When Lexie’s mom surprises her with an expensive and meaningful graduation present, she is truly over the moon. Like any teenager, she takes to social media to talk about her gift and how grateful she is. But soon, Lexie’s absent father tries to claim that he bought her the elaborate gift. Soon, his lie begins to unravel punlicly…
My father was a ghost long before I even understood what it meant. He walked out on us when I was five, and I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve heard from him since. No birthdays, no calls, and not a dime of child support.
Nice, right?
A smiling little girl | Source: Midjourney
But my mom? She’s been my everything. And it’s been the two of us against the world, and somehow, she has always made it work. And honestly, this woman has sacrificed so much to give me a shot at everything I’ve ever wanted to pursue. Out of all the things that I’ve wanted to try my hand at, music was my absolute love.
Music had always been my escape. Especially the piano. My mom had enrolled me in lessons when I was little, and from then on, I was just hooked. My dream was to compose my own music, but for me to do that I needed a professional-grade digital piano.
A little girl playing the piano | Source: Midjourney
The problem?
Those things are expensive. Like proper, expensive.
And while mom and I weren’t living in poverty, we weren’t exactly rolling in cash, either. Being a single mom and a nurse, my mother went out of her way to ensure that I could keep playing. Recently she had started working extra shifts wherever possible, cutting corners where she could, just so that I could keep playing.
More than that, even though she came home exhausted, she never complained about the long hours or the money. My mom simply believed in me.
A smiling nurse | Source: Midjourney
“Lexie,” she would say. “You’re just seventeen. And to have found something that you’re so passionate about at your age is amazing. Not to mention that you have real talent here, it’s not just a whim. You have a dream and you can get to it. I’ll do everything I can to help you achieve it.”
Fast forward to graduation.
A smiling teenage girl | Source: Midjourney
I wasn’t expecting anything other than a cake, which was our tradition at the end of every school year. I knew how hard my mom worked just to keep everything going, and there was no way I’d want anything else from her.
“I’m serious, Mom,” I said one night over dinner. “I don’t want anything for graduation. I promise you, I understand the situation and I’m more than grateful for your support.”
“Oh, darling,” she said, giving me a spoonful of mashed potatoes. “I’m your mother, it’s my job.”
A bowl of mashed potatoes | Source: Midjourney
“I know, but I want you to know that I don’t expect anything,” I said.
We went to my graduation ceremony, and my mother bawled her eyes out when it was my turn to walk the stage.
“My darling girl,” my mother said after the ceremony as she enveloped me in a tight hug. “I am so proud of you!”
A teenager in her graduation gown and flowers | Source: Midjourney
The real surprise came when I walked into our home that afternoon. There it was, my dream piano.
A high-end digital piano, complete with every feature that I needed to start composing. I couldn’t believe it. I actually cried.
It wasn’t about the piano itself, it was about how much my mother sacrificed for my dreams.
Naturally, I posted about it on social media because I was over the moon. I tagged my mom because she was the one who dreamed and inspired me. I wrote a long heartfelt caption about how she was truly the best mom in the world.
A keyboard with a pink bow | Source: Midjourney
My post got tons of likes and comments, and honestly, I was just happy to share this moment with my mother. She deserved all the credit.
“Mom, I don’t know what to say,” I told her that evening as we sat outside on the porch together.
“Baby girl, I told you. I’m your mother, this is my job,” she said.
A mother and daughter duo sitting on a porch | Source: Midjourney
Then, a few days later, something weird happened.
I got a text from one of my dad’s old friends. He was someone I hadn’t heard from in years. He congratulated me on graduating and then casually mentioned how generous my dad was for buying me such an amazing gift.
My stomach dropped immediately.
“What?” I muttered.
A teenager holding her phone | Source: Midjourney
At first, I thought that he must have been confused. But then I saw the post that made it all make sense.
My dad, the same man who hadn’t shown up for my graduation or acknowledged my existence in years, had re-posted my story on socials.
Onto his own page!
And of course, he captioned it like it was his moment. Like he had bought me the piano and had been the supportive dad all along.
A phone opened to social media | Source: Midjourney
So proud of little girl! I’ve always believed in your dreams. This is just the beginning!
I was shocked. The actual nerve of this man was insane.
I just stared at the screen in shock. This was a guy who hadn’t paid a cent in child support, who hadn’t called to check in. Even when I was twelve and I fell off a tree and had broken my arm? My mother had told him, but he didn’t bother to see me at the hospital or after.
