Farmer's Son

Gilbert Mann lived with his father and two brothers on the farm he grew up on. One day he looked out into the sunset, and decided he wanted to see more of the world. But since his mother died, and his father was getting old, he was greatly needed around the farm. Deciding that he didn’t want to miss out on what the big city had to offer, he stole all of his father’s cash, and ran away in the middle of the night. When he got to the city, he found great pleasure in all that the nightlife had to offer. He indulged in all manner of worldly delights. He soon became involved in drug dealing, and soon after that, he began pimping for a group of prostitutes. The story goes that he enticed prostitutes to work for him that already worked for rival pimps. The rival pimps ganged together against the young Gilbert, and threatened to take his life. Desperate, Gilbert knew he had to leave the city. But he had only one place to go; back home. He was ashamed to call his father after he had deserted him and stole his money. However, he was a desperate man, and so he dialled the number. When the call connected, he found he was speaking to an answering machine. He left the following message, "Father, I know I have done you wrong, but I am in big trouble, and I need to come back home. I will understand if you do not want me back. So that I know, tie a handkerchief to the tree in the corner of the field that I might see from the train as I pass by. If I see the handkerchief, I will know that you want me back." And with that, Gilbert hastily boarded the train.

Gilbert sat alone on the train past stop after stop. Finally, the train had reached the home stretch. Gilbert looked earnestly out the window. As his father’s field came into view, Gilbert saw a sight that brought tears to his eyes. He saw that old familiar tree with not one but many hundreds of handkerchiefs tied to each and every branch of it, waving in the breeze. And there he saw his father running along side the train, frantically waving bunches of handkerchiefs in each hand. And Gilbert thought, "I have never known such love."