Older Lady Pays for Stranger’s Wedding, In Return He Gives Her Present She Longed for 19 Years — Story of the Day

A retired kindergarten teacher befriends a kindly orphan and pays for his wedding then he gives her the greatest gift she had ever hoped for.

Lucy Waring loved children, and so it was a deep grief for her and her husband when they discovered they couldn't have kids. So Lucy devoted herself to her work as a kindergarten teacher.

The worse came years later after her husband passed away and Lucy retired. Lucy was lonely. She no longer had her work to keep her busy, and no family of her own. That is, until she met Victor.

Lucy volunteered at a local hospital, visiting patients who had no family. Mostly, she worked in the pediatric wing, but one day a nurse asked for her help.

"Mrs. Waring," the nurse said. "I have a patient who could really use some company, He was in a work accident and broke his leg. He had surgery, but he's bedridden. He doesn't seem to have friends or family, and he won't speak. It would be a kindness if you could drop in and chat with him?"

"Poor thing!" Lucy cried. "I'll pop in tomorrow and see if he wants me to read to him."

The next day, before she went to pediatrics, Lucy popped in to visit the young man the nurse had told her about. His name was Victor Ferraro, and he was a pitiful sight.

Family is about love and commitment, not biology.

Victor's broken leg was in a cast that reached to his waist and was hoisted up by complicated-looking pulleys. There were scary-looking shiny steel spikes poking out everywhere.

The young man was lying there with his eyes closed when Lucy came in, trailing a string of colorful balloons, and with a clown hand puppet and several picture books tucked under one arm.

"Hello there!" Lucy cried brightly.

Victor opened his eyes and stared in disbelief at the small woman with white hair surrounded by bobbing balloons in bright colors. "What?" he gasped. "What do you want?"

"I'm Lucy," she said. "One of your nurses said you need cheering up."

Victor frowned. "With balloons?" he asked sourly. Then he caught sight of the books. "You are going to read to me about dinosaurs and red hens?"

"Why?" asked Lucy cheerfully. "Do you like dinosaurs and red hens?"

"Look," Victor said. "Just leave me alone, OK?"

"Oh my!" Lucy said. "You ARE feeling sorry for yourself! Why don't you tell me about it?"

"Sorry for myself?" asked Victor angrily. "You know nothing about me or my life! Go away!"

Lucy put down the books and the puppet and tied the balloons to the rail at the foot of Victor's bed then sat down. "You're right," she said quietly. "Why don't you tell me about it?"

"Why should I?" Victor asked. "I don't know you, and you're not a friend."

"Not yet," Lucy replied. "But if you talk to me we will be, then maybe you won't feel so alone."

Tears came into Victor's eyes. "I'm sorry..." he mumbled. "I didn't mean to be rude... It's just that...I've been alone for so long..."

"Don't you have a family?" Lucy asked gently.

Victor shook his head. "My parents died when I was very young and I was raised in foster care," he explained. "All I have is Angela..."

"And who is Angela?" asked Lucy.

"Angela is my fiancée," Victor told her. "We've been in love since we were children, and she's the reason why I was working on the oil rig."

"Is that where you had your accident?" she asked.

"Yes," Victor said. "Working there's dangerous, but the pay is very good, and Angela and I wanted to get married. You see, since she was small, Angela dreamed about a big wedding and a dress like a princess. So I wanted to give her that. Angela hasn't had a lot of dreams come true in her life, but this one I could give her."

"And then you had your accident!" Lucy said sympathetically.

Victor nodded and explained, "Yes, and now I'm stuck here in the hospital for the next six weeks and she's in Denver and she can't just fly here to see me because she´ll lose her job."

"What does she do?" asked Lucy.

"She's a primary school teacher," Victor said proudly, and he showed Lucy a photo of a lovely girl with dark curls surrounded by children.

"Listen, Victor," Lucy said. "Would you mind if I come here tomorrow and chat with you again? I promise I won't bring the balloons or the puppet..."

Victor grinned. He looked more cheerful. "You could leave me ONE balloon!" he said. "The yellow one with the smiley face?"

