Every Mother’s Day, Old Widower Visits Orphanage, Once He Sees a Girl with His Late Wife’s Pendant — Story of the Day

An old widower who visits orphanages every year on Mother's Day is taken aback when he meets a little girl wearing the same pendant as his late wife's. He decides to investigate how the pendant ended up with the little girl and discovers something shocking.

Henry Bradshaw was 82 and alone. His wife, Molly, had left him 10 years ago after succumbing to cancer, and their children, Clara and Anthony, were both married and living abroad.

Henry was a millionaire businessman, and he and Molly were very kind and generous. Every year on Mother's day, Molly visited the orphanages in the town and made generous donations for the children there.

Molly had her own children, but her heart always went out to those poor souls who were torn apart from their families at a young age. She often told Henry how much she despised seeing poor little kids growing up without love and without a home.

As a result, even after Molly died, Henry continued to visit the orphanages. Besides, now that he was mostly alone at home, he often felt miserable and isolated. Thus, spending time with the children brought some peace and comfort to his heart.

Molly and Henry visited orphanages every year on Mother's Day. | Source: Pexels

One year, on Mother's Day, Henry decided to visit an orphanage in Molly's hometown. He had bought plenty of books, dresses, chocolates, and toys for the kids, and the orphanage director was very thankful to Henry for being so thoughtful to the little children.

While touring the orphanage rooms with the director and presenting gifts to the little children, Henry noticed how pleased they appeared. The children's delighted expressions gave him comfort that Molly, who was watching him from heaven, would be overjoyed to see him continuing the good deed even when she wasn't there with him.

As Henry exited the rooms and made his way to the playground, he noticed a lonely young girl standing by the fence encircling the ground, staring outside. She was dressed in a pink floral frock, and her hair was braided in two pigtails.

"Hi there," Henry said softly as he approached her from behind. "My name is Henry. What's your name?"

The small girl turned around, looked at him with her large blue innocent eyes, and Henry froze stiff.

"Hello, my name is Nancy Evans," the girl replied softly.

Henry was frozen in shock as he faced Nancy. | Source: Pexels

Henry was speechless as he stared at the pendant the girl was wearing. It was the exact pendant that had belonged to Molly. She always wore it and proudly told him that it was a one-of-a-kind creation made by a particular jeweler. It was so dear to her that Henry buried it alongside her. How could this girl have an identical one?

"The pendant... How did you get that pedant, Nancy?" he asked her.

"My grandmother gave it to me," she said softly. "She told me this was very special to her and I should keep it safe. I miss Gran...."

Henry was shocked. The pendant was special to her grandmother too? He didn't understand what was going on, so after meeting Nancy that day, he asked the orphanage director about Nancy's case and learned something shocking.

The orphanage director revealed something shocking to Henry. | Source: Pexels

He learned that Nancy's parents died in a fire that had engulfed their house a few months ago, and her widowed grandma, Eleanor, took her in. However, because Eleanor could not care for Nancy financially, social services interfered and brought the child to the orphanage.

Henry felt terrible for Nancy and how much she'd been through. But at the same time, he was also intrigued by how Molly's pendant ended up with her. So he got Eleanor's address from the director and decided to pay her a visit.

When he arrived at the given address, he discovered a dark and dingy cottage there. He went up to the front door and knocked."Hello, is anyone home?" he asked. There was no reply.

"Does she no longer live here?" he wondered, staring at the cottage's deplorable state. He decided to knock again, and this time the front door creaked open, and a frail woman emerged from inside. She was leaning on her cane and looked feeble and sickly.

Eleanor lived in a dark and dingy cottage. | Source: Pexels

"Yes?" she asked in a shaky voice. "How can I help you?"

"Hello, my name is Henry Bradshaw," he said. "I, well... I was recently at an orphanage, and—"

"Henry?" She looked at him, puzzled. "Are you Molly's husband?"

Henry was shocked. "Do you know me?"

"Oh, of course, I do. My name is Eleanor. Molly told me so much about you! How can I ever forget you? Come on in. I'll make you some tea."

Henry didn't quite understand what was happening, but he followed her inside. He noticed the terrible conditions she was living in and understood why Nancy was taken to the orphanage.

"Can I please ask you something about Molly and well…Nancy?" he asked as he settled inside.

"How do you know Nancy?" Eleanor looked at him, stunned.

Eleanor was weak and sick. | Source: Unsplash

"I went to an orphanage a few hours ago, and there I met your granddaughter, Nancy. I noticed she was wearing a pendant, and I am pretty convinced it's Molly's...I just don't understand how Nancy and Molly had the same pendant?"

"Oh. You saw my granddaughter…Oh, God, just wait...I need to show you something."

Eleanor went to her bedroom and returned with a photo album. "It's all in here," she said, handing it over to Henry. "Molly and I were best friends since we were kids. We had made the identical pendants...I think we were around 12 when we made those...They had a unique design...That's right!

"But once she left here, she got busy with her life, and we didn't get to see each other very often. I recall her writing me a letter in which she expressed her intention to marry you. She was head over heels in love with you, and oh dear, she wrote so much about you! I gave the pendant to my little Nancy as it was one of the closest things to my heart, and I asked her to keep it safe."

Henry flipped through the photographs and saw a much younger Molly and Eleanor wearing the same pendant.

"I see. I'm so sorry," he apologized, embarrassed. "I was so preoccupied with the pendant when I met Nancy ... I was going insane thinking about how she had Molly's pendant."

"By the way," Eleanor continued, her eyes welling up. "How is Nancy doing at the orphanage? I don't get to see her since I'm always sick. Is she alright? Is she happy there?"

Eleanor was in tears when Henry told her about Nancy. | Source: Unsplash

"Well, Eleanor," Henry said, closing the photo album. "She misses you a lot, so I was thinking...would you and Nancy like to move in with me? Now that I know how much you meant to Molly, I know she would have done the same if she saw you in trouble. Please, I insist."

Later that day, Henry drove Eleanor to the orphanage, and Nancy was over the moon to see her. Eleanor cried as she hugged her, and watching their reunion, even Henry couldn't keep his tears at bay.

Later, Henry helped Eleanor regain Nancy's custody so that the little girl wasn't away from her grandmother anymore. The entire process took several months, but everything worked out in the end. Nancy and Eleanor moved in with Henry, and they became a family. But that wasn't the end of their story!

Henry and Eleanor eventually realized they were in love and decided to marry. When Henry's children found out about them, they were very supportive and relieved that their father was no longer alone.

Henry and Eleanor married in a modest ceremony attended by close relatives, and young Nancy now had Eleanor and a loving family by her side.

What can we learn from this story?

• When you do good, you get twice as much good back. Henry stepped in to aid Eleanor and Nancy while they were in distress, and in return, he was blessed with a new family.
• Spread love and kindness, and you'll never regret it. Despite having children, Molly was always worried about orphans and helped them. Her generosity helped in changing little Nancy's life for the better.

If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a woman who found her daughter's pendant on a cleaning woman's neck years after losing her in a house fire.

This account is inspired by our reader's story and written by a professional writer. Any resemblance to actual names or locations is purely coincidental. All images are for illustration purposes only. Share your story with us; maybe it will change someone's life. If you would like to share your story, please send it to info@amomama.com.