Call Me if You Care

Connie is furious when her father's Christmas card shows up months late with a fifty-dollar check and no apology. Then her new cell phone starts ringing with messages meant for someone else - a woman named Cindy, desperately trying to find a man called William Crestone before she leaves town for good. Connie and Whit follow the trail from Jack Allen's house to an old Navy photograph to a veterans' hospital, where William is recovering from a stroke... and hiding a secret. Cindy is the daughter he hasn't seen in twenty years, not since prison tore their family apart. Racing to the train station with William's unsent letter, Connie learns that finding Cindy is one thing - convincing her to forgive is another. Cindy walks away, but her faith turns her around, and father and daughter begin again at last. Watching them, Connie picks up a pen and starts a letter of her own: "Dear Dad..."

Found on Along for the Ride Album 43 · 12 episodes

The run See every episode

0548 Sounds Like a Mystery When a priceless Statue of Liberty model vanishes from Whit's exhibit and suspicion falls on Nick, an experimental audio recording system at Whit's End may hold the clues to the real thief.

0549 Think on These Things When two boys discover a machine that can turn homework into thrilling adventures, their shortcuts inside it start reshaping who they are outside it.

0550 Fairy Tal-e-vision Kids' Radio imagines what television would look like in fairy-tale land, where nursery-rhyme characters' news flashes, courtroom dramas, and commercials reveal how one person's bad choices ripple out to everyone around them.

0551 Stars in Our Eyes With only days to invent a television commercial for Whit's End, the gang's wildly clashing visions collide - while Tamika's essay assignment sends her searching for what truly makes someone a hero.

0552 Sunday Morning Scramble Determined to finally arrive at church on time for their big Scripture recitation, the Washington family discovers that a laminated schedule is no match for gum-tangled hair, an uninvited neighbor in a bathrobe, and three secretly adjusted clocks.

0553 Potential Possibilities A boy tries to escape the gifted class he's convinced he doesn't belong in, while Aubrey and Tom Riley strike a bargain that forces each to face a fear of failing at what they do best.

0554 Call Me if You Care A late Christmas card and a stranger's misdirected phone messages pull Connie into reuniting a father and daughter separated for twenty years - forcing her to face her anger at her own dad.

0555 True Calling When two retired comedy magicians are asked to fill in at a school assembly, their crisis of confidence collides with a student's fears about chasing an impractical dream.

0556 And That's the Truth When Tamika vows to always tell the truth, she learns the hard way that honesty without kindness can hurt as much as a lie - while Jack discovers that avoiding hard truths carries its own cost.

0557 A Lamb's Tale A Christmas donation drive in Odyssey sets three intertwined stories of giving in motion, as a girl parts with her beloved stuffed lamb, a boy uncovers his uncle's hidden past, and a wounded soldier returns from war carrying a secret.

0558 A Glass Darkly Falsely blamed for a food fight, a young musician must choose between clearing his name and trusting God when detention threatens the audition of a lifetime.

0559 The Coolest Dog Marvin's dream of rock stardom with his two-person band hits a snag when his ego proves louder than his drums.

0560 The Present Long Ago When a classmate demands the school lab key and won't say why, an anxious boy cycles through imagined advisers and wild theories before finding a wiser way to face him.

Featured characters

Minor characters & crew 3 more roles

3 supporting roles

Cindy Bancroft Sara Buskirk William Crestone Jeff Doucette Voice Mail Actor Unknown

Made by

Chris Anthony Host Nathan Hoobler Writer · Director Rob Jorgensen Sound Designer · Producer Bob Hoose Producer Marshal Younger Producer Paul McCusker Executive Producer

The story

Read the full synopsis 3 min

Connie is deeply hurt when a Christmas card from her father arrives months late. Inside is a fifty-dollar check, but there is no real explanation for why he missed both Christmas and her birthday. To Connie, the money feels like a poor substitute for a father who should have remembered her. Whit gently warns her that she may not know the whole story, but Connie is too angry to believe her father could have a good reason.

Soon afterward, Connie begins receiving strange messages on her new cell phone. A woman named Cindy is trying to reach William Crestone and says she has come to Odyssey to see him. Connie realizes that Cindy has been given her number by mistake. Since the messages sound urgent, she and Whit decide to find William before Cindy gives up and leaves town.

Cindy's message directs them to 815 Harper Street, which turns out to be Jack and Joanne Allen's home. Jack explains that William once owned the house but moved away suddenly because of a medical problem. While looking through items connected with the former owner, they find an old photograph of William in a Navy uniform. That clue leads them to a veterans' long-term care facility, where William is recovering from a stroke.

William is startled to learn that Cindy has been trying to contact him. She is his daughter, and he has not seen her in twenty years. Cindy had come to his old house and left a note, but a gust of wind carried it into the bushes before Jack or Joanne could see it. By the time Connie and Whit locate Cindy's hotel, she has already left for the train station.

Unable to go after her himself, William entrusts Connie with a letter he wrote to Cindy but never sent. On the way to the station, Connie learns why father and daughter have been separated for so long. William had embezzled money and gone to prison for ten years when Cindy was only five. His wife later remarried and took Cindy away. William did not try to stop them because he believed his daughter deserved the stable, two-parent home he could not give her, yet he has never stopped loving or missing her.

Connie and Whit reach Cindy before her train departs. Cindy admits that she did not come to Odyssey seeking a reunion. She is expecting a baby, and a doctor feared the child might have inherited a serious illness. Cindy wanted William's family medical history, but a newer test has shown that the baby is healthy. With that urgent reason gone, she sees no need to meet the father whose choices wounded her family.

Connie gives her William's letter, but Cindy's old pain remains strong. She refuses to see him and heads toward her train. Connie cannot force her to forgive, and William cannot erase the years that have passed.

Later, however, Cindy enters William's room. She explains that she became a Christian five years ago. Because God has forgiven her, she now knows she must forgive her father, though rebuilding their relationship will take time. William begins by asking about the grandchild he never knew was coming, and father and daughter cautiously start catching up after twenty years apart.

Their reunion makes Connie reconsider the judgment she has made about her own father. She still does not understand why he has disappointed her, but she recognizes that anger has kept her from giving him a chance to explain. Back at Whit's End, she sits down and begins a letter: “Dear Dad...”