Child of Loveনমুনা

My Stepfather’s Unfaithfulness

When we arrived in New York, Valerio’s intention was to return to the Dominican Republic as soon as we managed to raise enough money to take back and invest in a business. Mamá, Papá, and I worked hard to achieve that goal, but things changed. It would become impossible to return to the innocence of life in Santo Domingo.

Things changed drastically when Valerio took me along with a “friend” of his to eat at a Kentucky Fried Chicken. The way he was talking with the girl in the front seat of the car with him seemed very strange to me. It suddenly dawned on me that she was his girlfriend. I felt confused, dirty, and I wanted to cry.

It turned out Valerio had always been a womanizer. Before meeting my mother, he had sired a son with a girl from Cibao. He had a total of four children with my mother. In New York, he had two more children. After Mamá left him, he went on to have three additional children. There are rumors that that he perhaps has fathered twenty other children that are scattered throughout the Dominican Republic.

When Mamá first found out about Papá’s lover, she was mad at me for not telling her. The truth is that I could not bear to see her suffer any more than she had already suffered. Tired of his deceptions, she finally got the courage to leave him. It was the best decision Mamá could have made.

Forgiveness is not easy when one has been hurt deeply. Over the years, however, I have learned how important it is and the freedom that it brings. My mother was my guiding light. She raised her children practically alone, taking on the role of both mother and father. She never gave up. She knew the sun would come out tomorrow; she modeled hope for the future. Today she is retired, with a good retirement plan and medical, dental, and life insurance, something she never would have had if she had stayed with Valerio.

God, I know You are grieved when people sin. You sympathize with us when we are hurt by those we trusted. Help me to forgive those who have sinned against me and those I love. In Your mercy, work in our lives to bring good out of our difficult circumstances.