From that day on, Lucy always started her rounds by visiting Victor and talking to him about Angela and his dreams. The old lady and the young man became great friends.

One day, Lucy said, "I have this idea. One of my friends owns a private school and she's looking for a new teacher. Do you think Angela might be interested in moving here?"

Victor sat up as straight as he could. "Are you serious?" he asked excitedly. "I think she'd love it!"

"I can't promise anything," Lucy cautioned. "I can get her an interview, but from then on she is on her own!"

Angela was very excited and she flew down to Galveston for the interview. Lucy met her, and she was just as lovely and kind as she'd imagined. The two women became great friends.

Angela got the job and she went back home to organize her move, while Victor waited out his last two weeks in the hospital. "I'm going to miss you," Victor said sadly.

"Why?" asked Lucy. "We'll still see each other!"

Victor shrugged. "I guess I'm used to losing people," he explained. "You move on to another home, people forget you..."

"I won't forget you, Victor!" Lucy protested, but she went home with Victor's sad expression imprinted in her mind's eye. She spent the night tossing and turning, and then she had a brilliant idea.

The next time she went to visit Victor she had some official-looking documents with her. "Victor," she said. "Wil you be my son?"

"What?" gasped Victor. "What do you mean?"

"My husband and I never had any children," Lucy explained. "For 19 years we tried to adopt but we were always rejected because of our age. I've grown to love you, so let me adopt you.

"Let me be your mother, and you can be my son. We need each other, and one day maybe I can be a grandmother!"

Victor was crying so hard he couldn't speak and he just held out his arms to Lucy. She ran to him and hugged him. "It's OK my boy," she said tenderly as she rocked him in her arms. "I won't go away, I'll never leave you!"

Two months later, Lucy and Victor proudly walked into Family Court to have a judge ratify their adoption procedure, but the new mom had one more surprise up her sleeve.

That evening, Lucy, Victor, and Angela had a special dinner to celebrate the adoption. When Angela brought out dessert, Lucy brought out an envelope. "This is for my son," she said.

Victor opened the envelope and gasped. It was a check and attached was the card for a wedding planner. "I want you to have the wedding of your dreams," Lucy said tenderly to Angela and Victor.

And it was a dream wedding! Lucy was the maid of honor and walked down the aisle with the beautiful bride. The ceremony was very long because the bridegroom, the bride, and the maid of honor kept bursting into tears and comforting each other.

Afterward, Angela and Victor went off on their honeymoon. Lucy went back to her visits to the children at the hospital, and every Sunday she had a family lunch with Victor and Angela.

When Lucy turned seventy-five, Victor and Angela took her out to dinner. They presented her with a big fancy box with a huge bow on top, and when Lucy opened it, there were packages inside.

First, there was a box of her favorite Belgian chocolates, then a photo album with snaps of all the children she'd taught in kindergarten, and at the bottom was one more gift.

Lucy was in tears. "Where did you get all the photos?" she cried. "Oh, this is the best present I've ever had!"

Angela and Victor looked at each other and grinned. "Open the present, mom!" Victor urged.

"You crazy kids," Lucy cried. "What are you up to?" She tore the wrappings with trembling fingers and out came a yellow T-shirt that said: 'BEST GRANDMOTHER.'

Lucy just stared at it, without understanding, until she noticed there was another tiny T-shirt in the package. It was for a newborn and it read: 'BEST GRANDBABY.'

Lucy screamed and covered her mouth with her hands. "OH!" she cried. "Is it true? Is it really true? I'm going to be a grandmother?"

Angela and Victor hugged her and told her that yes, in six months' time she'd be a proud grandmother. "I can't believe it!" Lucy sobbed. "Nineteen years I dreamed...And now it's finally come true!"

What can we learn from this story?

• Never give up hope. Love and happiness arrive when we least expect them. Lucy was lonely and had thought she'd never have a family, but she met Victor and became his mother.
• Family is about love and commitment, not biology. Even though he was an adult, Victor still felt the loneliness of an orphan child, until Lucy offered to adopt him.

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If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a married man who is stunned when he recognizes the mother of his daughter's bridegroom and screams to bring the wedding to a halt.

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