“I just want him to sign my cast,” I remember telling my mother.
“I know, Lex,” my mother said, rubbing my arm. “But he doesn’t seem to care.”
A little girl with her arm in a cast | Source: Midjourney
So this? This was absurd.
“This man needs to pay child support,” I muttered.
But I didn’t know how to go about it. I didn’t want to embarrass him on socials because I couldn’t risk rocking the boat before those payments were settled.
Still, I was fuming inside, waiting for the day his lies would catch up to him.
A shocked girl | Source: Midjourney
Turns out, karma was already in motion.
About two weeks later, my mom and I went to a community event. It was one of those things where everyone in town shows up because it was a charity event to raise funds for the community theater.
At one point, we were chatting with a group of people, when a random guy came forward to talk to us. He started talking to my mom like they were old friends, and then he turned to me.
A crowd of people | Source: Midjourney
“Lexie!” he said excitedly. “I’m Ralph, I work with your dad! That’s how I recognized you, he’s been posting photos of you recently. He’s very proud. And that piano he got you for graduation? Wow! That was a real show of support, huh? You’re a lucky young lady.”
I felt my mom tense next to me. She didn’t even blink.
“Oh, you must be terribly mistaken, Ralph. My ex-husband hasn’t paid child support in years. He had nothing to do with the piano or any part of his daughter’s life, really.”
A smiling man | Source: Midjourney
“Yeah, we’re looking at outstanding child support for about what, Mom? Thirteen years now?” I said.
The man’s face went from smug to confused.
“I’m sorry… what?” he said.
My mom didn’t let up though.
“The piano was a gift from me. I’ve been working extra hours to make sure that my daughter has everything she needs for her music career. Her father didn’t contribute at all.”
A frowning woman | Source: Midjourney
Poor Ralph just stood there, speechless.
It turns out that this man wasn’t just my dad’s coworker. He was my dad’s boss.
My dad had been spinning this tale for months, talking about how he was this amazing, supportive father who did everything for his daughter.
Well, not anymore.
A smiling man sitting in his office | Source: Midjourney
The look on Ralph’s face told me everything that I needed to know: my father was done for. His lies had caught up with him.
Not long after, he was let go because Ralph said that he couldn’t trust him at all. He was also hit with years’ worth of payments he’d been dodging, and there was no escaping it.
The courts were involved now, and he had no choice but to pay up.
A close up of an angry man | Source: Midjourney
As for me?
I’ve been spending every spare minute on that piano, composing music that I know will make my mom proud. After all, she’s the one who’s always been there, the one who truly believed in me from day one. And soon, I’ll be going off to college to study music, too.
And my dad?
Well, he learned that pretending to be a parent is a lot harder than actually being one.
A teenager playing on a keyboard | Source: Midjourney
What would you have done?
If you enjoyed this story, here’s another one for you |
My Father Skipped My Graduation to Take His Stepson to the Zoo – I Taught Him a Good Lesson
When Michael’s father misses his graduation to take his stepson, Tommy, to the zoo, Michael wants to teach him a lesson. After years of being sidelined, Michael finally retaliates. He plans a graduation dinner with the intention to expose his father, but then, things take a turn…
As I watched my classmates hug their families on graduation day, the absence of my father, Henry, cast a long shadow on what should have been one of the happiest days of my life.
A graduation cap and degree | Source: Pexels
Ever since my parents’ divorce when I was ten, Dad had built a new life with Sandra and her young son, Tommy.
It was good—I wanted my father to be happy. He deserved it. Because as much as he and Mom tried, they just weren’t compatible anymore. I needed them to be apart so that they could co-exist for me.
A divorce agreement | Source: Pexels
But then, when Dad and Sandra got together, he entered a new chapter—one that seemed to include everyone but me.
Initially, things weren’t so bad, but as my father grew closer to Tommy, he began to play a bigger role in his life. He consistently missed the milestones that marked my childhood journey—my science fair victories, my soccer finals, even several birthdays.
A father carrying his son | Source: Pexels
Each absence was attributed to something involving Tommy—a school play, a baseball game, or just a day out—leaving me to celebrate or commiserate without him.
I met with my father a week before the graduation—we were having lunch at a diner, something that he still tried to keep going, even when his life got busy.
A tray of burger and fries | Source: Pexels
“I’ll be at your graduation, Michael,” my father said. “I’ll wear a suit and tie and be there, in the front row with your mom. This is a big moment in your life and I love you. Of course, I’ll be there.”
