My Long Lost Father – A Nurse’s Tale of Forgiveness
Wanda Rodriguez, the nurse you see in print scrubs and pink scrub pants, is brimming with joy to finally have her father since he left in her infancy.
Her father, Victor Peraza, married her mother, Esther, at a young age. They had two daughters and separated ways. She and her older sister Gina were both raised by their mom with what she gets from the Postal Service in Bronx. Victor, on the other hand, moved to Queens, and worked in banking.
Wanda never saw his father again, until one day, a new patient, from Mount Sinai Hospital, was transferred to the Calvary Hospital where she works as nurse. That patient is going to take the only available bed in the hospice, in nurse’s Wanda’s unit. The patient’s name rang a bell. It was her father’s name!
Nervous and very anxious, Nurse Wanda entered his room for a welcome to the hospital, and couldn’t stop herself from asking if he had any children.
“I have Gina and Wanda, they’re grown now, Peraza recalled.
Lost in the moment and almost choking up she said, “I’m Wanda. I’m your daughter.”
Peraza couldn’t believe it. But when things sunk in his mind, he got emotional and begged her forgiveness for not being a good father. What happened 41 years ago did not matter at all as Wanda held her father’s hand, and embraced and kissed him. What matters is that she met her father, and finally be able to call someone dad.
Victor is sick of cancer, and his condition is terminal. But he couldn’t be happier when Wanda accepted him. He thought he’s going to die alone, but he and her daughter found each other now. And he has his three grandchildren as well, writing him cards crayoned with “I love you.”
It’s unusual at this time to find people with a forgiving heart, and Wanda is among the very few who has it. What did she get out of having such a forgiving heart? A father for her, and a grandfather for beloved her children. She was also able to give joy to her dear father, and happy days to a dying patient, a priceless thing that a nurse can give. Most importantly, she got a rest from rants. Whereas, a heart that holds grudge is carrying a heavy burden that can last till death. And one can get nothing out of it but pain.
