ABANDONED

Johnny sat on the steps of the orphanage, tears streaming down his face. What was wrong with him? Why had his mommy abandoned him? He loved his mommy so much but she didn't love him anymore. She had left their house one day and never came back. He had been all alone, scared and hungry. He was only five but his mommy had shown him how to call 911 if he needed help. So he called 911 and the police had brought him to this place. He was still scared but they had fed him so at least he wasn’t hungry. As Johnny sat there crying, a very pretty lady came out the door and sat down beside him. 

        “ Johnny, please don’t cry. We will take care of you. I am MIss Karen and I work here and help take care of all the little boys and girls. You will have lots of children to play with and you will be happy here,” She said as she gave him a big bear hug.

        Johnny liked the hug but what he wanted was his Mommy.

“Will my mommy ever come back,” He asked. 

“I don’t know Johnny. I am sorry, I know you miss her but we will try to make you happy and maybe she will be back but for now let's go in and you can play with the other children and later we will have cake and ice cream. Would you like that?”

“Yes, I like ice cream.”

Twenty-five years later:

             Johnny’s mother never came back to get him but he learned to be happy at the orphanage. He was very smart and earned a scholarship to college. He had gotten a degree in business. He was now the CEO of a huge corporation that manufactured computers.

              Early One Monday morning in April Amy picked up the newspaper to look at the want ads. She needed a job and she needed one soon, she was fast running out of money. For the past twenty five years she had worked at any job she could get. She always ended up getting fired because she couldn’t stay sober. She had never had anything to call her own. She had even lost her only son . Alcohol had taken everything, but that was in the past now. She had kicked the booze out of her life with AA and God. Then she went back to school. She was now a certified accountant, who needed a job. She skimmed the ads until she saw one for the new computer corporation in town. They had openings in almost every field and it said they were looking for accountants. This was her chance. 

                   Two weeks later she was sitting at her desk in her new office, she couldn’t believe she had been hired. She had a beautiful office, she shared with two other accountants. As she was working a young man who looked to be around thirty walked into the office, she had been told he was the CEO. She was nervous as he walked up to her desk. She felt like a schoolgirl

going to her first dance, which was silly since she was fifty years old. She wanted to keep this job, she wanted to finally succeed at something. 

                     "Hello, I wanted to welcome you to our company. I hope you will like working here,” He said. 

                     Amy looked into his eyes, they were blue and he had sandy blonde hair. There was something familiar about him. She just knew she had met him before, but she didn’t remember where

                      “Thank you, I am sure I will.” She replied nervously.

                       “My name is Johnny Sanford. If you need anything just let me know.”

                       Amy just stood there, she couldn’t move. It was as though she had stepped back in time. She could see him so plainly as her little boy with his blue eyes and sandy hair and now he stood before her as a grown man. 

                       She stuttered, “I am----your mother.”

                        “What are you saying,” He looked puzzled, “ My mother is dead. She died when I was little.”

                       “No, no I am not. I am your mother, I don”t know why you were told that I died. O, Johnny I am so glad to find you.”

                       “ Look I am sorry but you're wrong. I think you better look for a job somewhere else. We don’t hire liars! ” He turned and stomped out of the room. 

                        Amy laid her head down on her desk, only it wasn’t her desk anymore. Once again she had been fired and this time by her son. The tears begin to fall. What could she do? How could she make him forgive her? Did she even deserve for him to forgive her? All she wanted now was a drink so bad she couldn’t stand it. She grabbed her purse out of the drawer of her desk and headed for the door. “I”ll just head to the nearest bar and get drunk, I’ll never make anything of myself. It’s too late, my little boy hates me, ” She mumbled. “Only he is not little anymore he’s a man. “

                         Down the hall, Johnny stood  and stared out the window. Could she really be his mother? No one had ever told him she died. It was just easier to think she died than to think she had abandoned him. All these years he had prayed she would come back but when he had looked in her eyes all he could think was that she had left him alone. A five year old kid all alone and scared. He walked over to his desk and sat down. He remembered how she used to play games with him, read to him and make up bedtime stories for him when she wasn’t sick. On the nights she was sick, she would stumble around the room, try to make supper then fall into bed fast asleep. He was always scared when that happened because he couldn’t wake her. At the end that happened almost every night.  As he grew older he realized his mother hadn’t been sick she had been drunk. Johnny looked around at his office. He had the best desk money could buy, a leather chair that fit his body perfectly. It had been decorated by the most expensive decorator in town. He made a generous salary. He thought about his house, it was two stories with plenty of rooms. He had a good life. Miss Karen was like a mother to him, when she retired from the orphanage he planned for her to live with him. He began to pray “God help me to forgive my mother after all where would I be if she had kept me. Maybe I would be dead. I wouldn’t be sitting in an office like this. I wouldn't have the money to help the kids at the orphanage. I am so thankful for all my blessings. Thank you for bringing my mother back into my life. In Christ's name Amen.” Johnny suddenly realized he needed to go and apologize to his mother. 

