Better Grab a Box of Tissue

You know those stupid sentimental forwards that always get sent around by middle-aged women? Well, with Amy's help, I discovered that I have the ability to write those. So here's one I whipped up pretty quickly.

Bobby lay in the hospital bed, hugging his teddy bear tightly. He tried to be a big boy and not cry, but occasionally a tear leaked out. The doctor came into the room.

“Bobby, I have good news for you! We found a donor!”

“So I’m going to be okay?”

“Yes, Bobby. We’ll perform the surgery first thing in the morning. You just try to get some sleep and keep up your strength.”

As the doctor left, Bobby’s dad returned from the bathroom.

“Daddy, did you hear the doctor? I’m going to be okay!”

“I heard him, son. Let’s say a prayer to thank God for his help, and then you need to go to sleep.”

Bobby said a prayer. “God, thank you for helping the doctors find me a new liver. Please help me to be okay, and bless daddy and mommy too. Amen.”

When Bobby looked up from his prayer, he saw a tear escape his dad’s eye. They hadn’t seen his mom since she left them over a year ago. But Bobby still prayed for her every night.

As Bobby’s dad held his hand, the boy dropped off to sleep.

In the morning, the doctors came to collect Bobby for the surgery. His dad kissed him gently on the forehead before he was wheeled away.

As his dad waited outside the operating room, he thought about all the times he lost patience with Bobby since his mother left them. He promised himself that he’d never yell at his son again if the surgery was successful.

Several hours later, Bobby was wheeled out, still unconscious. As they took him down the hall to the recovery room, the doctor came over to his dad.

“The surgery was a great success. And it came just in time. A couple more days and there wouldn’t have been anything we could do. It was truly a miracle.”

“Doctor, where did you find the donor?”

“There was a terrible accident just outside of the hospital parking lot. There was a woman apparently coming to the hospital who was killed on impact. But she has been able to save a life even as she lost hers.”

As Bobby’s dad sat at his bedside waiting for him to wake up, he looked at the chart the doctor had left behind. His face paled as he saw the name of the donor.

Bobby could never thank the stranger who had unknowingly saved his life. As he grew tall and strong, he would think often of his mother, hoping she would come through the front door some day. And he never knew it, but his mother was always with him, in the liver that was donated after she was killed on her way to visit him at the hospital.

Wasn't that just awful? Now, the question is how I can use this power to get rich.