{"id":5712,"date":"2025-01-01T12:40:19","date_gmt":"2025-01-01T12:40:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/momentsunfolded.com\/?p=5712"},"modified":"2025-01-01T12:40:21","modified_gmt":"2025-01-01T12:40:21","slug":"millionaire-discovers-his-daughter-and-four-grandkids-have-been-living-in-a-car-for-years-story-of-the-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/momentsunfolded.com\/archives\/5712","title":{"rendered":"Millionaire Discovers His Daughter and Four Grandkids Have Been Living in a Car for Years \u2014 Story of the Day\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n

A woman who was kicked out by her rich father at sixteen for taking up with a poor man ends up living on the streets with her four children after her husband died..\n

\n
Steve Walton was far from thrilled when his butler told him that Pastor Morris was waiting to see him. He was tired after a long flight from Singapore and in no mood for the man\u2019s lectures or pleas for support for the community.\n
He had the pastor shown in and waved an impatient hand at his greeting. \u201cGet on with it, man!\u201d he snapped. \u201cWhat is it that you want this time?\u201d\n
\n
\n
$\"For$ \n\n
For illustration purposes only. | Source: Unsplash\n\n
\u201cMr. Walton, I saw Susan,\u201d the pastor said quietly, and Steve\u2019s heart nearly stopped. His only daughter had left his house nearly fifteen years before, never to be seen again\u2026\n
\u201cSusan?\u201d Steve cried anxiously. \u201cWhere? When? How is she?\u201d\n
\u201cI was in Los Angeles, helping out a friend who has a mission among the homeless and that\u2019s where I saw her,\u201d the pastor said.\n
\n
\u201cShe was a volunteer? Did you tell her I\u2019ve been looking for her?\u201d asked Steve.\n
\u201cNo,\u201d Pastor Morris said gently. \u201cShe wasn\u2019t a volunteer, Mr. Walton. She\u2019s homeless. She and her children are living in a car.\u201d\n
Steve found himself so dizzy he had to sit down. \u201cHomeless? My Susan? Children?\u201d he gasped.\n
\u201cI\u2019m afraid so,\u201d the pastor said. \u201cAnd she wouldn\u2019t even listen to me when I told her to come home.\u201d\n
\n
\n
$\"For$ \n\n
For illustration purposes only. | Source: Unsplash\n\n
\u201cBut why?\u201d asked Steve angrily. \u201cShe\u2019s not with that loser anymore, is she?\u201d\n
\u201cHer husband passed away three years ago, Mr. Walton,\u201d the pastor explained. \u201cAnd she told me she wouldn\u2019t bring her children into a house where their father is despised.\u201d\n
\n
Steve Walton felt that old familiar wave of rage sweep through him. Fifteen years later, Susan was still defying him! He remembered the scene in his study, and Susan\u2019s steady eyes looking into his as he ranted.\n
\u201cPregnant at sixteen, and by the GARDNER!\u201d he\u2019d screamed. \u201cWell, we are going to have THAT taken care of, and HE\u2019S fired! You will never see that man again!\u201d\n
\u201cTHAT is my baby, daddy,\u201d Susan had said in a tremulous voice. \u201cAnd HE is the man I love. I\u2019m going to marry him.\u201d\n
\n
\n
$\"For$ \n\n
For illustration purposes only. | Source: Unsplash\n\n
\u201cYou marry that man and you\u2019re on your own, Susan, do you hear?\u201d Steve shouted furiously. \u201cNo more money, nothing! You marry him and you get out of my house!\u201d\n
\n
Susan had looked at him with tears in her eyes. \u201cI love you, daddy,\u201d she\u2019d said. Then she turned around and walked away. Even though Steve had set detectives to find her, no one had been able to trace her.\n
\u201cHow many children?\u201d he asked Pastor Morris.\n
\u201cFour,\u201d the pastor said. \u201cThree girls and a boy. Beautiful children.\u201d\n
Steve picked up his phone and spat out orders for his plane to be readied. \u201cPastor, would you come with me to Los Angeles, take me to my little girl?\u201d he asked quietly.\n
\n
\n
$\"For$ \n\n
For illustration purposes only. | Source: Unsplash\n\n
The pastor nodded, and within two hours, the two men were on board Steve\u2019s private jet winging their way south. There was a limo waiting for them, and the pastor directed them to a parking lot outside a large mall.\n
\n
At the furthest end of the lot, a pickup truck was parked, with a tent set up at the back. Pastor Morris had told Steve that when Susan\u2019s husband died in a work accident, the insurance company had refused to pay out and the bank foreclosed on the mortgage.\n
