This old man adopted this young woman 28 years ago. She was only 3 years old, and no one wanted her. The foster home even warned him that she would cause trouble, but he ignored that information and brought her home. Everything seemed fine, but now, 28 years later, she did something behind his back.
When Walter Landry was aged 49, he made the well-thought-out decision to adopt a child. He secretly wanted a child for a while but only now realized it fully. At his age, he felt this was the best way to do so, and surprisingly, the adoption process went way faster than usual. The speedy process that led to the adoption would normally raise some red flags, but when Walter met the three-year-old girl that he was set to adopt, nothing seemed to be wrong with her. But he would soon discover the truth about this little girl, and it’s not what you might expect.
The moment he stepped into the foster home, the manager greeted him. She was a lovely woman who guided him through the process, but before she showed him the children, she did have some questions for Walter. Most importantly, she asked why he wanted to adopt as a single man who was a little bit older. Walter had an explanation for his choice.
Later in life, he was alone because his wife unfortunately passed away a few years back. She never wanted children, and being within her loving embrace, he never felt the need for a child himself. But when she was gone, it left a lonely hole in his heart.
He now realized that he had been suppressing the desire to have children for all those years. His wife’s love was enough, but now she was gone, and he knew he wanted a child. “I don’t want to be with another woman, so the best option for me seems to be adoption,” Walter said. The foster home manager nodded in understanding of his situation, and she agreed that for him, adoption would be the best way forward. However, she warned him that the process could take up to 4 years through regular channels, and since he was already older, that might not be desirable.
But luckily for Walter, there was an alternative option. The manager looked at him, thoroughly analyzing him and scanning the documents he had brought with him. “I might have a child that could be placed in your care much faster, within 6 months, in fact,” the manager said. Walter looked at the woman questionably. “Why so fast? What’s wrong with her?” Walter asked immediately after this bizarre turn of events. The foster home manager said that the three-year-old girl had been brought back four times already due to erratic behavior on her part. “She needs a steady home, and I have a good feeling about you.”
The manager took Walter to the common area where the three-year-old girl was playing alone. She was a bit standoffish at first, but Walter’s calm approach made the introduction very pleasant. The two hit it off quickly, and the rest was history. He adopted the girl called Emma, and the six-month trial could begin. Those six months flew by without many hiccups. Walter did notice some erratic behavior, but that was only when she was bored.
After 6 months, Emma moved in with him permanently, and only one year later, the reason for Emma’s erratic behavior came to light. Tests showed that Emma was hyper-intelligent. The lack of intellectual stimulus she got from her former family caused her to get bored quickly, and as a result, she acted out. It caused unwanted behavior, and every time Emma found herself back in the foster system, Walter felt sad for her and did everything he could to stimulate her active mind.
When Emma turned 4 years old, her proud father did even more. Ever since he learned about her potential, he had been searching for the best ways to develop her mind. So when she turned 4 years old, Walter enlisted her in a particular school for gifted children, and that decision changed everything.
After her enrollment in the school system, her behavior changed completely. She was already perfect to Walter, but now her erratic outbursts were gone. She did terrific in classes and, after a couple of years, even skipped grades. She was brilliant, and colleges seemed to think so too because after high school, she got accepted into every school she applied for.
Eventually, she chose Harvard, where she studied medicine at the highest level. Walter was so proud. He adopted her as a misunderstood 3-year-old, and now, 28 years later, she was about to finish her postgraduate residency at the hospital to become a surgeon.
But even though Walter remained proud throughout, that happy feeling was unfortunately shrouded by misfortune. A few years before Emma was set to finish her studies, Walter fell ill, and this wasn’t your run-of-the-mill common cold. He was diagnosed with an uncommon, life-threatening illness that was untreatable.
The discovery shrouded every form of happiness. Emma tried to balance her schoolwork with the care that her father needed, but it proved too much for the young woman to keep up with. So that’s when Walter stepped in. He told Emma that her main focus should be on school. He would figure out a way to manage his illness.
With every passing month, the old man felt his health getting worse. He was struggling, but the pride he felt for his daughter Emma kept him going. It was his primary source of motivation. He even said that when he focused on her, it was like the sickness wasn’t even there. But then everything changed when Walter received a call from the hospital. It wasn’t his own doctor who called to bring him some test results. It was his daughter’s intern counselor at the hospital who rang the old man, and the news that this man brought deeply disturbed Walter.
“This can’t be…” Once Walter realized who was calling, he got nervous. Emma’s school never contacted him, so what could this be about? The counselor’s reason for calling was a dire one. He pleaded with Walter to let his daughter come back to school. “She’s brilliant, but she still needs to finish her last 3 years here.” But that didn’t seem right. His daughter was almost finished with her studies, so that’s what he conveyed to the man calling. “My daughter is set to graduate within the month, sir,” Walter explained, but that notion got shut down instantly. The counselor said that Emma had not attended school in over 3 years.
After hearing this shocking news, Walter felt the anger build up inside his body. He couldn’t believe that his daughter would keep this from him. He paid tons of money every month to pay for her expensive education. Where did it all go? Was she fooling him and wasting her talent? After he hung up with Emma’s counselor, he decided to call his daughter.
He confronted her and got a less-than-pleasant answer in return. She said that she attended every class and was doing well in her internship. “There must have been a mistake,” she replied, but Walter could hear the lie in his daughter’s voice. He knew his daughter, and Emma had her false answer ready, and she wouldn’t be honest with him about this. Walter felt frustration building, so he knew he had to find out the truth, and that truth started with their bank. They had a joint account there, so Walter decided to follow the money.
Walter called the bank and asked them where his daughter spent her given money every month. The bank was reluctant to provide this information at first, but after some convincing, he persuaded them to comply. “Your daughter wires that exact amount to the same address every month,” the bank clerk said. But there was something else.
