All Comments on 'Forgiveness is a Choice'

Outstanding! This is one of the best stories I've read on this site. I plan to add it to my Favorites page.

5

Great story, thank you

This was a nicely written romance. Thanks!

The theme of this story is, "the only thing necessary for evil to triumph in the world is that good men do nothing." All the lawyers, priests and others who might have thwarted the evil cheaters talked about how wrong they were, but when the time came to turn words into action, they did nothing. Even the judge who admonished the plotters and the children didn't have the backbone to keep the recorder on and put his views on the legal record. It was only when David took real action, putting his own marriage and family at risk and choosing to cut his in-laws out of his life and the lives of his children at the cost of any future benefit from them that he forced his wife to finally face the reality of her role in her father's suffering.

Wow, great story. Thank you for sharing.

Great story with interesting as well as a few deplorable characters. I always scan the new story list for your stories!

Interesting, and well-done, overall. The shifting points of view are kind of awkward at times, character-wise I'm not sure I'd see Michael and Lilith caring about getting child support from Jacob versus wanting to cut off as much connection as possible, and Allie's about-face seems like it came a little too easily, but this was a nice take on the persistent trope of the wife who trades up and ghosts the first husband.

Great story

5stars

Wow! That was wonderful. Wonderful storytelling. Wonderful characters. Absolutely perfect outcome. Thank you. Thank you. 5*s.

Another great story, although this one could have been drawn out a bit more. Nevertheless keep writing, please!

Wow you have done it again, a lovely possible true life story 5 stars

Nope can't go there. he's nothing more than a doormat for an evil skank slut and two entitled brats. Should have slapped his bitch daughter and sent her packing. Just one more sissy wimp man in a literotica story.

Fantastic story

Thanks so much for sharing.

Once again, this author has provided a powerful emotional tale that is far from cookie-cutter. The villains were as evil as they could possibly be, but maybe there are really people like that in the world. The MC’s journey brings him peace and joy, without any need to exact revenge. Thanks for sharing your talents.

Erotic?

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Nice!

* IMO, religion in general, and especially the catholic church have been a treacherous bunch of murderous motherfuckers. And if you want to gild the lily about catholicism a little, watch the movie Spotlight. Any religion(and that's all of them) that can be bought by a person or group of people for any reason to further personal gain is a dangerous affiliation to claim. Just sayin'.

Enjoyed the story, but can’t understand why Jacob was made to pay child support when Michael had millions of $. And doesn’t support end with the remarriage of the spouse who has full custody?

The annulment part isn't too far from the truth, but something as blatant as what Lilith did would be a hard sell even as inconsistent/corrupt as the process is. I hope the characters represented here don't exist in the real world, but the longer I'm on this Earth the more I fear we are becoming like them.

DCC - Child support doesn't end upon remarriage, only alimony would.

4.7*

I found it uncomfortably believable. the Beatles sang, “Money Can’t Buy Me Love,” but the sad truth is it happens every day. Even to the church who have never been above trading sanctity for silver. Our religious convictions wilt in the face of power or wealth. (See D. trump)

Lilith must have a gold-plated pussy for Michael to donate a million dollars to the church the annulment.

It was interesting, fairly well-written and with few editing mistakes. I liked it.

It was also too black and white, Everyone is imperfect, saints and devils are figments of the imagination so I found a lot of the story unbelievable.

Great read, I saw it all coming but was still happy as it did.

The one thing that was jarring was when MC said "replacement" family. That should have been better expressed. Not replacement, nor substitute ...

Never read a story that belonged more in Loving Wives. Where is the romance?

Overall, well written with some grammatical gaffs. My only objection is the authors attempt to write Jacob as a saint. A divorced man turning down sex for a decade when it's being regularly offered is a bit far fetched. His respect for the catholic priest was completely nonsensical, the priest oversaw the greatest assaults on his happiness through moral corruption and last lain mass or not, its not reasonable to think your average guy would ever set foot in such a den of hypocrisy under any circumstance. David has plenty to worry about. Lillith probably said she loved Jacob until she saw the opportunity to upgrade. Jacob claims to love and appreciate Bobby, why does he not truly take his feelings about the reconciliation into account?

Nope, not forgivable

I'm not going to rate the story - not because of the annulment issues, but because of the time-frame.

The US Church switched from Latin to the vernacular in _1965_. I was there.

No voice-mail to leave messages about visitation on, although an MD would probably have an answering service. Even twelve / fourteen years later there was no 911 service or cellular telephone system.

Then-current laws drastically favored the father over the mother. In Indiana, at least, no-fault divorce didn't happen until 1973, and it wasn't common until the mid 1980s. Lillith's adultery would have lost her everything but supervised visitation. (I have a cousin who was a state appellate judge.)

You _could_ change the dates to more current ones, and cite the Kennedys, keeping the plot.

Excellent story, very well done. While some comments didn't care of the shifting view points, it did allow the reader to see the story from other perspectives. I personally experienced how the Catholic church will overlook prior marriages simply by receiving an overly generous 'offering'. Again., a great story, and thanks for sharing.

A bit crammed in five pages, a plot line that complex should be put on 15 to 20 pages to have time to elaborate and construct your characters, give them room to grow and time to reconnect. And a lead character with more blood in his veins not just lay down and die, let anyone give him the shaft.

Thanks for writing! A roller coaster of a read. Having one child "reform" and the other not greatly enhanced the story's believability. Well done!

