Daughter's Letter | Teen Ink

Daughter's Letter

July 22, 2009
By SGP222 BRONZE, Macungie, Pennsylvania
SGP222 BRONZE, Macungie, Pennsylvania
3 articles 0 photos 1 comment

It is always an ordinary day especially at work. I am the chairman of the biggest franchise fast-food restaurants in the world. I started a hamburger & hotdog stand twenty years ago. And business somehow started to really boom from that. I decided to move on so I opened my first ever real fast food restaurant it became well known as ‘Burger & Dog.’ There is at least one of these in every city across the United States. Now it’s global not only in countries like China but there are even some in the Middle East & Africa.
Yes I became a success very fast & I’m proud to be a part of such a booming corporation. But a couple of days ago I had a life-changing event. That’s definitely something I will never forget. It is awkward but you need to know. So let’s begin.
The day started just like any other Monday. I got to work early in my office where all the big business goes down. I sat there looking over numbers of the recent profits to see how well we were doing. All was good. Then I took a stroll down to the mailroom to see what mail was there for me today.
I always get letters from many people commenting on how good the food is & what not. But once in a while there is always a critic out of everyone so I’m used to it. But this one letter I received had no return address. Which wasn’t normal? Mostly all letters that I receive have a return address for I can send them a ‘thank you’ card & a free meal at one of my restaurants.
This letter just had my name, the address, and that was it all in black ink. I opened the letter & unfolded the typed page. The document was rather long but it didn’t look like a comment or a complaint.

Dear Mr. Pierce,


You’ve became a real big success over the last twenty years. Congratulations for that. However, over those twenty years you’ve missed out a lot. You’ve missed out on the fact that you have a twenty year old daughter who is dying of cancer. Her 21st birthday is tomorrow & she is at the General Hospital. I should have told you twenty-one years ago but I was afraid of what you would say. You left in such a hurry when you’re business sky-rocketed. You became a billionaire over a couple year periods now you’re a multi-billionaire maniac. Like those other figureheads that became rich with a stupid idea.

I decided to tell you because I thought you had the right to know about your daughter. You’ve missed her whole life already it wouldn’t make a huge difference. But I would have a huge burden to bear if you didn’t know about her if something ever happened to her.

You’re daughter’s name is Faith. I thought I would name her that based off of you. You’re probably wondering now how is that based off of you? Well I always had faith in whatever you did? But when you started to gain this ego doing it I lost all interest of being around you. Till I gave birth to our daughter I gained the faith back again through her.

She is such a wonderful girl that she turned out to be. She has your ego. She wants to be a big success in writing books. She has even had many of her pieces published. Many of those pieces even won awards & she won a bunch of tuitions for college. She even got enrolled in Princeton University. You’re daughter is a big success just like you but the downfall to this letter is she now has come down with a rare form of cancer to her brain. Luckily we caught it early but I don’t know what the future has in store for her.

Sincerely,
Amber Skaski

I dropped the letter. I don’t even know what to say to that. I have a daughter!?!? I mean Amber & I did have a good relationship but oh yeah never mind. I went out to my secretary & I told her I had to leave early due to a family emergency. As I got to the General Hospital there was Amber.
“Hi, Amber Where is she?”
“She’s in a room. The doctors just came out to tell me she’s awake. Would you like to go & meet her? Don’t worry she does know about you. So there is nothing to worry about.”
“Okay.”
We both walked into our daughter’s room. She was wide awake. There was this beautiful girl before me in a bed. She had tubes sticking out of her in all sorts of places. I didn’t even know where to begin & what to say to her. I was about to cry. Here is this beautiful girl who is my own flesh & blood & not only have I missed her whole life but she is dying of a disease that is tough to cure. I am so ashamed of myself.
As I see Faith lying there the words can’t even come out of my mouth. Like there is something I would like to say but I just can’t come up with it. My daughter. My beautiful daughter a cancer victim. I feel a tear coming down my face as I wonder what I could do to help her. But I wouldn’t even know where to start to help her because I know nothing about being a doctor. Heck, I don’t even like going to the doctor’s.
“Faith, I have someone here I would like you to meet.”
“Who is he, mom?”
“This is Charles Pierce. He is your father.”
“This is my dad.”
“Yes it is sweetheart.”
“My father is the chairman of Burger & Dog. One of the wealthiest men in the world who owns a fast-food restaurant that is one of the largest global restaurants.”
“Yes he is dear. I am going to leave you two alone & talk.”
“Okay mom. I love you.”
“Love you too dear.”
“Well you’re my father.”
“I guess I am.”
“You seem unsure of yourself.”
“Well I am because I just got a letter from your mother today talking about you. Honestly if I would have known sooner that I had a daughter I would have been there for you. I feel so ashamed that I’ve missed most of your life.”
“I know you feel terrible. I feel terrible as well. My moms never really talked about you till last week when I asked about you. I really wanted to meet you. I just wish that this wasn’t the way we had to meet.”
“I wish we didn’t have to meet this way either. Trust me. I am going to be honest with you I don’t even know what to say to you. I’ve missed so much of your life I feel as if that coming here was just a big mistake. You lie there in that bed with one of the worst things any human can get & I’m standing here feeling like garbage that my own flesh & blood is right here in this dreaded place.”
“As I lie here I’ve come to realize that this was the path built for me when I was born. The next step in my life is not in my hands to discover. I hope the doctors here can cure me. But if somehow something happens to me that’s the way it was meant to be & I am proud to have such a wonderful life. I would have loved the fact if you were always in my life but now that you’re here my life has been completely written the way it was meant to be.”
“You’re mother was right you’re such a very bright girl. I am the happiest person in the world to have such a beautiful young women like you. With your permission I could help you recover faster. I have unlimited resources. And I’m willing to give it all up for you.”
“That’s very kind of you but I wouldn’t want you to do that for me.”
“I would be honored to do that for you. You’re my daughter & I’ve decided to give it all up. I can’t miss anymore of your life. I would be a fool to miss anymore of it.”
I took all my resources & most of my money to save Faith. In the end it took a year to go through it all. There was so much that needed to be done to save my daughter. Faith did survive the cancer & finished her college & moved onto becoming a successful author. As for Amber she decided to marry a middle-aged man who happens to be a stud & unfortunately no longer owns one of the biggest chains of fast-food restaurants. In the end I have the family that I needed to be the most successful man ever to walk the face of this planet. And I couldn’t be happier.


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This article has 1 comment.


on Jul. 25 2009 at 2:51 pm
Hope_Princess BRONZE, Hebron, New Hampshire
4 articles 4 photos 376 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Hope sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible."

Such a beautiful story. Keep writing!