Finding One's Path In Life

It was a magical moment. Sally had just given birth to the couple's first child, a boy.

She could hardly wait to share the wonderful news with her husband, a young U.S. soldier fighting in the Vietnam War

But the day after the child's birth, two soldiers arrived at the hospital to break the news to Sally that her husband had been killed.

As she saw those solemn soldiers in their dress uniforms approaching her room, she knew why they were there and she began screaming in horror.

Sally would be a single mother, raising her son alone, with both of her parents having passed away, and her husband's parents distant, and uninvolved in the baby's life.

Sally named her son Frank, in honor of his father, and began raising the boy in a modest apartment, with financial aid from the U.S. Government.

Life was often a struggle, and after she enrolled Frank in school, Sally did clerical work to provide Frank with a better life, hopefully one that would someday include college.

Frank saw the stress his mother was under, and as he grew older, made deliveries for Mr. Heath, the local druggist, to bring more money into their home.

Mr. Heath was an older man, beloved by the community, and he and his wife, had never had children of their own.

He saw what a fine young man Frank was becoming, and he began to treat Frank as the son he never had.

Mr. Heath and his wife regularly had Frank and his mother Sally over for dinner, and he began to mentor young Frank, helping him to realize his potential.

Having grown up working in Mr. Heath's pharmacy, when it came time for college, Frank knew he wanted to be a pharmacist, and Mr. and Mrs. Heath helped pay for his education..

After graduation, as a pharmacist, he joined Mr. Heath in the pharmacy business, and the pharmacy grew more successful.

When Mr. Heath retired, Frank took over his responsibilities and provided a nice retirement check to the Heaths each month.

Later, when Mr Heath and his wife grew frail and sick in old age, it was Frank, along with his wife and children who cared for them, for they had all become family.

At the end of life, Mr. Heath told Frank, "Mrs. Heath and I could never have had a son nicer and more loving than you."

"I'm sorry for the long ago death of your father, and the toll that took on your mother and you, but if that had not happened, you might not be the devoted son and family man you are today."

"And this community would not have the caring pharmacist you are, one whom they know has saved many a life by advising their doctors, and one who serves as a mentor to their children."

"I can rest in peace knowing our pharmacy is in the best of hands, and I know in my heart the soul of your father rests in peace, proud of the man you've become."

Dick