Story Of The Week – From Dismay To Delight

Story Of The Week

From Dismay To Delight

by Cheryl Lakes

Debbie was sitting alone on a park bench one hot summer day without hope, crying her eyes out because she’d had a double dose of dismay in a span of 24 hours. She lost her job and found out she was pregnant on the same day. To make matters worse, her boyfriend of seven months had told her to get lost and denied fathering the child.

As she sat there feeling sorry for herself across the street from her former job, a co-worker, whom she had teased unmercifully because he stuttered, came and sat next to her. His name was Tony. Without saying a word, he simply sat and squeezed her hand in an effort to comfort her. She cried even harder as she looked up into his face and saw the contrast between his kindness and her meanness.

She began to tell him over and over again how sorry she was for the way she’d treated him, and all he did was smile and hug her shoulders. An hour later, she was confiding in him about her pregnancy, her boyfriend’s actions, and her plans for an abortion.

After coaxing her to join him for dinner at a local restaurant, Tony convinced Debbie not to have an abortion and promised to help her care for her child.

Two years later, Tony no longer stutters, and he and Debbie are now a couple planning to marry in the Spring. He is still keeping his promise to help her care for a little girl who now calls him Daddy.