Kargil Soldier Story

A story is told about a soldier who was finally coming home after having fought in Kargil. He called his parents from Delhi."Mom and Dad, I'm coming home, but I've a favor to ask. I have a friendI'd like to bring home with me.""Sure," they replied, "we'd love to meet him.""There's something you should know the son continued, "he was hurtpretty badly in the fighting. He stepped on a land mind & lost an armand aleg. He has nowhere else to go, & I want him to come live with us.""I'm sorry to hear that, son. Maybe we can help him find somewhere tolive.""No, Mom & Dad, I want him to live with us.""Son," said the father, "you don't know what you're asking. Someonewith such a handicap would be a terrible burden on us. We've our ownlives to live, & we can't let something like this interfere with our lives. I think you should just come home and forget about this guy. He'll find a way to live on his own."At that point, the son hung up the phone. The parents heard nothingmore from him. A few days later, however, they received a call from theJ&K police. Their son had died after falling from a building, they weretold. The police believed it was suicide. The grief-stricken parentsflew to Sri Nagar and were taken to the city morgue to identify thebody of their son. They recognized him, but to their horror they alsodiscovered something they didn't know, their son had only one arm andone leg.The parents in this story are like many of us. We find it easy to lovethose who are good-looking or fun to have around, but we don't likepeople who inconvenience us or make us feel uncomfortable. We wouldrather stay away from people who aren't as healthy, beautiful, or smart as we are. Thankfully, there's someone who won't treat us that way. Someone who loves us with an unconditional love that welcomes us into the forever family, regardless of how messed up we are.