruth’s mom passed away when she was a teenager. A day after the funeral, she saw her father flirting with her mother’s best friend Barbara, and it shattered her world.
At first, they tried to move around in secret, but they both dropped the pretense after she caught them getting intimate with one another.
Eventually, Ruth’s father, John, kicked her out of the house because she made him feel guilty about his actions. A month or two later, John sold the house to fund the lavish wedding his new wife had requested. Meanwhile, during those two months, Ruth moved from shelter to shelter.
John was all about pleasing his bride. The wedding ceremony was scheduled to be held in a high-profile event center, and even though more than 200 guests were invited, Ruth was not.
Nevertheless, she traveled more than 30 miles to reach the venue and greet her father. She had decided to overlook his actions because she understood that he was allowed to make his own decisions and stand by them.
When she arrived at the wedding, she was not allowed to go in because the security personnel feared she would cause a commotion. “Wait here while I get your father,” one agent told her.
When her father met her, his words tore her apart. “What are you doing here?!” he shouted. “I came to congratulate you,” Ruth said, looking shabbily because of what she had been through in the past two months, and visibly shaken by her father’s hostile demeanor.
“If I wanted your congratulations, don’t you think your name would be on the guest list?” he asked angrily. “You have come to mess this up for me haven’t you?”
“Dad! No, I just came to see if you’re happy,” Ruth told him as her tears threatened to spill down her cheeks.
She could not believe her father was acting the way he was. It was like he had become a completely different person who had no recollection of who she was.
“Dad, it’s me, Ruth!” she shouted. “Why are you acting as though I’m not your daughter?!”
He didn’t hesitate when he said, “That’s because you’re not my daughter. I have three sons now, you hear me? What need do I have for a useless daughter?” he said. Your mother was cursed to bring only one child to the world and it turned out to be a female child! I want nothing to do with you!”
Ruth could not believe it, even as she watched her father tell the guards to take her out of the premises and make sure she wouldn’t return. She left with a heavy heart.
She had nowhere to go, and she kept walking until she collapsed. She was helped by innocent bystanders, and they took her to an orphanage where she remained for the rest of her teenage years.
She got readopted by caring old folks who paid her tuition for college and stood by her as she grew into a woman. Ruth would later find out that her father had adopted Barbara’s three sons and bought them each a posh car. Things went smoothly for her father for years until his money ran out.
He had spent too much in too little time. As a result, his new wife packed her bags and moved out of their home to find another man who could afford to keep her happy. Her boys left with her.
At the time, Ruth had found her feet and was working diligently at a restaurant as a manager to make a better life for herself and her family. One day, a poor man entered the restaurant and requested a meal.
He had no money to pay, so most people ignored him, but to Ruth, he looked a bit familiar, so she took him aside and offered him the leftovers they often gave out to beggars.
He wanted to thank her for the kind gesture, so he met her eyes, and she immediately figured out why he looked familiar — he was her father.
The emotions she felt ranged from hatred to pity, with hate being the most dominant, but because Ruth still cared for her father deep inside, she decided to forgive him for all he had done in the past.
Ruth credited all her success to his previous actions because they helped her grow up into a strong independent woman, so when he stood before her penitent, what else could she do but forgive?
She invited him to her house to meet his grandkid and her husband. It was something she had always wanted to do because she made peace with him in her heart years before. Still, even though she forgave him, she decided in her heart to become an even better parent to her own children.
What did we learn from this story?
- Forgiveness is important. Ruth was able to live in peace as well as progress because she found the energy to forgive her father even though he had caused her a lot of pain. She would not have enjoyed such luxury had she not been able to let go of her hatred of him.
- Contentment is key. John was unsatisfied with the fact that his wife could only produce a female child, which is why he treated Ruth like trash. When he found a beautiful woman with three able sons already, he felt like his prayers had been answered, so he kicked his only daughter out to accommodate his new family. He came to regret his actions, and luckily for him, his daughter was waiting.
