Doris Dakkar had been a single mother to her only son after her husband had walked out on her when Nicholas was seven years old. It hadn\u2019t been easy, but Doris worked two jobs and made sure her son lacked for nothing.<\/p>\n
Back then, she\u2019d been thirty years old. She never imagined she\u2019d become a single parent once again at the age of sixty. Nor did she imagine her son would abandon his daughter. She never thought he had that much of his father in him.<\/p>\n
Nicholas had married a lovely girl, Sandra, but unfortunately, she passed away when their daughter, Paige, was nine. Doris had told herself that Nicky had been lonely, that\u2019s why he\u2019d taken up with Donna just weeks after Sandra\u2019s death \u2014 and married her within six months.<\/p>\n
Doris had been concerned to see little Paige, who had once been a happy, boisterous child, become quieter and quieter, but she attributed it to the loss of her mother. She still believed her son was a good man, but not for long.<\/p>\n
Selfish people care nothing for others\u2019 happiness.
\nThe summer Paige turned ten, Nicholas came around and asked Doris if he could take care of Paige for three weeks while he and Donna went on a vacation to Alaska on their own.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll couples need time alone, Mom,\u201d Nicholas had said. \u201cAnd Paige has become difficult of late\u2026 She resents Donna.\u201d<\/p>\n
Doris was surprised but agreed. \u201cOK Nicky,\u201d she said. \u201cI think a break might be good for all three of you. But if you permit me\u2026I think Donna knew what she was getting into. She knew you had a daughter. A grown woman should be able to deal with the pain of a ten-year-old still trying to come to terms with her mother\u2019s death and her father\u2019s swift remarriage.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nicholas flushed scarlet and puffed up his lips in a gesture Doris knew well. \u201cI should have known you\u2019d take Paige\u2019s side!\u201d he cried. \u201cDonna loves me, she makes me happy, and that\u2019s all that matters to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI would have thought SOMEONE had to be on Paige\u2019s side and I\u2019m surprised it\u2019s not her father,\u201d Doris replied, stung. \u201cAnd making your daughter happy should make YOU happy too!\u201d<\/p>\n
Nicholas walked out in a huff, but when he came back a week later with Paige and her suitcase, he seemed his happy normal self. He kissed Paige goodbye affectionately and gave Doris a hug.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll be back on August 27, Mom,\u201d he said and drove off with a cheery wave.<\/p>\n
Doris and Paige wouldn\u2019t see him again for over a decade. August 27th came and went and Nicholas didn\u2019t show up. Doris phoned her son but was stunned to discover his number had been disconnected.<\/p>\n
Nicholas hadn\u2019t called his daughter since he\u2019d left, but he had occasionally replied to her text messages. Now it seemed he was gone. Doris discovered that the house Nicholas and Sandra had bought had been sold. He was gone.<\/p>\n
He\u2019d abandoned his daughter with his aging mother without a word, or any concern for her well-being.
\nDoris sat down with Paige and told her: \u201cListen, we will manage, you and I. I don\u2019t want you to worry. I\u2019ll take care of you. I love you Paige, and I know that your father will come to regret what he has done.\u201d<\/p>\n
Doris didn\u2019t know how right she was. Ten years later, Nicholas drove up to his mother\u2019s house. The house was there, but it looked abandoned and decrepit. The garden was overgrown, and the windows were shuttered.<\/p>\n
Nicholas knocked on his mother\u2019s neighbor\u2019s door. The woman was surprised to see him and was reluctant to give him his daughter\u2019s forwarding address. She eyed his shabby clothes and glanced at his rusty old car.
\n\u201cPaige married and Doris lives with her. I hope you don\u2019t expect the welcome that was given to the Prodigal Son,\u201d she said coldly (she was her grandmother\u2019s best friend). \u201cAfter what you did to them, I\u2019d expect the worse if I were you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nicholas didn\u2019t even reply. He just turned his back and walked away. He wasn\u2019t worried, he knew how to handle his mother\u2026<\/p>\n
When he arrived at the address, he was stunned. His daughter and his mother were apparently living in a huge luxurious mansion!<\/p>\n
He walked up to the door and rang the bell. \u201cI want to speak to Doris or Paige Dakkar, please,\u201d he told the uniformed maid who opened the door.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou mean Mrs, Dakkar of Mrs. Henderson, sir.\u201d the maid corrected him with a disdainful smile, and she led him into a huge elegant sitting room.<\/p>\n
A few minutes later, Paige walked in. She stared at him in silence, but without any trace of surprise, and Nicholas knew that the meddling neighbor had called to warn them that he was coming.<\/p>\n
\u201cPaige, my baby\u2026\u201d he said and stepped forward to embrace the lovely woman his daughter had become.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is it that you want, father,\u201d she asked without a trace of anger in her voice.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to see you, and grandma Doris, honey,\u201d Nicholas said with his best smile. \u201cI\u2019ve missed you so much\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
At that moment, Doris walked in. She too looked calm \u2014 and a lot younger than her years. \u201cNicholas,\u201d she said. \u201cWhat do you want?\u201d<\/p>\n
Nicholas flushed. \u201cI wanted to see my family,\u201d he cried. \u201cI was hoping for a warm welcome!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou abandoned me, father,\u201d Paige said coldly. \u201cYou expected warmth?\u201d
\n\u201cMom?\u201d whined Nicholas. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t me\u2026 Donna\u2026she insisted. She said she\u2019d leave me\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh!\u201d cried Doris with a knowing smile. \u201cBut you\u2019re here alone. Does that mean that the money ran out and so did Donna?\u201d<\/p>\n
Nicholas looked around the beautiful room with envy. \u201cYou\u2019re certainly not short!\u201d he said bitterly. \u201cI would have thought you could spare something\u2026I\u2019m unemployed and struggling\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m surprised you have the gall to ask us for anything, father,\u201d Paige said. \u201cYou left us when we needed you most, but we managed. Now thanks to my husband, we have everything we need.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m still your father,\u201d Nicholas said indignantly.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re nothing to me,\u201d she said, but she reached for her grandmother\u2019s hand. Doris was looking at Nicholas with tears and sadness in her eyes. \u201cBut for grandma Doris\u2019 sake, I\u2019ll help you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Paige walked over to a delicate Louis XV desk and unlocked the drawer. She fished out a set of house keys and placed some money in an envelope. \u201cThese are the keys to the old house.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s $5,000 in the envelope. Don\u2019t think you\u2019ll get a cent more, so don\u2019t bother coming back.\u201d<\/p>\n
Paige put her arm around Grandma Doris\u2019s shoulders and led her out of the room. Within seconds, the maid was there to escort Nicholas out before he had the chance to pocket any of the obviously valuable knick-knacks.<\/p>\n
Nicholas sat in his car for a long time staring at his daughter\u2019s sprawling estate. \u201cI did what I had to do,\u201d he whined. \u201cWhy can\u2019t people understand how I\u2019ve suffered? There\u2019s no gratitude in this world\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
What can we learn from this story?\u201d<\/p>\n
Selfish people care nothing for others\u2019 happiness, only for their own.\ufffdNicholas didn\u2019t think twice about abandoning his family as long as he had what he wanted.
\nWhat you give is what you get.\ufffdNicholas was expecting to share in his daughter\u2019s prosperity and he got quite a surprise \u2014 but thanks to Paige and Doris\u2019 innate kindness, he got more than he deserved \u2014 a roof over his head.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Doris Dakkar had been a single mother to her only son after her husband had walked out on her when Nicholas was seven years old. It hadn\u2019t… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18881","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n