So-so story. Being an atheist, not a fan of any story involving religion (they all suck). Also, I'd never forgive anyone for anything that offensive. Personally, I would've left the area and never want to see or hear from them again. But that's just me. 3*

I would have expected to find this in loving wives sub , not romance. For what it is i still gave it 5 stars.

DCC Child support ends at 18 or if parental rights are stripped.

5 stars, a sad but (mostly) happy ending tale that really didn't have a lot of fat or wasted words which I appreciate. Some stories are meandering but this one was direct. Was kinda expecting this to be a reconciliation story with the ex-wife but thankfully it was not, new love was found the the MC was the better for it. The only minor complaints I had was a lack of real consequences for the "cheating couple" and I wish that Peter had reconciled too but overall a great story. Maybe have a second chapter or a related story dealing with Peter and him finding his own way.

WOW, that was a sad story to follow, I am not sure if I could forgive such horrible treatment by a child. I guess I still at 77 yrs have a lot of growing up to do. Well done! Kudos

Here's a lot to unpack ... but here goes.

• Laphroaig didn't mention this outright, but I read between some lines, and therefore began surmising that the priest who took Michael's million dollar gift may have taken it not merely from greed, but because Michael may have had ... well ... "close personal friends," if you will. The kind of "friends" who would have done homework and due diligence, learned his family ties, and therefore threatened not him, but someone close to his heart. "Nice family your brother has ... be a shame if something were to *happen* to them, if you catch my meaning. Yeah, that's what I thought ... now you get your holy-Joe ass with the program and get that annulment fast tracked as in right now, or that pretty niece of yours might get in an *accident*, see?" The priest might have have been willing to suffer offenses done to himself, but would likewise have turned an eye to grievous offenses to perceive that he could save those he loved. I can't.confirm or deny any of this, but it's only my take on it.

• Bruce -- good on you, brother. I, however, would have taken a different take, in that I would have said, "Keep your noses clean, and I *might* not play this tape before the board. It's gonna depend on how you comport yourselves from now on, in all things and not just this." Leave that sword of Damocles hanging over their heads .. make it unmistakably clear that Bruce owns them and will until the end of time. One of two things will happen: either Michael and Lilith will become the most upright and law-abiding citizen their state has ever seen yet, or ever will see for the next two hundred years, or they'll crack under the strain, let Bruce play the tape, and take their chances in the court system.

• Peter -- as long as he has M & L's money and good graces, as long as the two of them keep their noses clean and and can keep him on the gravy train, he will see no need for his head to be pulled out of his ass (and as with Allie, it will take an outside force to do so). Life sometimes sucks that way, but such is life.

• Allie -- David was the kick in the pants she needed. As long as he's there to keep her accountable, to keep her on the straight path, she might yet turn out okay.

• The title, "Forgiveness Is A Choice," is true. Jacob didn't have to extend it, but it's far better to see that much of his family restored to him, over and above the family he now has with Anna. And yes, Jacob is going to keep that flicker alive for Peter ... he wouldn't be a father if he didn't. Again, only my opinion.

And that's my TED talk ... thank you for coming to it.

While many of my fellow commenters have taken issue (and not incorrectly so) with Michael's million dollar donation to the local Church, and the church's acceptance thereof, I wish to posit an additional explanation.

That is to say, although Laphroaig did not explicitly state such to be the case, I find myself unable to dismiss the possibility that Michael had, shall we say, "contacts" or "business associates" who went around to tell the priest, "Nice church ya got here ... be a real shame if somethin' was to *happen* to it, if you know what I mean." The sum of money would then be proffered, and the priest told, "There's a good lad ... now either you get that annulment fast-tracked, as in right damn *now*, or else this'll all be a pile of smoking rubble the day after tomorrow."

I can neither confirm nor deny that this was the intention laid out in the story, but it's my own addition of a layer to Michael's character or lack thereof.

And good on Bruce. Had I been Bruce, I might have taken a different tack. "If you leave David and Allie alone, I might or might *not* play this tape for the board, but if you fuck up, the deal's off. Either way, I own your sorry asses and will until I or you die "

Finally, the kids. Peter needs his head pulled out of his ass and soon, except that as long as Michael and Lilith keep financially decently off and with clean noses, I can't see him having any incentive to do so. As to Allie ... none of you are wrong in saying that she doesn't deserve forgiveness. She doesn't ... as indeed none of us do for grievous offenses. That's what makes it so wonderful, however , when Allie, or any of us, is granted it from those we wrong. With David close at hand to keep her mindful and accountable, she ought to do fairly well.

And that's be

Laphroaig53 is maturing as an author before our very eyes. He first posted not quite 10 weeks ago.

Those of us with a few decades or more of experience can testify to the veracity of his basic plot and characters for we have seen it in real life.

I like the fact that this story carries powerful life lessons and encourages moral thinking. The explanations about forgiveness were excellent. The only little divergence was Anna's question about what Allie had done to earn forgiveness. I am sure that the good priest would have explained it to Bobby, forgiveness is not earned, it is a free gift from a loving heart. Bobby did exactly that when he asked Allie to be his big sister.

I for one, and I bet there are many more, look forward to the author's next offering. He really has a gift!

The Hoary Cleric

P.S. Of Course it is a 5!

Sorry. But these are extremly shallow characters. Jacob, good. Lilith, bad. And so on. This is not romantic at all.

still legally michaels child... should of sorted that out would of made forgiveness easier for that 2*

Excellent

Great story - well done !