The bank employee also saw that Walter’s daughter had bought large quantities of medical drugs over the last months. Thousands of dollars worth of morphine, hydrocodone, and antibiotics were ordered, and all of them were billed to the same address. Walter’s worries increased with every bit of news. “What is this? Is Emma dealing drugs? Is she stealing money from me?” It felt like his daughter had gone totally off the rails. Walter had to put a stop to it, and thanks to the bank, he had a bank account linked to a physical address.
After finding out the address, Walter got in his car and drove to the mysterious place. It was a remote location in the forest, but hidden between the greenery, he saw a modern structure. The gate was open, so he drove through. Walter parked his car on the side and walked around the building. The back of the building was mostly glass, and peeking through it, he saw his daughter standing inside. Walter opened the door, confronting his daughter while stepping through.
The sight of Walter shocked Emma, who ran toward her father in panic. “Dad, don’t be mad. I promised to explain,” she said in a hurry. Emma figured that her father found out about her missing school, so she confirmed that she hadn’t been there in over 3 years. She said the worries about Walter’s health became too much for her. “I couldn’t just sit idly by and finish my medical degree while you were getting sicker every day,” she said. So instead of finishing her schoolwork, she decided to do something else with her talents. She started building something very special on her own, something that was tailor-made for her father.
Emma pointed to the other people in the room and said that all of them were there for him. Walter said that he didn’t understand what was going on, but that’s when Emma revealed the incredible truth. She said that she used her tuition combined with crowdfunding to build this place just for him.
This isn’t just any random building; this place will change your life forever,” Emma stated. Walter didn’t understand. What was this place? It looked plain and concrete on the outside but appeared to be some sort of medical facility on the inside. He also stated to Emma that he knew about the large quantities of drugs she
bought and said that all of this was worrying him deeply. The initial fright of her father barging in had diminished with Emma. She smiled politely and asked her father to follow her deeper into the facility.
She first showed him a room to the left. It wasn’t an ample space, but it was filled to the brim with all the drugs he worried so much about. She said that they needed the drugs to make their cocktail. “Cocktail?” Walter asked in confusion. His remark made her smile broaden evermore. Walter turned around and saw that the other people followed them through the building.
Emma said that these people were her co-students at school. “We’ve all quit together,” Emma said. Emma continued, “We’ve stopped going to school and have secretly been working on the way to stabilize and maybe even destroy your illness,” she stated.
Emma said that she was sure that she could find a way to reverse the effects of her father’s disease, but the hospital didn’t want to help in the research. That’s when Emma decided she didn’t want or need their education anymore. This was what she wanted to do with her future, and she would do everything in her power to make it a reality. Somehow she even found classmates who believed in her mission enough to quit their studies as well and help her.
“Since then, we’ve worked day and night towards a solution, and about a month ago, we finally did it. We’ve synthesized a medicinal cocktail combined with a new form of medical therapy that can finally fight your disease,” Emma said, smiling. “And this building will be a part of that salvation,” Emma stated. Walter looked down the hall and saw that the building wasn’t fully decorated like a hospital, which had a very straightforward reason according to his daughter. Emma showed him around the facility, where she pointed out that most rooms had to be decorated homely because this place will also become your new home.
Walter couldn’t believe it. She had created this entire facility and turned it into a home for him. He knew his daughter to be caring, but this was beyond belief. Emma added that since the final successful trials, many pristine doctors had already spoken out, interested in her work. Some even wanted to come by. After Emma finished explaining about the facility and the successful trials, Walter asked the most important question of all:
Do you think that the procedure is ready to help me at this point?” Emma smiled and nodded in agreement. She said that everything was set. “We’re ready for you now if you want.” A tear appeared on Walter’s face as he sat down in the chair that would change his life forever. He admitted that he was pretty nervous. Walter came in to confront his daughter about skipping school, and now she was healing him from a seemingly incurable ailment. It was extraordinary.
Emma administered the treatment, and after that, Walter spent the next few weeks in the facility he could also call home. It was efficient, yes, but Walter also admitted that Emma made it very comfortable. And when the two weeks were up, the results were incredible. Walter felt miles better, and the results showed why. After the short stay in the facility and minimal treatment, the test results showed that he was already fighting the illness in his body successfully.
He was at the start of regression, and that was an outlook Walter never thought to be possible. He had hope again, which resulted in a remarkable decision on his part. He decided to do something behind his daughter’s back this time. Without her knowing it, he sold his old house, which was getting too big for him anyway, and he donated the money from the sale to Emma’s research.
Emma was shocked and thanked her father from the bottom of her heart. After the donation, Walter moved to the facility permanently, using the extended house Emma built for him. But because of her father’s gift, something just as incredible happened. Emma was able to build out the treatment part of the facility where she and her colleagues could now help even more people.
And that news spread like wildfire. Within the year, treatment on two dozen people was started with the same incredible results. The government even took note and gave Emma the greatest compliment she could have received. They officially recognized her institution as a part of the medical system, and that was a huge deal. It was a huge accomplishment because it proved she was doing the right thing, the thing that her school tried to talk her out of doing. She proved them wrong, and she was paving the way towards a more educated and brighter future.
But there was one thing even more important than that, and that important thing was now walking outside in the forest. Walter could breathe in the fresh air again and feel the wind on his skin as he enjoyed life to the fullest. The area surrounding the facility was beautiful, and it truly felt like home.
He was where he belonged, by his daughter’s side. His disease was now officially gone, and he felt years younger. “It’s like a weight has been lifted off your body,” Walter said, and it was all thanks to his little girl, the girl no one wanted at the age of three because no one understood her. Look where she is now. She’s incredible.
