When he was born, Jake's parents couldn't believe their eyes. They were dumbfounded at what a miracle life was, and how they had conceived such a seemingly angellic creature. How perfect their child was, and how wonderful life was treating them.
It was bliss. A blissful dream which they had dreamt since they met 8 years before. A blissful dream come true.
Jacob was a wonderful child, and a pleasure to be around.
At the age of 3, he was the smartest kid in the pre-K class, and the most well behaved. His mom and dad were so proud to be in his presence and gloated near the rest about how perfect Jake was in comparison to the stampede of brats in the class.
At the age of 6, Jake won the spelling bee at school, beating out kids twice his age (he won at age 7 through 12 as well).
Jake's father would sit him down on the couch, and watch NCAA basketball with him as they cheered on their favorite team, the Duke Blue Devils. Jake swore to his father that he'd make it to that college, and his father swore to him that if he made a scholarship to any university, he'd buy him a brand new car.
At age 13, Jake began basketball for his school, and he quickly became a starting guard. He was named captain of the team, and MVP of the district leading his school to the crown. Throughout the years, Jake's father and him talked about Jake making it to a college, hopefully Duke, and what kind of car he'd get if he succeeded.
(he did this at age 14-17 as well).
At age 18, Jake entered his final month of school, and had sent off his transcripts to three different colleges. Every one of them said they'd be thrilled to add Jacob to the list.
He chose Duke.
Thrilled, Jake's parents planned to throw a party for him in celebration.
On the night of the party, Jake sat down with his father and excitedly waited for his words.
But his father didn't say anything, he simply handed him a wrapped package.
Jake tore through the paper like a child on Christmas, and stared blankly at his gift for a while.
It was a Bible. Just a Bible. "How could he do this to me?!" he thought to himself.
In a rage, Jacob threw the Bible at the wall, cursed at his father, and stormed out of the room. Jake's parents heard from his friend Lenny that he had hopped on a plane and headed to North Carolina early, disgusted at his father's broken promise.
The years passed by, Jake graduated with honors from Duke, earning his masters in engineering. He married and had two children, never exposing any of this information to his parents.
One day, Jake received a letter in the mail from his old chum Lenny, who still lived in their old town. It brought grim news, though. Jake's mother had passed away the year before, and his father died just a week ago. He was instructed to come and take what he wanted of their belongings before the city auctioned off the house.
When he arrived in the following days, he went to his parent's bedroom, and searched for anything he might want.
In the closet, there was a box with miscellaneous things stored in it. He began to dig through it. Toward the bottom, something caught his eye.
It was the Bible his father had gifted to him 10 years earlier. Oddly, it seemed to have a place marked in the book of Proverbs. He cracked the spine and opened the Bible and his heart dropped.
Inside was a key, and a title for a once new Mustang, and a letter that read:
"Congratulations, college boy. Now take the wisdom of Proverbs, and this new Mustang, and enjoy life. You'll never know how proud of you we really are.
- Mom and Dad"