A poor, fatherless boy embarked on a heartwarming mission to feed his sick mom and three brothers, only to be brought home in a coffin. One day, a stranger knocked on his mother’s door, offering to adopt them in order to thank him.
Laura sat in her wheelchair, staring at her wedding photo. Her eyes, filled with tears, refused to dry up. Her pain doubled as she thought about her late husband Sam and their misery after his untimely passing three months ago.
“Mom?! Look… what is wrong with you? Are you still not over it yet?” the faint voice of 10-year-old Louie interrupted Laura’s thoughts, snapping her back to reality. “We all miss him, but we have to keep going. I promise, one day, I will change our life from bad to better.”
Laura remained calm, drowning in her sorrow, so Louie decided to cheer her up. And the first thing he did was go to the kitchen to make something nice for her to eat, only to find they did not have any groceries.
“I must do something. I want to surprise mom,” thought Louie and knew what he had to do to make her smile again…
“Mom, I’m going out with my friends. I’ll return home soon, okay?” he said.
“Going out? But where?”
“It’s Saturday, mom. Remember, I used to go to the park with my friends every weekend. I haven’t gone since dad left us. I want to go today coz I want some fresh air.”
“Who are you, and what do you want?” Laura grew curious and burst into tears after the stranger revealed the unthinkable about her son.
“Alright! But please be safe. And don’t be late, sweetheart.”
Laura believed her eldest son was telling her the truth, so she permitted him to go out. She had no idea he was about to surprise her and make her smile after a very long time by doing something she had never dreamed of.
“It’s past 1 o’clock. Where is this boy? I shouldn’t have let him out,” groaned Laura, staring at the clock. She wheeled herself to the main door whenever she heard someone outside her house. She was anxious. Louie had never been away for so long.
“This boy, he gets into my nerves at times. He forgets that he is the eldest of the four and needs to be responsible,” Laura thought to herself.
She grew restless as she counted how much money she had left for groceries. Although she was getting her monthly disability benefits, it was barely enough for her family of five.
After Sam’s death, she had multiple sclerosis, leading to mobility issues and confining her to a wheelchair. She was jobless, and the disability benefits hardly helped.
Still, she kept going for her children’s sake and was upset with Louie’s behavior that day, not knowing he would return with something heartwarming.
“Mom! Look what I brought for you!” exclaimed Louie, placing a wet basket in front of her, reeking of something that smelled fishy. Laura flipped the basket’s lid open and found a fresh catch of fish.
“Oh my God, sweetheart! Where did you get so much fish?”
“I caught them!”
“What? Did you go fishing? But I told you to stay away from that lake, didn’t I?”
“Mom, it’s fine. I’m ten now, and I can handle it. I’ve seen dad fish before and have even helped him a lot. I’m a master at fishing now. Chill, mom!”
Laura was speechless and did not know how to react.
“Aren’t you happy, mom? I wanted to surprise you with something nice to eat. Our pantry was nearly empty, so I thought we could have some baked fish for dinner.”
“I’m glad, son. But please, do not go to that lake without telling me again, alright?”
Although Laura was pleased with Louie’s surprise, she did not want to take any risks. After losing her husband, she just did not have the heart to welcome any more turmoil in her life.
But fate had other plans the following weekend.
“Mrs. Moris, you have to come with us. It’s an emergency,” said one of the neighbors the following Saturday afternoon.
“What is it? Why do you look so tense? Is everything alright? And where to? I’m waiting for my son, Louie. He will be home any minute from the park.”
“Mrs. Moris, it’s about Louie,” replied the woman, and Laura’s anxiety doubled.
“About my son? What about him? What happened? Can someone please tell me what happened?” she cried as neighbors flocked outside her house in no time.
“Mrs. Moris, we have come to take you with us to the hospital. Your son Louie…your son was hit by a car on his way home from the lake.”
Laura’s heart began to pound, and fear crawled up her gut.
“What?” she cried and rushed to the hospital to see her son.
“Mrs. Moris, I’m sorry. Your son Louie has had a brain death, and there’s nothing we could now do to save him,” was the last thing poor Laura wanted to hear from the doctor that day.
She wept like a child outside Louie’s ward. “Wake up, son! Please, don’t leave me…Please wake up!” she cried, her voice echoing in the hallway.
A month passed since Louie was laid to rest. Laura’s condition worsened, but she pulled herself together for her three kids’ sake. Her world had changed from bad to worse after Louie’s passing.
Laura had lost all hope when an unfamiliar woman knocked on her door, smiling.
“Mrs. Moris! Hi, I’m Miranda Pierce, and I just returned with my daughter after her dream trip to Disneyland,” said the woman. Laura was baffled. What did this lady want from her?
“I wanted to meet you that day in the hospital, but you had already left. I couldn’t find you and finally got your address from the hospital records.”
“Wait…who are you? And what do you want? I don’t know you. Have we met before?” Laura grew curious and burst into tears after Miranda revealed her reasons.
“Meet my daughter, Casey!” said Miranda, pointing to her 10-year-old. “Casey, why don’t you go play with Mrs. Moris’s kids while we talk?”
“Wait, I don’t get it. What is happening? Who are you?” Laura asked again.
“My daughter has your son’s heart!”
“Casey had a heart transplant a month ago. It was your son’s heart that saved her life. His heart is beating inside her now!” revealed Miranda.
“My son Louie’s heart? Oh my God! Yes, I remember now…I had signed some papers,” exclaimed Laura, recalling a life-changing decision she had taken when Louie was on his deathbed.
As it turned out, Laura was so distraught when she learned of her son’s grave condition that when the doctors approached her about the possibility of Louie saving several people’s lives with his organs, she blindly agreed and signed the organ donation papers. She never bothered to find out to whom his vital organs were donated.
Miranda’s 10-year-old daughter, Casey, was among those who had gotten a new life through Louie. Laura was delighted after learning this and stormed outside to hug the girl, crying.
But Miranda also came to reveal something else — an offer for a better life.
“Look, I know this might sound weird. But I would like to offer you to move into our guest home. It’s been empty for years, and I’m sure you’d like it!”
“Mrs. Pierce, I don’t know how to thank you!” Laura exclaimed, and her tears wouldn’t stop.
“Please don’t…I should thank you and your son…Nothing can make up for the sacrifice you made by agreeing to donate your son’s heart that day… You and your son saved my child’s life.”
Just as Louie had promised, he had changed his mother’s life from bad to better, though he only got to watch her shed tears of joy from heaven.
Shortly after, Lauren and her three kids moved into their new home. She was also given free treatment, and slowly, she was able to get back on her feet. Moreover, she loved spending time with Casey. Her smile and liveliness reminded her of her late son, Louie.
What can we learn from this story?
Have faith in miracles because the sun always rises after a dark, rough night. After her husband’s death, Laura lost hope but kept going for her children’s sake. Her sorrow doubled after she unexpectedly lost Louie to an accident. However, her faith and hope in life were restored when she met Casey, the girl who received Louie’s heart.
When you get a chance to express gratitude to someone who helped you, please do it. Out of gratitude for Casey’s new life, Miranda offered Laura and her kids to move in with her. She also provided free treatment to restore Laura’s ability to walk and filled her life with joy.
When a widowed mom of three ran out of money, her boss unexpectedly handed her a bonus and a promotion, thanks to an unsuspecting group of visitors in his office. Click here to read the full story.
This piece is inspired by stories from the everyday lives of our readers and written by a professional writer. Any resemblance to actual names or locations is purely coincidental. All images are for illustration purposes only.