Susan had piled the children and their few belongings into the old pickup. She worked at the mall as a cleaner. She and the children used the mall\u2019s facilities and bought whatever was leftover at the restaurants at the end of the night.\n
Still, she had managed to keep the four children fed, clean, and in school. As the two men approached the truck, they heard cheerful voices and laughter. Then two children tumbled out of the back.\n
\n
\n
$\"For$ \n\n
For illustration purposes only. | Source: Unsplash\n\n
\n
The biggest girl, about fourteen, was laughing as she tickled a boy of about seven. The children stopped and gaped at Steve and Pastor Morris. \u201cMom!\u201d the girl yelled. \u201cThat old preacher friend of yours is here!\u201d\n
A well-remembered voice asked from inside the tent, \u201cPreacher Morris?\u201d Then Susan climbed out and Steve could see the shock in her face when she saw him standing next to the pastor.\n
\u201cDaddy?\u201d she asked, and her eyes filled with tears.\n
Steve was shocked. His daughter was barely thirty-one, but she looked much older. Her face was worn and lined with worry and suffering, her hands coarsened by hard work.\n
\u201cSusan,\u201d Steve cried. \u201cLook at you! Look at what HE did to my princess! I wanted so much for you! And you married that loser! What could he give you? Poverty?\u201d\n
\n
\n
$\"For$ \n\n
For illustration purposes only. | Source: Unsplash\n\n
\n
Susan shook her head and said, \u201cHe loved me, daddy, and he gave me 4 beautiful children. He died, and I had nowhere to go, but I\u2019ve done what I can for my children. I will always love the father of my children, daddy, just like I\u2019ve always loved you.\u201d\n
Steve found that he had tears running down his face. \u201cForgive me, Susan,\u201d he sobbed. \u201cPlease forgive me. Come home, I want you all to come home with me. Let me help you take care of the children!\u201d\n
\n
Steve found himself holding his weeping daughter and knew that everything was going to be alright. Susan introduced him to his three granddaughters, then she placed her hand on the boy\u2019s shoulder. \u201cAnd this,\u201d she smiled, \u201cis little Stevie!\u201d\n\n
\n
\u201cYou named him after me?\u201d Steve asked, astounded. \u201cAfter what I did?\u201d\n
\n
\n
$\"For$ \n\n\n
\n
\u201cI love you, daddy,\u201d she said softly. \u201cDon\u2019t you know that?\u201d\n
That afternoon, they all flew home to Texas. It was the beginning of a better life for all of them.\n
What can we learn from this story?\n
Love and accept your children unconditionally.\u00a0Steve was furious with Susan for loving a poor man and made the biggest mistake of his life by losing his daughter.\n
Don\u2019t judge people for their wealth or influence.\u00a0Steve hated his son-in-law because he was poor, but he was a loving husband to Susan and a dedicated dad.\n
Share this story with your friends. It might brighten their day and inspire them.\n
If you enjoyed this story, you might like\u00a0this one\u00a0about a 60-year-old man who is shocked when a perfect stranger walks up to him in a restaurant and calls him a cheater.\n
\n
This account is inspired by our reader\u2019s 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\u2019s life.\u00a0\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A woman who was kicked out by her rich father at sixteen for taking up with a poor man ends up living on the streets with her four children after her husband died.. Steve Walton was far from thrilled when his butler told him that Pastor Morris was waiting to see him. He was tired […]\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5713,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/momentsunfolded.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/momentsunfolded.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/momentsunfolded.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/momentsunfolded.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/momentsunfolded.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5712"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/momentsunfolded.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5712\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5714,"href":"https:\/\/momentsunfolded.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5712\/revisions\/5714"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/momentsunfolded.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/momentsunfolded.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/momentsunfolded.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/momentsunfolded.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}