Rick is the only boy in a family of six girls, and the last to get married, so he is expecting his mother to give him a large cash gift, but he is bitterly disappointed.
Rick Gordon was getting married and except for his faincée, he was the only person in the world who thought he was ready for such a serious commitment. The problem was that Rick was irresponsible and spoiled, but he was also charming.
He was the seventh child — the only boy after his parents had already welcomed six girls, so Rick became everyone’s pet. When his mother and father tried to impose discipline, one of his sisters would go around their back and Rick would get his way.
His mother, who loved her son but had no illusions about him, knew that unless Rick grew up fast he was heading for a fall, and this wedding might be the pebble that would trip him up.
Rick’s fiancée, Sandy, was happily planning the whole wedding with her mother — something Rick’s mom, Carmen, had already done six times with her own daughters.
Rick started thinking about his sister’s weddings and he decided that he was going to strike a blow for gender equality. “Mom?” he asked casually, just two weeks before the wedding, “How much does a wedding dress cost these days?”
“Goodness,” said Carmen. “The last one was for Rita and that cost $8,300! But I know they can be a lot more…”
“Well then,” said Rick smiling. “I’ll take a check for $8,300!”
“What?” gasped Carmen. “What do you mean?”
“I’m getting married and I want what you’ve given my sisters,” Rick said. “I can use the $8,300, believe me!”
A mother will always forgive her children no matter what they do.
“But you said you were renting your tux! You even went with dad to pick it out!” said Carmen, astonished.
“I AM renting the tux, but I think you owe me that money,” Rick said coldly. “I’m your child too! I have rights!”
“RIGHTS?” Carmen was starting to get angry. “You want money because it’s your RIGHT?”
“YES!” cried Rick, who was starting to lose his temper. “I didn’t see you quibbling over the cost of SIX wedding receptions, so why be stingy over a measly $8,300 which you can well afford?”
“I may be able to afford it,” cried Carmen, “but you don’t deserve it!”
Rick turned deadly pale. “I knew it!” he gasped. “You never loved me the way you loved my sisters, and now you’re finally showing your true colors!”
“That’s not true Rick, I love you all equally,” Carmen said. “But the truth is that you’ve taken every advantage we’ve given you for granted! You gambled away your college fund, borrowed money from your sisters you will NEVER pay back…”
“So you won’t give me the money?” asked Rick, enraged. “Sandy’s parents are giving us an apartment and $200,000 as seed money. All I wanted from you was a little pocket cash…”
“$8,300 is not pocket cash, Rick,” Carmen said, horrified. “And I hope you don’t gamble with Sandy’s money or your marriage won’t last a year!”
“Don’t you ill-wish my marriage!” Rick howled. “I don’t even want you there! You’d better stay away!”
“Rick!” gasped Carmen. “You don’t mean that!”
“I mean it, mother!” Rick hissed. “Dad is welcome, but you are NOT!”
That night Carmen told her husband Bill the whole story and she ended up crying in his arms. Bill said, “Maybe we should just give him the money. I know not going to this wedding is breaking your heart.”
“No, Bill,” Carmen said firmly. “We gave way to Rick too many times when he was growing up. This is our last chance to stand firm, to make him see what he is doing with his life.”
So the wedding went ahead without Carmen — but Rick ended up feeling very alone because his father and his six sisters refused to go without his mother. There was a moment when Rick looked around and not one of those beloved faces was there and he wondered if he had made a mistake.
When he came back from his honeymoon in Tahiti, Rick confessed to his new wife that he missed his family. “Rick,” Sandy said, “I think you need to go over there and apologize.”
“Apologize!” Rick cried indignantly. “I was RIGHT! I deserved that money…”
“Oh dear,” murmured Sandy, who was turning out to be a lot more sensible than Rick had imagined. “I don’t agree! From what you told me, your mom and dad had to clean up a lot of messes for you — expensive messes.”
“Yes,” admitted Rick. “But…”
“Be honest with yourself, Rick,” said Sandy, who sounded more and more like Carmen by the minute, “Then pick up that phone and apologize to your mom and invite her to dinner on Saturday.”
Rick grumbled and sulked, but eventually, he picked up the phone and called his mom. “Mom?” he said when she picked up. “It’s Rick…Listen, I think maybe…You’re right… What I mean…”
“Are you trying to apologize, Rick?” asked Carmen sweetly. “Because if you are you need to try harder…”
“OK, mom,” said Rick humbly. “I’m sorry. I know you and dad have cleaned up a lot of messes for me, and I haven’t been the most responsible person in the world, but with Sandy’s help I want to be a better person.”
“Oh Rick,” Carmen said, with tears in her eyes. “I’m so glad! I love you my son, and of course, I forgive you. Mothers always do!”
A week later, Carmen, Bill, and Rick’s six sisters, their husbands, and children all went to Rick and Sandy’s home for dinner, and it ended up being the best wedding celebration ever.
What can we learn from this story?
Parents love their children all the same. Rick was sure Carmen loved his sister more but he was wrong, she was trying to help him be a better man.
A mother will always forgive her children no matter what they do. Carmen was hurt by Rick’s attitude but she forgave him because she loved him unconditionally.
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