NIGHT WATCH


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, I knew how much he needed me. I stayed."

The next time someone needs you...be there. Stay.
You'll be glad you did