I received this as an email forward from the mother who abandoned me almost 30 years ago.  I gave her my email as a nicety at my grandma's funeral in October.  Read it, and keep an open mind.  Perhaps I have been too judgemental....

 

   The best prayer I have heard in a long time............        Heavenly Father, Help us remember   That the jerk who cut us off in traffic    Last night is a single mother who    Worked nine hours that day and    Is rushing home to cook dinner,    Help with homework,    Do the laundry and spend a    Few precious moments    With her children.      Help us to remember that the    Pierced, tattooed, disinterested    Young man who can't make    Change correctly is a worried    19-year-old college student,    Balancing his apprehension   Over final exams with his    Fear of not getting his    Student loans for next semester.      Remind us, Lord,    That the scary looking bum,    Begging for money in the same    Spot every day (who really ought    To get a job!) is a slave to addictions    That we can only imagine in our   Worst nightmares.      Help us to remember that the   Old couple walking annoyingly    Slow through the store aisles    And blocking our shopping    Progress are savoring this    Moment, knowing that,    Based on the biopsy report    She got back last week,  This will be the last year that they    Go shopping together.      Heavenly Father,    Remind us each day that,    Of all the gifts you give us,    The greatest gift is love.      It is not enough to share    That love with those    We hold dear.      Open our hearts not to    Just those who are    Close to us, but to all humanity.      Let us be slow to judge   And quick to forgive,    Show patience,   Empathy and love.

Thanks for sharing that Aron....

And at the risk of sounding like Dr. Phil (whom I do NOT respect!!) - how does this make you feel?

Tom

Funny you ask Tom.

I feel like an A$$ for holding a grudge for so long.  Who am I to judge her for leaving me.  God's will, not mine, was done, and probably for the better.  Who am I to continue to judge her almost 30 years later?  Who am I to judge her period?

Aron

lol... and my reply to you, would be to "be kinder to yourself"....

I would suggest that you truly "did the best you could, with what you knew at the time", so you weren't being an *ss at all - just being you, and where you were at the time....  The fact that you are 'looking in the mirror' now, and openly questioning yourself on this, is a great sign of growth, on your part.....

Things aren't always "right or wrong", they just are....

Take care

Tom