Ever since my father’s passing, I’ve been incredibly overwhelmed with the idea to have his company running. He had built Riverside Developments from the ground up and I felt the urge to keep his legacy alive. Sadly, along the way, I neglected what was even more important, my own family.
As I was pouring myself coffee in the morning, my son, Jordan, greeted me. “Mom, I’m going to school.” I greeted him back and offered him a lift, but he refused.
Jordan was unusually quiet during the past couple of weeks, but I was so busy with my work that I haven’t had the time to talk to him and ask him if there was something that bothered him.
Then, one day, although aware I was invading his privacy, I decided to check on his room.
As I was going through his things, I spotted diapers in my son’s backpack.
“Why would Jordan need diapers?” I couldn’t stop asking myself. He was just 15, no one in the family had a baby, and I wasn’t aware of any of his friends having one either. So, instead of confronting him about it, I decided to follow him the following morning.
Jordan headed to school, but then he turned towards an unknown street. At the end of that tiny street was an old house. I expected Jordan to knock on that door, but instead, he took a key out of his pocket and opened the door himself.
My son had a key to someone else’s house. What was going on?
I was curious to learn the truth, so I rang the doorbell.
At that moment, Jordan appeared at the door, holding a baby in his arms.
“Jordan, honey, what is going on? Whose baby is this?” And then, behind him stood a man.
It was Simon, a man in his 60s that I fired some three months ago. He was asking for too many days off and I had to let him go.
What I wasn’t aware of, however, was that his daughter, Lisa, left her baby to him and disappeared from their lives.
Jordan turned out to be aware of Simon’s condition. He felt sorry for Simon and believed me firing him was the reason why he was left without any income.
Jordan was helping him with money. He was also babysitting baby Aaron whenever Simon needed to work there and then.
At that moment, tears started running down my face. How could I sack a man who was left to care for his baby grandson all by himself. I should have known better than that.
But Jordan was there to step in and “cover” for my mistake. I was proud of the young man I raised.
I offered Simon his position in my late father’s company again, and I even started helping him. From that moment on, I became more interested in my employees. I was no longer just a company owner, but also their support and friend.
The diapers in my son’s backpack led to a revelation that made me a better person.
