A young boy takes care of a little girl whose father works in the military and receives a heartwarming surprise for his kind act.
Sven, 11, lived with his single mother Linda and was a very responsible child for his age. His father had died fighting for the country when he was five years old; hence he was compelled to become a man of the house at a young age.
Sven admired his father and wanted to be as brave as he was. He respected his heroism and bravery as a soldier and would do anything to make him proud while he was alive. But Sven’s father was a strict man who never appreciated him. He longed to hear words of praise from him, but that day never came.
After the death of his father, Sven was heartbroken. He missed his father, and more importantly, he would never get the chance to make his father proud. But life gave him that chance in the most unexpected way…
One day Sven was playing in his neighborhood when he saw a little girl sadly sitting on the curb. He recognized her immediately as she lived a few houses away from him. Sven watched her and wondered why she seemed so sad. He decided to speak to her.
“Hi! i saw you here What’s up? You look angry”, he said and sat down next to her, “By the way, I’m Sven.”
“What’s up? Why are you all here? Oh no, is Grandma Molly alright?”
“I’m Melanie,” said the girl, “my mommy went to the angel and I miss her. I’m just sad.”
“My father too. I miss him too,” said Sven, “would you like to play with me?” he offered. “I do not have many friends.”
“Can I?”, she smiled and Sven nodded.
On this day the friendship between Sven and Melanie began. They played together in the evenings and bonded over their shared experiences of losing a parent. Sven’s friends sometimes teased him when they saw him with the 5-year-old, but Sven didn’t care.
One day, before Sven went to school, he saw Melanie crying in front of her house. There was no one around her and Sven was worried so he ran to her.
“Melanie? What are you doing here alone?” he asked worried.
“I miss my daddy!” she replied, sniffling. “He left me! I told him not to go! But he left me!”
“It’s okay, Melanie. He will come home soon. Listen, my dad was a soldier too, and your job is pretty cool. You work hard for our country. Aren’t you proud of your father?”
“But… there is no one home to take me to school. Grandma Molly is sick. I just want dad to be home.”
“I can help you,” Sven offered, “just a minute….”
Sven stormed into Melanie’s house and asked Grandma Molly for Melanie’s school address. Using Google Maps for directions, he managed to drop Melanie off safely at the school before heading to his.
“You don’t have to worry about coming to school alone because I’ll drop you off every day, okay?” he promised her.
From then on, Sven always took Melanie to school and her grandmother only had to pick her up. One day Sven got up late and was running late. He knew if he dropped Melanie off first he wouldn’t make it to class in time, but he decided to help her.
His teacher, Herr Werner, was angry with him when he came to class. “Next time you’re late, Sven, I’d like you to bring your mother!” he exclaimed.
Sven’s classmates laughed behind his back as they knew he was late dropping Melanie off at school. Despite this, Sven continued by helping Grandma Molly around the house and taking care of Melanie.
Although he was only 11 years old, Sven did everything he could to help Melanie with almost everything while her father was away. He knew how bad it felt not having his father with him, so he never held back when it came to taking care of little Melanie.
One day Sven offered to pick up Melanie from school because Grandma Molly was not feeling well. When Sven and Melanie got home from school, they found a big bunch of troops in front of the door.
“What’s up? Why are you all here? Oh no, is Gran Molly okay?” Sven asked worried. Soon after, Melanie’s father emerged from the crowd.
“Dad!” Melanie screamed and ran to him. “I missed you so much dad! This is Sven! He’s just like you, dad! Did you know that Sven helped grandma Molly when you were away?”
Melanie’s father David smiled. “Of course I know how helpful Sven was! After mum told me how a little boy helped her around the house in my absence, I had to do this… This is for you, Sven!!” he said, and the soldiers greeted him together, followed by David, who thanked him for taking care of his daughter.
“You are an incredible young man, Sven. I’m sure your father will be proud of you. Mama told me that he was also a soldier. You made him proud today,” he said.
At the mention of his father, Sven burst into tears.
“If you don’t mind,” he choked out through tears, “ka…can I hug you? For some reason I miss my dad very much today.”
“Of course, Sven. Come here…”
Sven hugged David tightly and cried his heart out. He had kept it all to himself and pretended to be very strong ever since his father died. But at the end of the day, he too was a child craving a father’s love and praise and care.
“I’ve never heard anything like that from my father,” he told David, “I never thought a soldier like him would be proud of me. But you are… thank you for that.”
“I should thank you Sven,” David replied, “trust me, you should be incredibly proud of yourself!”
That day David visited Sven at home and when he told Linda how proud he was of Sven, Linda’s eyes watered too. “Oh, I’m so proud of you, darling,” she said, hugging Sven.
From then on, David treated Sven like his son and soon the two families became close. It wasn’t long before Linda and David fell in love and decided to start a new life together.
Sven and Melanie were of course very happy to have two parents and to live under one roof. And Sven, just like his father and stepfather, grew up to be a brave military man.
What can we learn from this story?
There are many little heroes among us who need more appreciation. For an 11-year-old boy, Sven’s actions were nothing short of heroic. He took care of Melanie, helped Grandma Molly and took care of his mother whenever possible.
Praise your children for the little good deeds they do each day. Sven always craved his father’s praise, but he never got any. When David finally showered him with praise, it made Sven very happy to realize he was worth it.