This work is inspired by real events and people, but it has been fictionalized for creative purposes. Names, characters, and details have been changed to protect privacy and enhance the narrative. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.
The author and publisher make no claims to the accuracy of events or the portrayal of characters and are not liable for any misinterpretation. This story is provided “as is,” and any opinions expressed are those of the characters and do not reflect the views of the author or publisher.
Inside Tom Selleck’s ‘retreat’ home, where he has been living a private life since 1988 with his family
Tom Selleck is probably one of Hollywood’s most beloved actors. He has taken on a number of roles throughout the years and been well-liked by many Americans.
The actor lives a full life, residing in his permanent home for the most part of it.
Continue reading to learn more about Tom Selleck.
Tom Selleck has lived the ranch lifestyle in California for almost thirty years. Living on a ranch, according to him and his spouse, keeps him relatively calm.
The actor, who was born in Detroit in January 1945, began his career in entertainment in the 1960s when he began to appear in small roles on television and in films. It wasn’t until Magnum, PI debuted that the actor actually became well-known and wealthy.
For eight years, Selleck played detective Thomas Magnum, located in Hawaii. For the role, he even received a Primetime Emmy for outstanding lead actor.
Subsequently, the actor starred in popular TV shows like The Closer and Friends. In addition, he stars in “Blue Bloods.” Alongside Donnie Wahlberg and Bridget Moynahan, he co-stars in the show. The show has 13 seasons under its belt and is incredibly popular with viewers.
Selleck has achieved a great deal of fame, yet his career could have achieved even greater success. On the other hand, the actor values balance in his life and gives equal weight to his personal and professional relationships. For this reason, the actor moved out of Magnum, PI in 1987.
The actor had no idea how much fame the series had brought him. Although he took pleasure in his profession, he wasn’t always happy with the attention he received. “I knew intellectually what it would mean in terms of being a public person, but there’s no way to understand it until you’ve lived it,” he once stated.
The actor claimed that he left Magnum, PI in search of a more fulfilling existence since he was “from it.” When he quit the show in 1987, he married Jillie Joan Mack, his second wife. He talked about how his second wife could “light up a room” and had a “effervescent quality.”
Mack was a former dancer turned actress from England. A year after their marriage, the couple purchased a ranch in Ventura, California. The ranch was originally owned by Dean Martin. There are reportedly more than 1,500 native trees on the property.
After ten years of filming Blue Bloods in New York, Selleck leaves the ranch, leaving his wife Mack in charge. Despite giving up her job, one of the couple’s acquaintances saw that she was still quite happy because she spent most of her time on the ranch with her animals, who gave her immense delight.
Selleck and Mack love the ranch. Before he bought the property, Selleck decided he wanted to make amends and get some privacy back. The actor hardly finished any work during the year, which worried people about his career. But he made it clear that the primary cause was that he was uninterested in the tasks that were being assigned to him.
As press reports said that the actor’s career was all but ended, the actor took advantage of the peace and quiet to reinvent himself. “I quit Magnum to have a family,” he declared. Although getting off the train took a while, this property has really aided in my efforts to maintain equilibrium.
Hannah, Mack and Selleck’s daughter, was born in 1988. The couple has been married for almost thirty years. They believed that raising their daughter on the ranch would be enjoyable as well.
To sustain his personal life, the actor prioritized his marriage. He admitted that spending some time away from Hollywood to focus on his family has improved his marriage.
Even while living in a laid-back manner at the ranch has enhanced his personal life, the couple finds it difficult to maintain. All of the maintenance on the property is done by Selleck alone, including plant pruning and road repairs.
This California drought hurt his avocado plants. In 2007, the actor acknowledged that selling avocados had proven to be quite profitable for him, but only a few years before, he had acknowledged that it was getting harder for him to make a living from his avocados.
Selleck is accused by the Calleguas Municipal Water District of stealing truckloads of water. It was said that he would use a large truck similar to a water tender to drive to the hydrant and deliver the water back to his house. There were twelve documented journeys in around two years. Because it was uncertain whether any more visits were made that were overlooked, it was also unclear how much water was taken.
Two cease-and-desist notices from the authorities in late 2013 are said to have been disregarded by the performers, who kept taking water.
The actor was made to pay $21,000 to cover the cost of the private investigation that was done against him in addition to additional money to cover the cost of damages. He was also prohibited from using the Calleguas Municipal Water District for personal purposes any longer.
The actor gave off the impression that he was content with his life and California ranches. We are ecstatic that the performer now has a space to “retreat” and be authentic.
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