A Terrible Burden

A story is told about a soldier who was finally coming home after having fought in Vietnam.  He called his parents from San Francisco. "Mom and Dad, I'm coming home, but I've got a favor to ask.  I have a friend I'd like to bring with me."

"Sure," they replied, "we'd love to meet him."  

"There's something you should know," the son continued. "He was hurt pretty badly in the fighting.  He stepped on a land mine and lost an arm and a leg. He has nowhere else to go, and I want him to come live with us."

"I'm sorry to hear that, son.  Maybe we can help him find somewhere to live."  

"No, Mom and Dad, I want him to live with us."  

"Son," said the father, "you don't know what you're asking.  Someone with such a handicap would be a terrible burden on us.  We have our own lives to live, and we can't let something like this interfere with our lives.  I think you should just come home and trust that your friend will get the help he needs and find a way to live on his own."

At that point, the son said a gentle goodbye and hung up the phone.  

The parents heard nothing more from their son. A few days after his phone call, they received a call from the San Francisco police.  Their son died after falling from a building, they were told. The police believed it was a suicide.  The grief-stricken parents flew to San Francisco and were taken to the city morgue to identify their boy’s body. They recognized him, but to their horror they also discovered something they didn't know: their son had only one arm and one leg.