A nurse took the tired, anxious serviceman to the bedside.
"Your son is here," she said to the old man. She had to repeat the words several times before the patient's eyes opened.
Heavily sedated because of the pain of his heart attack, he dimly
saw the young uniformed Marine standing outside the oxygen
tent. He reached out his hand. The Marine wrapped his fingers
around the old man's hand, squeezing a message of love
and encouragement. All through the night the young Marine sat
there in the poorly lighted ward, holding the old man's hand and
offering him words of love and strength. Occasionally, the nurse
suggested that the Marine rest awhile. He refused. Now and
then she heard him say a few gentle words.
The dying man said nothing, only held tightly to his son all
through the night. Towards dawn, the old man died. The Marine
released the now lifeless hand he had been holding and went
to tell the nurse. While she did what she had to do, he waited.
Finally, she returned. She started to offer words of sympathy, but
the Marine interrupted her. "Who was that man?" he asked.
The nurse was startled, "He was your father" she answered.
"No, he wasn't" the Marine replied. "Then why didn't you say
something when I took you to him?" she asked.
"I knew right away there had been a mistake, but I also knew he
needed his son, and his son wasn't here. When I realized that
he was too sick to tell whether or not I was his son, knowing how much he needed a son, I stayed."
The next time someone needs you... Stay.