                               He jumped up out of the chair and ran down the hallway to her office. When he walked in she wasn't at her desk,  he looked around the room but she was nowhere to be seen. He looked over at Marge, “Have you seen Mrs. Davis?” 

                                “She grabbed her purse and ran out of the room when you fired her.” Marge replied.

                                “ I have to find her. I need to get her address. I shouldn't have acted that way. I need to tell her that I am sorry.” 

                                “I understand. It had to be a shock to you, but I don’t think you will find her at home. I heard her say she was going to find the nearest bar and get drunk.”

                       “ O, no she can’t do that! I have to stop her.” He turned and ran out the door and down the hall to the elevator. Once inside he called Tom, the guard at the front door. 

                          “Tom where's the nearest bar?” He asked. 

                          “ Just around the corner,” Tom replied in surprise. Mr. Sanford never took a drink, Why did he want to know where the nearest bar was? 

                           “Thanks,” Johnny replied.

                            As soon as the elevator doors opened, He ran out the front door and down to the corner, He saw a bar down the street. He took off running again. He knew people were staring at him, wondering why a grown man in a three piece suit was running down the sidewalk. Well he didn’t care he had to keep his mother from taking that first drink. He rushed into the bar then came to a complete stop. He had never been in a bar before, the lights were low and he had to let his eyes adjust.  He looked around and he saw her sitting at a table with a drink in front of her. Was he too late? He hurried over to her. 

                              “Please forgive me, it was a shock. I have always figured you died because I didn’t think you would have left me. I thought you loved  me.”   

                              Amy looked up at him with tears in her eyes. “ I did love you, I left because I loved you. I knew they would take you to that orphanage and that Karen would take care of you and love you. You were better off without me, It was one of the hardest things I ever did, I chose my booze over my son. It was wrong but at the time it was the best I could do. 

                              “ You know Karen,” He asked.

                              “Yes at one time we were friends, but my drinking came between us. She tried to help me. She told me God would help me get sober but I didn't want to hear it. I met your father and he liked to party too so we married but it didn’t last, he left me when I was pregnant with you. I stayed sober then, I didn't want  to harm my baby. After you were born I got a job and I thought I could make a life for us but It wasn’t long before I was drinking again. I quit a few more times but I would always start again. I finally realized what I was doing to you so I left. I went by the orphanage, you were sitting on the steps with Karen. I knew you would be alright,” she explained.

                           As He looked at her he realized that it had hurt her too when she left. Alcohol was like that, it hurt everyone involved.

                           “I understand now. You were right, I was better off. I have a good life thanks to you. I am so happy we found each other. I am sorry I said you were fired. I have a lot of anger I need to deal with, but I know God will help me. You have your job. I want us to get to know each other. Please don’t take that first drink.” He pleaded.

                           She laughed, “ It’s ok. It's only a pepsi. I couldn't do it. I don't ever want to go back to that way of life. Instead of ordering a drink, I prayed and then I ordered a pepsi. 

                            “Thank God you prayed, “ He sighed. “ I was so afraid I caused you to stumble.”

                           “ No, I can only do that. No one can make me take a drink.”

                            “ I guess you're right. I am glad you had the strength to say no,”

                            “ God gave me strength”   

                             “And he bought you back into my life. I have been praying that he would.” 

                             “ Yes God is so good.”

                              They sat and talked about all that had happened to them over the years. She told him how she had remarried about eight years ago. 

                             She said, “ He got tired of my drinking and left. My drinking drove everyone I loved away. Thankfully I was in a car wreck a few years later, I met a nurse at the hospital who                                                                                                                                        helped me. I  joined AA and started to church and was baptized. I have been sober ever since. I went back to school and got my degree. I want to succeed at this job.”

                              “Well then you had better get back to work, before you get fired again,”  He  laughed. 

                                They walked to the door and started walking back to the office building.

                                “By the way Mother, how did you meet Karen.”

                                 “ I have known her since she was born. She is my baby sister. 

                                 “ What? My Aunt has taken care of me all these years. Why didn’t she tell me? He asked.

                                   “She doesn't know,”