Mistaken Idenity

A nurse took the tired, anxious serviceman to the bedside. "Your son is> here," she said to the old man. She had to repeat the words several times> before the patient's eyes opened.>> Heavily sedated because of the pain of his heart attack, he dimly saw >the> young uniformed Marine standing outside the oxygen tent. He reached out> his hand. The Marine wrapped his toughened fingers around the old man's> limp ones, squeezing a message of love and encouragement.>> The nurse brought a chair so that the Marine could sit beside the bed.> All through the night the young Marine sat there in the poorly lighted> ward, holding the old man's hand and offering him words of love and> strength. Occasionally, the nurse suggested that the Marine move away and> rest awhile. He refused.>> Whenever the nurse came into the ward, the Marine was oblivious of her> and of the night noises of the hospital - the clanking of the oxygen >tank,> the laughter of the night staff members exchanging greetings, the cries> and moans of the other patients. Now and then she heard him say a few> gentle words. The dying man said nothing, only held tightly to his son >all> through the night.>> Along towards dawn, the old man died. The Marine released the now> lifeless hand he had been holding and went to tell the nurse. While she> did what she had to do, he waited. Finally, she returned. She started to> offer words of sympathy, but the Marine interrupted her. "Who was that> man?" he asked. The nurse was startled, "He was your father," she> answered.>> "No, he wasn't," the Marine replied. "I never saw him before in my >life.">>> "Then why didn't you say something when I took you to him?">> "I knew right away there had been a mistake, but I also knew he needed> his son, and his son just wasn't here. When I realized that he was too> sick to tell whether or not I was his son, knowing how much he needed me,> I stayed.">>>> THE NEXT TIME SOMEONE NEEDS YOU, JUST BE THERE... STAY. WE ARE NOT HUMAN> BEINGS GOING THROUGH A TEMPORARY SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE. WE ARE SPIRITUAL> BEINGS GOING THROUGH A TEMPORARY HUMAN EXPERIENCE. PLEASE PASS THIS ONE> ON. THIS IS WHAT WE ARE PUT ON THIS EARTH TO DO ANYWAY, RIGHT? HAVE A> GREAT DAY AND BLESS SOMEONE ELSE IN SOME LITTLE WAY TODAY!>>