A woman who was kicked out by her rich father at sixteen for taking up with a poor man ends up living on the streets with her four children after her husband died.

He had the pastor shown in and waved an impatient hand at his greeting. “Get on with it, man!” he snapped. “What is it that you want this time?”

“Mr. Walton, I saw Susan,” the pastor said quietly, and Steve’s heart nearly stopped. His only daughter had left his house nearly fifteen years before, never to be seen again…

“Susan?” Steve cried anxiously. “Where? When? How is she?”

“I was in Los Angeles, helping out a friend who has a mission among the homeless and that’s where I saw her,” the pastor said.

“No,” Pastor Morris said gently. “She wasn’t a volunteer, Mr. Walton. She’s homeless. She and her children are living in a car.”

Steve found himself so dizzy he had to sit down. “Homeless? My Susan? Children?” he gasped.

“I’m afraid so,” the pastor said. “And she wouldn’t even listen to me when I told her to come home.”

“But why?” asked Steve angrily. “She’s not with that loser anymore, is she?”

“Her husband passed away three years ago, Mr. Walton,” the pastor explained. “And she told me she wouldn’t bring her children into a house where their father is despised.”

“Pregnant at sixteen, and by the GARDNER!” he’d screamed. “Well, we are going to have THAT taken care of, and HE’S fired! You will never see that man again!”

“THAT is my baby, daddy,” Susan had said in a tremulous voice. “And HE is the man I love. I’m going to marry him.”

“You marry that man and you’re on your own, Susan, do you hear?” Steve shouted furiously. “No more money, nothing! You marry him and you get out of my house!”

“How many children?” he asked Pastor Morris.

“Four,” the pastor said. “Three girls and a boy. Beautiful children.”

Steve picked up his phone and spat out orders for his plane to be readied. “Pastor, would you come with me to Los Angeles, take me to my little girl?” he asked quietly.

The pastor nodded, and within two hours, the two men were on board Steve’s private jet winging their way south. There was a limo waiting for them, and the pastor directed them to a parking lot outside a large mall.

Susan had piled the children and their few belongings into the old pickup. She worked at the mall as a cleaner. She and the children used the mall’s facilities and bought whatever was leftover at the restaurants at the end of the night.

Still, she had managed to keep the four children fed, clean, and in school. As the two men approached the truck, they heard cheerful voices and laughter. Then two children tumbled out of the back.

A well-remembered voice asked from inside the tent, “Preacher Morris?” Then Susan climbed out and Steve could see the shock in her face when she saw him standing next to the pastor.

“Daddy?” she asked, and her eyes filled with tears.

Steve was shocked. His daughter was barely thirty-one, but she looked much older. Her face was worn and lined with worry and suffering, her hands coarsened by hard work.

“Susan,” Steve cried. “Look at you! Look at what HE did to my princess! I wanted so much for you! And you married that loser! What could he give you? Poverty?”

Steve found that he had tears running down his face. “Forgive me, Susan,” he sobbed. “Please forgive me. Come home, I want you all to come home with me. Let me help you take care of the children!”

“You named him after me?” Steve asked, astounded. “After what I did?”

That afternoon, they all flew home to Texas. It was the beginning of a better life for all of them.

What can we learn from this story?

• Love and accept your children unconditionally. Steve was furious with Susan for loving a poor man and made the biggest mistake of his life by losing his daughter.
• Don’t judge people for their wealth or influence. Steve hated his son-in-law because he was poor, but he was a loving husband to Susan and a dedicated dad.

Share this story with your friends. It might brighten their day and inspire them.

If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a 60-year-old man who is shocked when a perfect stranger walks up to him in a restaurant and calls him a cheater.

This account is inspired by our reader’s story and written by a professional writer. Any resemblance to actual names or locations is purely coincidental. All images are for illustration purposes only. Share your story with us; maybe it will change someone’s life.