Judge Convicts Single Dad of 3 of Theft Not Having a Clue He’s Her Long-Lost Son – Story of the Day

A judge who always stands up for justice finds herself in a deadlock when she sentences a single, disabled dad of three to jail for theft without knowing he is her long-lost son.

Doctors and nurses rushed in and out of the maternity ward as Linda, 28, screamed in pain. It was her first child, and the pain of childbirth was terrible, beyond what she could have imagined or heard.

The baby's arrival seemed like a bright ray of sunshine bursting through a dark fluff of clouds. Linda cried in pain and joy, impatient to hold her baby, who was about to arrive shortly. But when she woke up, she didn't hear her newborn baby's cries, nor did anyone bring him to her.

"Where is my baby? Nurse, where is my son??" she looked around, anxious after waking up to an empty crib nearby, only to be blown away when the nurse told her she had gone into a coma after delivering her baby...

"Edison, where is our baby? I want to see him," she asked her husband when he visited moments later. "Bring my baby to me. Where is he? Why aren't you answering?"

Stealing his gaze away, Edison confessed the most painful truth that destroyed Linda.

"The boy was born with Erb's Palsy, and we cannot afford to raise him. You were fired from your job, and no law firm is ready to hire you again after you lost that case. We cannot raise a disabled child when we are already struggling to make ends meet."

"Edison, what did you do to my son??"

"I gave him up for adoption."

"Oh my God... How could you do this to me?" she burst into tears.

Edison's confession dawned on the poor mother who had yearned to have a child for many years. The baby she birthed was a miracle child after years of trying hard to conceive. Unable to bear what her husband had done, she divorced him and tried to look for her son.

But Linda never found her baby as an anonymous family had adopted him. The hollow in her heart after losing her only child doubled as time flew by. Linda grew older, bearing a heartbreak she wanted no mother to endure.

Thirty-eight years later, in court...

"Please be seated... Good morning, ladies and gentlemen," Linda addressed the court as she took her seat. She had climbed her ladder of success and was now a highly accomplished criminal court judge.

She took off her glasses and cleared the fog, stealing her teary eyes from everyone. The case she handled that day was the most peculiar and complicated in her thirty years of service. She was about to sentence Jonathan, a poor, disabled dad of three, to jail for stealing expensive medicines for his sick daughter.

"Your Honor, my youngest daughter, had seizures, and I did not have money to buy her expensive medicines. So I stole them from the pharmacy, but I was ready to pay for them once I got my monthly assistance from the government," Jonathan cried.

"It doesn't matter if you intended to pay or not... a theft is a theft," Linda interrupted and rummaged through Jonathan's documents. She looked up at him and noticed he had Erb's Palsy. Linda rechecked his date of birth on the file. Something about it struck her, as Jonathan's birth date matched her son's birth date.

Could Jonathan be Linda's long-lost son? Would she change her mind and not sentence him to jail if he turned out to be her son?

When Linda was a lawyer several years ago, she was fired for not helping a rich man get bail after a hit-and-run. She stood by justice at the cost of her career. So that day, she decided to do what was right, though she suspected Jonathan could be her long-lost son.

Linda convicted him of theft and sentenced him to jail for a year. Justice was her priority, and Linda did what her duty demanded of her. Later, she followed her heart of a mother and met Jonathan in prison to learn more about him.

Jonathan was taken to the visiting room and was shocked when he saw Linda waiting for him.

"I know what you might be thinking. But I'm not here to apologize for my verdict. I saw your papers and would like to know more about you. Can you tell me about your parents?" she asked Jonathan, only to learn that he was adopted thirty-eight years ago.

"My adoptive parents died several years ago. My wife and I lived a beautiful life, but after she died of cancer, I struggled to raise my three daughters," Jonathan began as Linda slowly started to tear up.

"Jonathan, would it be okay if you and I took a DNA test?" Linda's question that came out of nowhere startled Jonathan.

"A DNA test, but why?"

Pursing her lips and swallowing her pain, Linda replied:

"Because you could be the son I lost thirty-eight years ago!"

Jonathan was left shaken and speechless. He agreed to take the DNA test with her, and the results that arrived a couple of weeks later matched them as relatives. Jonathan, the loving dad jailed by his mother, was her long-lost son.

Linda revisited Jonathan and told him about the mind-boggling revelation. At first, he didn't know how to react.

"I'm confused and happy. I thought I was an orphan again after my adoptive parents died. But I'm happy that my mother has come for me. Mom, where is dad?"

"Don't talk about him. He was the main reason that triggered our separation. He snatched my motherhood from me. He stole my son away from me. I divorced him and heard he died recently from a heart attack."

"Son, forgive me for not looking for you. I tried, but I never found you. Since you were given up on closed adoption, I could not track you. I had no clue that you lived in the same town and were yet stolen away from my eyes."

Linda and Jonathan embraced in tears as she promised to care for his children. Later that day, Linda visited Jonathan's three daughters and assured them they were not alone anymore. A few weeks later, she adopted them and took them home. Though Linda could not return to the past and amend the mistake her late husband committed, she decided to beautify the future of her granddaughters.

A year later...

Jonathan returned home after completing his jail sentence. Linda helped him get a new job in her friend's company, and they lived together as one happy family. They never went into their dark past again and took every sweet little effort to make their lives brighter and happier.

What can we learn from this story?

• It is never too late to repent and make things right. When Linda discovered Jonathan was her long-lost son, she reconciled with him and took his three daughters home.
• A beautiful future is an outcome of a painful past that has healed with love and time. Linda knew she could not go back in time and change the past but was determined to beautify her son's and granddaughters' future.

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This piece is inspired by stories from the everyday lives of our readers and written by a professional writer. Any resemblance to actual names or locations is purely coincidental. All images are for illustration purposes only. Share your story with us; maybe it will change someone's life. If you would like to share your story, please send it to info@amomama.com.