Poor Son Cleans House While Divorced Mom Works Day & Night, Finds Safe They Never Knew About – Story of the Day

A son helps his busy mom by cleaning the house and one day finds a secret safe inside the pantry. He tries his birth date for the password, and it works. What he finds inside the safe leaves both him and his mother shocked.

12-year-old Simon was sitting on the couch in the living room, trying hard not to cry. His champion and superhero, his father, was finally leaving the house, and Simon could do nothing to stop it.

Simon's parents, Andy and Linda, had been legally separated after Linda found out Andy was cheating on her. Either way, life had never been blissful for the family. They'd been living paycheck-to-paycheck with no frills, no vacations, no family outings.

Now, following the divorce, Linda was left to care for Simon alone. She had started working two jobs to make ends meet.

For illustration purposes only. | Source: Pexels

One day, after Linda left for work, Simon decided to clean the house. He knew she would be tired by the end of the day, and he'd seen how overwhelmed she would be with work and coming home to chores. For Simon, it was the weekend anyway, and he was free, so he thought lending a helping hand to Linda would be a good idea.

"I know you wouldn't say it out loud, mom, but I know it isn't easy for you," Simon thought as he vacuumed the rooms, cleaned the dishes, mowed the lawn, and even finished the laundry.

When Linda returned home, she couldn't recognize the place. It was spick and span, everything was organized, and the laundry was done too!

"Good lord, honey! Did you do all of this?" she asked Simon, who was smiling broadly after having prepared a special dinner for her.

"All you need to do today is rest, mom, and I will make sure you are not burdened with housework again!" he replied as he pulled out a chair for her at the dining table. "Freshen up, and let's have dinner! I made your favorite pasta today!"

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Linda couldn't hold back her tears and hugged Simon tightly. "Oh, honey. I love you so much. My son is the best son in the world!"

"You are the best mother, too, mom!" Simon replied as they embraced each other. "Now hurry up. The pasta's getting cold!"

Linda and Simon had a wonderful dinner together and then spent the rest of the evening catching up on their days before Linda left for work again at night. Simon decided that he would prepare dinner every day before she arrived home because that way, she wouldn't have to bother herself with all of the housework. Moreover, he had already set his mind on cleaning the house every weekend to reduce Linda's burden further.

One day, Simon was cleaning the house when he decided to clean the pantry as well. He didn't remember the last time they even dusted it, so he grabbed the cleaning supplies and began brushing the shelves inside one by one.

For illustration purposes only. | Source: Pexels

After removing the boxes from one of the stands, Simon saw there was something behind one of them. He pushed the shelf and was shocked to find a hidden safe behind it. It was the same color as the wall, and anyone could have missed it, but it caught his eye.

"Woah, did mom and dad know about this?" Simon wondered as he tried various combinations to unlock it. He tried his parents' birthdates first, but they didn't work. He gave his birthdate a shot and the safe opened!

Shocked, Simon retrieved the contents of the safe, and he couldn't believe his eyes. Inside was a thick envelope with $30,000, documents that seemed like property papers, and a letter from his dad.

Simon quickly opened the letter to read it, and soon, he could feel hot tears rolling down his cheeks.

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Dear Linda,

Remember I was telling you about a safe in my letters? This is the one I was talking about. While I know things didn't quite work out between us, I still love you and Simon because a piece of paper can't just break the bonds that we've shared for so long.

I am sorry I couldn't be a great husband to you, but I have always tried my best. When we decided to go our separate ways, I felt torn. I was so ashamed of what I had done, but more than that, I was worried about your future with Simon. So I decided to leave you the property papers of our house as well as the house I inherited from my aunt here. I have also left my savings which should help you and Simon get by for some time.

Now that you have all the property to yourself, we don't need to argue about the division of our assets at the least. I hope you and Simon will live a happy life.

Please forgive me for the times I hurt you both.

– Andy

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Simon couldn't stop crying after reading his father's letter. He wasn't aware of what happened between his parents or what led to their divorce, but he understood his dad wasn't happy with it.

That night, when Linda returned home, Simon confronted her. "What letters did dad write to you, mom? Be honest with me!" he shouted then he told her about the letter and secret safe he'd found earlier that day.

Linda admitted that she had received letters from Andy, but she had never opened any of them and just dumped them in her closet.

"I thought he didn't care for us, but this…I didn't know about all this! I didn't even know a safe existed there! Andy must have installed it during the renovations last year!" she said as she read the letter Simon had found.

Linda went to her room and read all the letters Andy had previously sent her, and she couldn't stop crying. "Your dad loved us, Simon. Even though he cheated on me, he still loves us. He's living in his grandfather's old trailer..." she said and cried even harder.

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Sumon hugged her. "Mom, everyone deserves a second chance… He loves us. It would be unfair if we just let him go."

While Linda had never intended to contact Andy again in her life, her heart melted after reading his letters. She called him and invited him home for dinner to talk things out maturely, and Andy tearfully apologized to them.

"I am sorry," he said. "I was not thinking straight. Not that it can compensate for what I did, but I am sorry, and I mean it."

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With tears in his eyes, Andy hugged Simon. "You're right, son. A real man will always care for his family and give everything he has to make them happy, even if the family has turned their backs on them. I promise that I won't leave you and Linda again… I am sorry. Come here, Linda."

As Andy embraced his ex-wife and son again, his tears didn't stop. He resolved not to get swayed by temptations again because he didn't want to miss out on the precious family he was blessed with. He realized he was wrong to let them go, and he knew he would never do it again.

What can we learn from this story?

• If you leave your family for someone else, you may regret it one day. After Andy lost his family, he realized what he'd done was wrong. Thankfully, he had the opportunity to correct his mistakes and get over his regret.
• Everyone deserves a chance to rectify their mistakes. While what Andy did was wrong, he was ready to make amends for it, so he deserved a chance to prove himself and correct the wrong he'd done.

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If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a young boy who stood up for his single mom and visited her boss's office after she was terminated from her job for being late.

This piece is inspired by stories from the everyday lives of our readers 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.