Son Sends Mom to Nursing Home and Only Visits 15 Years Later in Tears — Story of the Day

A man sent his mom off to a nursing home to avoid caring for her. When he visited her 15 years later, he cried after he heard what she endured quietly.

Joe was the only child Chris and his wife Petunia gave birth to. He was their miracle child, and they loved him fiercely.

Their devotion to him meant he was getting a lot of attention which started to suffocate him as he grew older. When his father died in an accident, Joe decided that it was time to become his own man.

While Joe and his mom Petunia mourned, he schemed on how he would gain his freedom so that after a few months had passed, he was ready to implement it.

His mother was already in her early 70s, and he knew he would not be able to care for her because he wanted to pursue his career. It made him decide to send her to a nursing home.

He believed that she would receive better care and attention from people getting paid to care for her since he would be too busy chasing his life.

Almost a year after his father passed, Joe put his mother in a nursing home, sold their home, and used the money to move to a city.

Petunia had initially been at odds with the idea of going to a nursing home; however, after her son revealed his plans to move to the city to pursue a life, she agreed.

"I need to move to the city to pursue my career and I need money to do that," he told her once.

"You know we don't have much besides this house," she replied.

"Which is why I've decided to sell it after sending you to a nursing home," Joe said.

"I know your father left it to you when he died, but are you sure this is what you want to do?" Petunia asked.

"Yes mom, I have it all worked out and I promise to return a successful man."

After putting his mom in a nursing home, Joe never visited her. He would call sometimes, but making the journey to his hometown to check up on the woman was never on his mind unless several years had passed.

Petunia never complained, and after seeing that her pleas to him often fell on deaf ears, she resigned herself to waiting until her boy deemed it fit to visit her.

Things went on like that for some time until one day when Joe received a call from personnel at the nursing home — his mother was sick and dying.

He was on the first train out of the city that morning to rush to his mother's side. He tried to reach her during the journey but was told by those caring for her that she was in no state for a phone call.

It ate at Joe all through his journey. He was afraid of what would happen if he arrived too late — there was a lot he wanted to apologize for.

In his ambition, he had forgotten her, leaving her to waste away in a facility surrounded by strangers and refusing to even visit her. The train was not the fastest means of travel which meant Joe had more than enough time to ruminate on his wrongdoings.

Now that he knew he was about to lose Petunia, it felt like he had wasted a lot of time and was running out of opportunities to spend any more with her. When the train finally pulled into the station, Joe hurriedly got off and started making his way to his mother.

As soon as he set eyes on her, tears tracked down his cheeks. He could not contain his happiness to catch her alive, but he was also sad that fear of her death was what made him see how selfish he had acted towards her.

Out of guilt, as well as happiness, he asked what he could do for her, but she wasn't about to make it any easy for him, so she replied, "I want you to buy fans, as there are none here. Also, get some new refrigerators so that the food doesn't spoil. All these years, I very often had to go to bed without eating anything."

"What? Why did you wait so long to tell me all of this?" Joe asked.

Petunia looked at her boy for a few long moments before she answered, sadness apparent in her voice.

"Son, I was able to get used to the hunger and heat. It's not that hard to do when you've got no choice. What I'm really scared of is that you won't get used to it when YOUR kids put you in a place like this."

The statement was too much for the guilt-ridden Joe, and he broke into tears. With a lot of care, Petunia beat her illness, and she went on living for another five years — all of which she spent at her son's apartment in the city.

What did we learn from this story?

• Love, not smother. Joe was the only child his parents gave birth to, which made him the only recipient of their love and attention. Sometimes it felt great, but other times it felt suffocating to him. The older he got, the less he cared about the smothering, so when his father died, he decided he had gotten enough, and he put his mom in a nursing home while he left to live his life. His desire for freedom was fed by his parents lack of understanding when to give him space and when to smother him with love and concern.
• Never forget family. Joe was so ambitious about his own life; it was all he gave attention to. As soon as his father passed away, he put his mother in a nursing home and moved to a bigger city. Living his life took all of his time, and no day was good enough to call or check up on his mother. It was not until after he almost lost her that Joe realized how foolish he had been. Thankfully it was not too late to make reparations.

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