It was 1982. Teenager Stella Maris never caused any problems at home. She was responsible and helpful; aiding her mother with chores at home before she was even asked to. Her family did not have a lot of money, but they were content and considered themselves blessed by earning honest wages and having food on their table. They were extremely religious, and Stella loved God dearly and followed his commandments. She was only fourteen years old.
One afternoon, Stella shocked her parents by telling them that she was pregnant. They could not believe it. They were going to be shamed by the whole town. How could this be, if Stella was so good? Her father was ready to go beat up Faber, Stella's neighborhood friend, who happened to be almost eighteen. Stella swore that the baby was not Faber's. "Who else, then?" said her father. "How could you shame us like this?" Stella said that she could not tell them who, but that she was part of a pregnancy pact. "All these girls thinking they can take care of babies and shaming their families, bringing pain and suffering to everyone." Stella said: "Someone told me that I should be part of the pact, that it would be good, and when I was asked if I would do it, I said yes." Her mother, told her that she trusted her decision but that she had to be aware that saying yes to something like that would change her life in unimaginable ways. And it did.
Rumors about Faber and Stella started spreading around town. Faber was so mad because he was not the father and could not believe Stella would be part of something like that without telling him; after all, they were best friends. Stella stayed home from school for a month because she was scared of what would happen to her in the midst of the outrage. Faber heard painful rumors and was sad for her. He was such a good guy. He was very close to graduating high school and heading over to another state to register for college. He thought very hard and went to Stella's home to tell her he loved her and was willing to help take care of her and her baby; to become an adoptive father. She would have to move to college with him in a couple of months. Stella said yes.
A couple of months went by and it was time for Faber to leave to college. They packed the little belongings they had and took a greyhound bus. Their journey took a couple of days. It consisted of changing buses and walking for many hours in the scorching sun. Stella Maris was pretty far along in her pregnancy and it was very tiring for her to travel. Strangers looked at them with disgust when they walked on the streets, especially at night, for they judged them based on their appearance. Moms would move their daughters away from them and whisper things like: "How irresponsible. A girl that young should have gotten an abortion." Stella and Faber clearly looked like some underprivileged couple that were going to cause nothing but trouble.
In the midst of their journey, Stella started having strong contractions. They were not ready for the baby to be born. They didn't have enough money or insurance to go to an emergency room, so they looked for a hotel. As they tried to get a room in a hotel, the clerks refused. They were not going to allow a couple like that to stay in their luxurious hotel. They told them to go somewhere else. They kept looking and hotel after hotel refused them. A local farmer had witnessed them walking in the sun and told them that he had a spare room where they could rest for a couple of nights. They were very grateful. They rested in the spare room and Stella's water broke. She had to be courageous and have this baby. She went into labor in the middle of the night as Faber graciously helped her deliver what happened to be a healthy baby boy. They named him Rex.
Stella, Faber, and Rex became a family. Faber went to school and worked hard to provide for his family. Stella stayed home to take care of Rex during his early years. It was clear to his parents that Rex was not a regular boy. Ever since a young age, he was kind and thoughtful, very smart, and healthy. He loved to build wooden things with his dad, Faber. They were building a treehouse one day, and Rex fell to the ground. He had gashes all over his arm, and was bleeding profusely. He was taken to the emergency room, and the doctor was so surprised to see how calm the little boy was. He covered the wounds, and did some blood tests only to realize that the boy had some sort of genetic mutation that made his blood replace itself, causing him to heal very quickly. He was also very smart. His parents never told him that Faber was not his biological father, but for some reason, Rex always knew. He loved and respected Faber, but he still had a strong desire in his heart to get to know his real father.
As Rex grew up, people started noticing that he was very special. He was not afraid to speak his mind. He was kind and often kept bread and peanut butter in his locker to make sandwiches for any kid who had forgotten his lunch. Rex had a solid group of friends. They liked to go fishing and post the pictures of the different fish they found on Facebook. He was very inspirational and always gave his friends advice. They loved him so much, they decided to go to the same college when they were seniors. Whenever they were in college, his friends were shocked to see that Rex starting hanging out with drug dealers and having lunch with 'undesirable' girls. His friends didn't understand why such a good guy would spend his time around these people. Rex taught them that everyone deserved a chance. He would stand on benches and start telling stories that encouraged people to live a better life. Many were inspired but others started hating him. They did not want to be told what to do or how to live. Who was he to tell them? When Rex got a scholarship to go to medical school, a lot of the peers in his program were jealous. They started mocking him on Facebook and posting things such as "Why would they give a scholarship to such a poor and crazy preacher guy?" He was a volunteer shift in the hospital and the doctors didn't favor him because the patients would claim that it was he who had helped them heal instead of the medicine.
No matter what others thought, Rex kept doing good works. He posted stories on his blog which quickly became viral. Many disagreed with his views. One day, news hit saying that two students had passed away on campus the night before. When they were examined, it was determined that it was some sort of strong viral infection. The next day, five were dead. At the time, they did not know what this illness or what strain it was, so they decided to shut down the campus to avoid contagion. By the next day, 25 were sick and dying, and rumors started spreading that that it had reached neighboring towns. Doctors started researching to find a treatment or cure. As days passed, more people kept dying. Everybody became extremely scared. They tried to keep it off the news to prevent hysteria, but people heard about it by word of mouth. Finally, doctors discovered how to treat the mysterious illness. They started asking everyone with an O blood type to donate. They were looking for a specific particle in the plasma. When Rex heard this, he donated blood. As they experimented with it, the doctors were ecstatic! It was the exact match they were looking for! They ran to Rex, who was having pizza and beer with his group of friends. Their happy faces suddenly turned grim. They told him to call his parents. His parents flew to be with him as he heard the news: "We are going to need a lot of your blood to be able to cure these people." That's ok, said Rex! His mother Stella pointed out that he would recover very quickly, just like when he was a kid. The doctors looked somber. They said that they would need all of his blood to be able to make enough vaccines to prevent this illness from spreading throughout the world. Rex looked at his parents. Stella had tears in her eyes. She held her son's hand and nodded her head. Rex just said: "I wish my biological Father was here. Why did he abandon me?" He hugged his mother tightly, wiped her tears, and instructed his best friend, Juan, to take care of her. Juan agreed. They took rex into an OR room and as his friends and family watched him get connected to tubes, the doctor asked: Are you sure you want to give up your life to save them? It is going to hurt a lot. We are going to have to stick more than a hundred needles in you at the same time. The needles are as sharp as thorns. Just like his mother Stella did 30 years earlier, he said yes.
The doctors were able to make the vaccine and it prevented people from getting the mysterious disease. News spread around the world about this amazing young man and the sacrifice he had done for humanity. Many people went to his funeral. His friends were devastated, but some people were glad it was him who had died. After all, his medical scholarship would go to someone else now. The town decided to host a memorial for Rex every week at the local restaurant that he used to frequent. Many people stopped by the first couple of weeks, but after a while, they preferred to stay home and sleep or watch the football game, than go and remember the great sacrifice he made. Two years have passed and many remember him for his act of love, but many others still despise him and write nasty things on the internet about him, when all Rex did was love.
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If this story makes you sad, please know that it is in a sense, fictional. While it did not happen in our lifetime, it did happen around two thousand years ago. It started when a pregnant fourteen-year-old said yes to God and gave birth to our savior, Jesus Christ. May you remember his sacrifice and love Him this easter season, for all he did was love Rejoice and be glad, for his yes has saved you.
