As a young man, Al was a skilled artist with a wife and two fine sons. One night, his older son developed a serious stomachache. Thinking it was only some common intestinal(肠的) disorder, so both Al and his wife didn’t take it very seriously. But the boy died suddenly that night.

Knowing the death could have been avoided if he had only realized the seriousness of the situation, he always felt he was guilty(内疚的). To make matters worse, his wife left him a short time later, leaving him alone with his six-year-old younger son. The hurt and pain of the two situations were more than Al could stand, and he turned to alcohol(酒精) for help. Soon, Al became an alcoholic(酒鬼).

Slowly, Al began to lose everything he had—his land, house, etc. Finally, Al died alone in a small bar. Hearing of Al’s death, I thought, “What a totally wasted life! What a complete failure!”

As time went by, I began to revalue my earlier rough judgment. I knew Al’s now adult son, Ernie. He is one of the kindest, most caring, most loving men I have ever known. I could see the love between Ernie and his children. But I hadn’t heard Ernie talk much about his father. One day, I worked up my courage to ask him what his father had done so that he became such a special person. Ernie said quietly, “My father came into my room every night, gave me a kiss and said ‘I love you, son’ until I left home at 18. It’s the best gift from him.”

Tears came to my eyes as I realized what I had been a fool to judge Al as a failure. He had not left any material possessions behind. But he had been a kind loving father, and left behind his best love.

It’s a cold day in December in New York City. A boy about 10 years old stood in front of a shoe shop. He was barefoot (赤脚的) looking through the window and shook with cold. A lady came up and said, “My little boy, why are you looking in that window? “I am asking God to give me a pair of shoes,” the boy answered. The lady took him by the hand and went into the store and asked the salesman to get a pair of socks, a basin (盆) of water and a towel.

She took the little boy to the back part of the shop and washed his little feet, and dried them with the towel. She put a pair of socks on the boy’s feet, and then bought him a pair of shoes. “OK, my little boy, do you feel comfortable now?” When she turned to go, the little boy caught her by the hand, and looked up at her face. With tears in his eyes, he asked, “Are you God’s wife?”