A rich woman is upset after hearing her son mock a helpless beggar, then she sees his face and ends up recognizing him as the man who had mysteriously disappeared from her life eight years ago.
Lacey discovered her vocation to become a lawyer when she was as young as ten. Unfortunately, it was during those earlier childhood days that her lawyer parents died in a car crash, and she was orphaned.
So when Lacey’s grandmother took her under her wing, the one thing she had promised her grandmother was that she would become a good lawyer and make her parents proud.
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Years later, Lacey graduated summa-cum-laude from a top law university and successfully established her law firm. What the woman wasn’t successful at was teaching her son, Aaron, the value of respecting others and those in need…
One day, Lacey and Aaron traveled to a nearby town for a case she was working on. Her husband was away on a business trip, and Aaron was too innocent to be left alone at home, so Lacey had to bring him with her.
“If you trouble me during the work, we are coming right back, and there’ll be a week’s house arrest for you!” Lacey had warned him, and Aaron had said, “OK, Mum! I won’t trouble you! Promise!”
For most of the journey, Aaron was quiet, but now he was getting bored. And his boredom was coming out in the form of silly questions, which Lacey had no interest in answering.
“Are we going to meet the criminal? Is it going to be like one of the James Bond movies? Are we uncovering a serious case?” Aaron asked Lacey while she was driving.
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“Well,” said Lacey. “I can’t discuss the details with a little boy like you. How about you let me drive peacefully and watch something on your IPad?”
“But Mom!” cried Aaron. “Tell me something! At least you can tell me if we’ll arrest the bad guys!”
Lacey laughed. “Not all cases involve bad guys and arrests, Aaron! And this is, thankfully, not something that would require much work. It’s just that the client can’t visit me because she’s an elderly lady.”
Sometimes, a moment is all it takes for a life to change.
“Boring!” sighed Aaron. “It’s not fun then! I should’ve stayed home! And I’m hungry, Mum.”
“But you had a tuna sandwich like half an hour ago!” she said.
“That was not enough! Mom! Stop!” he cried. “There’s a store right there! Can I please get some snacks? I won’t trouble you if you get me shrimp chips!”
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Lacey pulled over across the store and unbuckled her seat belt. “You’re one clever boy,” she said. “Do you want anything else? I’ll go and get it. Until then, you’re not leaving the car! OK?”
But Lacey’s phone rang right then, and it was a call from the client. She got busy on the phone and gave Aaron her credit card to get snacks for himself after telling him to cross the street safely.
Unfortunately, the call turned out to be a long one, and the client said she was canceling the meeting as she had some other engagement. “Mrs. Roberts, can we please meet today?” Lacey persuaded her. “I drove all the way, and it’s hard for me to make time for you later. No, no, I understand, but…”
“OK, alright, and I hope you realize I can’t give this case any more time. I’ve got a bunch of other things to deal with. OK then, I’ll see you at my office. Yes, Friday works fine. Alright. Thanks.”
Lacey hung up the phone and sighed. What a waste of time! How can they not appreciate other people’s time? she thought. Then she walked into the grocery store and was shocked to see her son mock a poor man, his back facing her.
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“You stink! Stay away from me, you dirtbag!” cried Aaron. He was holding a bunch of packets in his hands.
“Little child,” begged the man. “I need… I need a dollar to clear my bill! I haven’t eaten in days. Would you be kind enough to help me?”
“Get away!” Aaron sneered. “I don’t talk to strangers! Go and beg elsewhere!”
The other customers started staring at the poor man, and he disappeared into one of the aisles. Aaron saw Lacey and ran up to her. “Mom!” he cried. “I bought the snacks! Let’s go!”
“We’re not leaving until you apologize, Aaron!” she said. “I saw what you did to that poor man. You could have helped him.”
“But Mom, he stank! And he looked like a freak!”
“So? All he wanted was your help. You could have said no politely. That’s not how we treat others, hun. And so, we need to apologize. Come with me.”
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Lacey and Aaron decided to apologize to the man and found him in the milk aisle. He was sitting on the floor, hugging his knees and crying.
“Sir,” said Lacey gently. “Oh, I’m sorry about my son’s behavior. He shouldn’t have behaved so rudely.”
Upon hearing Lacey’s voice, the man looked up, and she noticed he looked old, frail, and tired. His face was lined with wrinkles, and beyond those wrinkles, she saw the man to whom she owned her success. He had disappeared eight years ago, and she didn’t know she’d find him like this—in a strange city and a disheveled state.
“Mr. Rutledge? Lord! That’s you!” she gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. “Oh, I found you!”
But he didn’t seem to recognize her. “I don’t know …” he said. “I’m just a poor man, and I’m hungry.”
“You don’t remember me? I’m Lacey. I was your student!”
“I don’t know…” he sobbed. “I don’t know anything. Please just leave me alone!”
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Lacey didn’t understand what was wrong with him, but she managed to console him and bring him home. He bathed at her house, wore her husband’s clothes, and cried when he had homemade food. Then he retired to sleep in the guest room, and he hadn’t shared much, except he was a homeless man begging for a living.
So Lacey took him to a doctor, and it was then she learned he’d lost his memory due to a major accident. The doctor said the treatment would help him, but they were not very hopeful.
Still, Lacey decided to go for it and looked after Mr. Rutledge like a daughter. Years ago, when she was in law college, Mr. Rutledge was her professor. He had to recommend one of his students for a foreign internship, and he had chosen her among the candidates.
That internship had kickstarted Lacey’s law career, and she’d worked at that company for ten years before starting her own firm. So when Mr. Rutledge suddenly disappeared, and his family needed help, Lacey jumped in to aid them.
Sadly, he didn’t even remember he had a family when she met him at the store, but she was willing to give him any assistance to help him recover. And thankfully, slowly and in bits and parts, Mr. Rutledge began to remember who he was.
It turned out he was on a trip when he was mugged and attacked by three men. He lost all his possessions, including his IDs. He somehow got treated at a hospital, then didn’t know where to go, so he began begging on the streets for a living.
It would take years before he gained his memory entirely and returned to his family, but Lacey didn’t give up until then. She stayed by her former teacher’s side, and in a way, she helped him reclaim the life he had lost years ago.