The Maxwell’s family is one of the most wealthy family in the city of Kingston-Ville. They lived the flamboyant life, much to the envy of some people and admiration of others in the little town.
The two male children of Mr and Mrs Maxwell grew into teens with little regards for the law, culture or respect for the people around them.
Josh and Jerry Maxwell are known all around town for hosting parties that usually run through the night every weekend.
They loved to drink and get high on hard drugs just as much as they loved to spend their father’s money carelessly.
As an international businessman who constantly travels from one region to another every month, Mr Maxwell hardly ever stays home long enough to instill any manner of discipline into his children.
His wife did what she could in his absence to raise the kids on her own, but the absence of a father figure in their lives and her unconditional love for her dear children restrained her from using hard tone on them.
The boys grew into adults and had just celebrated their 19th birthday on a Saturday evening in one of the clubs in town that they’re know to frequent.
While the party was still ongoing, Josh walked out of the lounge into the toilet as usual and got out a few minutes later with traces of white powdery substance around his nose.
He staggered his way to his brother who was having a good time with a beautiful young damsel on the dance floor.
Just when he had finally reached his brother, he grabbed his shoulder to get his attention and immediately slumped, and hit the floor with a loud thud.
Jerry looked at his unconscious brother in fear and quickly realised that he had overdosed. His friends and the dealers at the party stealthily crept out of the party for fear of being arrested or worse, jailed.
“Somebody call an ambulance!.” Jerry cried at the top of his voice as tears streamed down his face.
Five hours later, Jerry and his broken-hearted mother stood next to Josh’s corpse. The doctors tried everything possible to resuscitate him but he died before he was brought into the hospital.
Mr Maxwell was out of the country on another one of business trips when he got the call from his wife. She told him about the loss of their son and the circumstances surrounding his demise.
Devastated and speechless, he stood dejectedly and wondered what would have happened if he had taken the time to stay home more often to train and discipline his boys. The idea of giving his children a better life, free from the kind of poverty and pain that he was subjected to as a child growing up on the streets of his little town, made him work extra hard to provide his family with the best of everything that life has to offer.
He wept bitterly as he grabbed his bag and walked out of the business meeting that he had been pursuing for months in order to secure the billion dollars contract that would have made him wealthier than ever.
“Where are you going, Mr Maxwell?” Asked an executive member of the organization’s committee.
“I’ve just got a call that my son passed away. Perhaps, if I had been around to guide them and to assist my wife in their upbringing, maybe he’d still be alive. I’m going home Mr Richard, I’m going home.”
Author’s Note
“Train up a child in the way he should go: And when he is old, he will not depart from it.”
Proverbs 22:6 (KJV)
We all look forward to becoming parents someday. Some of us already have plans for our kids to enjoy the best that life has to offer, attend the best schools and have all their needs met without having to go through the kind of pain and hardship that we might have gone through while growing up.
This is a fictional story that captures one of such family mantras.
Mr Maxwell had a very tough life. As a kid who grew up in the slums of his town, he had no one to care for him and not even his parents were capable of providing his daily needs.
As a result, he moved from place to place in search of any kind of job that could put some food on his parent’s table. He didn’t have the privilege of growing under the tutorship of his parents but his desire to alleviate their sufferings served as his daily motivating factor.
He worked hard, put himself through school and eventually dropped out to become a full time businessman who not only succeeded but also surpassed his competitors in and around his town.
The scars of his past served as his constant reminder to always make sure that his own family lacks for nothing.
His business kept growing each yet making him the most successful international businessman, all at the expense of his children’s need for discipline and an authority figure in their lives.
He neglected to train his children and only focused on providing their needs.
Maxwell thought that his children would grow up to be responsible and hardworking just as he was. But the circumstances of his childhood were much different from that of his kids and as such, they veered in the wrong direction due to lack of proper parental upbringing.
While his wife did all she could as a mother to discipline the children, her love for her kids made her throw caution to the wind most of the time. Mr and Mrs Maxwell both spared the rod and lost a son as a result.
My definition of the rod is “a guiding principle that directs a child in the proper way of life.” It does not necessarily mean an actual stick or bundle of twigs used to punish, as Merriam Webster’s Dictionary defines it.