A Father’s Hardship and the Telegram That Changed Everything
An overworked, weary business man contemplates his supposed failures until a birthday message from his daughter provides a new perspective on success.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
A business man had a very severe attack of the blues because business was not good. He thought of the years of hard work, the responsibility that streaked his hair with gray, and wondered, 'Has it paid?' He leaned his head on his hands, feeling he hadn't accumulated riches and was but a step from genteel poverty. Just then, he received a telegram: 'Dearest: Many happy returns of the day. I love you. Daughter.' A shaft of sunlight hit his heart. He remembered his daughter when she was a crowing baby, when she read to him when his eyes were tired, and how she refused suitors because they weren't as good as her father. He rose from his desk, a new man, laying away the telegram. His question was answered: It pays.
“It is a new man who rises from his desk and reverently lays away the telegram that gave him so much joy. He has fought, and he will continue to fight.”
This vignette serves as a poignant reminder of the 'grind' culture that has long dominated American life, where personal worth is often measured by commercial success, only to be challenged by the quiet, non-monetary value of family connection.
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