(origin unknown)
A soldier on his way home from war called his parents after landing in Los Angeles. “Mom, Dad, it’s great to talk with you again,” he said. “I’m coming home, but I have an important favor to ask. May I bring a friend home with me?”
“Of course, son,” his father replied. “We look forward to meeting him.”
“Thank you,” the young man continued. “But I have to tell you something. He was terribly injured. He lost an arm and a leg after stepping on a land mine. I want him to come live with us, because there’s nowhere else that he could go.”
“That’s very sad, son,” said his mother. “I’m sure we could find him some place to live, though.”
“No, you don’t understand,” said the soldier. “I want him to live at home with all of us.”
“I don’t think you understand what you’re asking, son,” said the father. “It would be a terrible burden to have to take care of someone with that kind of disability. We have busy lives, and we sadly cannot allow this to interfere with it. Just come home and don’t worry about your friend. He’ll figure something out, somehow.”
The soldier hung up at that point, and his parents didn’t hear from him for a few days. Everything changed, though, when they got a call from the Los Angeles Police Department. In an apparent suicide, their son had died after falling from a tall building.
Overcome with grief, the parents flew out to Los to identify the body at the city morgue. It was clearly him, but they noticed something extremely distressing.
He only had one arm and one leg.
Principled Thoughts 