A one-handed boy’s heart goes out to his late friend’s sick grandma, and he makes broth for her despite the difficulty of doing so with one hand. The sick older lady returns his charity in the most heartwarming way.
“Do you promise me you’ll look after Gran Molly? She is tired, but she doesn’t say it, Edward,” George told his best friend in tears. He lived with his grandma after his parents abandoned him due to his leukemia diagnosis. Because Edward was his best friend, he asked Edward to watch after his grandma if his illness took him away from her.
“Don’t worry, Georgie! You’ll be OK! I know you’re very sick, but I remember being sick like this too. I was in a hospital bed like you, but I got well. You will get well, too,” Edward reassured George with the biggest smile on his face.
Edward and George were nine-year-old and best friends. They attended the same school, lived in the same area, and had smashed countless neighbors’ window panes together until George fainted and was rushed to the hospital.
Molly and Edward found that George had leukemia, and the doctors advised them to begin treatment as soon as possible. Molly spent all of her savings and earnings to see her grandson well, but George’s health deteriorated, and he died in his sleep one night.
Edward cried uncontrollably as he stood in front of George’s grave. “Georgie, I’ll look after Gran Molly! That is a promise! I’ll miss you…” he sobbed. Then he sat next to his pal, telling him everything that was bothering him.
Two years ago, Edward and his mother were involved in a terrible car crash, and unfortunately, she died before she could make it to the hospital. Edward, on the other hand, survived but lost a hand.
For a seven-year-old, that wasn’t easy. Then another tragedy struck the young boy’s life, and his father abandoned him. Edward was left with his widowed grandmother, who was raising him alone.
Because Edward was one-handed, everyone in his class teased him. None of the kids befriended him except George. He was the only friend Edward had, and he died too soon. That broke Edward on the inside.
“Granma, am I unlucky? Remember when daddy left me, he said I was unlucky. Everyone I loved died,” Edward sobbed to his grandma, Agnes, one evening.
Wiping his tears, the older woman hugged him close. “Oh, not all, honey! You’re the loveliest boy in this world! Why would you think that?”
“I bring bad luck, Granma. I do bad things to people, so God punished me and took away my hand. I used to love playing violin, but I can’t play it anymore.”
Love comes in different forms.
“No, honey, that’s not why God took your hand….” Only Agnes knew how difficult it was to keep her tears at bay when Edward said that.
“You see, God had two options,” she explained. “He could give you a beautiful life to live, but he would have to take something away from you, or he could take your life… God wanted you to live happily ever after, so he gave you life, but you know, God sends us troubles to make us stronger. My grandson is the strongest boy I know. He can do all that other kids his age can do. Having only one had makes you special.”
Edward spent the rest of the evening discussing his concerns with Agnes, and she answered his queries wisely. Edward had stopped crying by dinner time and went to bed calmly.
“I have to see Gran Molly tomorrow, Granma,” he said as she tucked him into bed. “She must be so lonely. Can I go to her house tomorrow?”
“Of course, you can, honey, now go to bed…Good night,” Agnes switched off his bedroom lights and left his room.
After school the next day, Edward went to Molly’s house and knocked on her door. The older woman was bent and always walked on her cane, so she took some time answering.
Once she appeared on the doorstep, Edward noticed Molly looked sick. “Gran Molly!” he cried. “Are you all right?”
“Oh, I have a slight fever and a cold, Edward. Come in, come in. Are your classes over?”
“Yes, Gran Molly,” Edward replied as he went inside, “but you look so….”
“Oh, you remind me of my Georgie!” she cut him off sweetly. “He also used to worry about me so much. Have a seat. I’ll get you some cookies and milk.”
As Edward sat in the living room, waiting for the cookies, he saw Molly had trouble moving around the house. She seemed very pale and weak, and he was worried about her.
When Edward got home that afternoon, he couldn’t get Molly’s pallid face out of his mind. He decided to make her the special soup his mother used to make for him whenever he fell sick. He didn’t bother Agnes because she was napping in the afternoon. He found his mother’s cookbook in her bedroom drawer and carefully followed the recipe.
Being one-handed, it wasn’t easy for little Edward to stir the soup properly, but he didn’t give up! Agnes had told him he was special because he could do everything with one hand!
But sadly, Edward was stuck halfway through the recipe after tasting it. “Um…less there’s salt. Does Gran Molly eat less salt? Granma eats less salt too, so maybe it’ll be OK….”
Finally, Edward’s soup had almost no salt, but it had the love he had put into it. He carefully packed it in a thermos flask with some crackers in a box and wrote a note for Agnes.
“I’m off to see Gran Molly. I’ll be back soon, Granma.”
When Molly answered the door the second time to Edward and learned he had made soup for her, her tears didn’t stop. “It’s not as yummy as my mom’s, but I tried my best…And well, there’s less salt because my grandma also eats less salt,” he said with a silly smile, and Molly was touched.
As she served some soup for herself and had the first spoonful of it, Edward eagerly awaited the feedback. The soup was somewhat overdone, but Molly didn’t stop until she finished it.
“It was the perfect soup for my cold, Edward,” she said with moist eyes. “I’ll be OK in minutes!” and Edward smiled broadly.
“Take care, Gran Molly. I’ll leave, bye – bye!”
When Edward went home, Agnes hugged him. “Oh, you’re OK…you should have woken me up, honey. You should not be playing with fire like that! You made soup, didn’t you?”
“I am your special boy, Granma!” he said happily. “I am OK.”
From then on, Edward got soup for Molly every day until she was well. Then one day, when Edward returned from school, Agnes gave him an envelope. “Someone sent you a surprise to thank you for your kindness,” she smiled.
Edward opened the envelope and found a check with several zeros in it. He didn’t even know how to read the amount, but he read the note with it and burst into tears.
“My dearest Edward,
Thank you for being an angel and bringing me the tastiest soup on the planet. I’m doing a lot better now. Your soup was helpful, so I thought, why not give you a little surprise in return? Georgie once told me that you loved playing the violin but had to give it up after the accident. This will help you. You can get a prosthesis – you won’t understand what it means, so ask your grandmother for help.
With love,
Gran Molly.”
“Gran Molly is helping you, Edward. She is happy you helped her. You can get your hand back! I couldn’t afford it, but God sent her to help us,” Agnes said, and Edward hugged her in tears.
“If Gran Molly is happy, it means I fulfilled my promise to George, Granma! I am so happy!”
After getting a prosthetic arm, Edward was able to play the violin again. With time, he grew more in love with music and decided to pursue a career in it. And when he fell short of funds for college, Molly stepped in to help him.
Today, Edward is a famous musician in his town, and it became possible because two boys and grandmothers assisted each other like family. Edward became Molly’s grandson after George left her and fulfilled his promise to his late friend.
What can we learn from this story?
- Love comes in different forms. Agnes and Molly raised their grandsons right, and the boys considered each other’s family like their own. It was their love for one another that made it possible.
- Soups with less salt and lots of love keep harmful diseases away. While Edward’s soup was technically saltless and overcooked, it helped Molly because he had mixed lots of love while making it.
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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.