Dear Tree,
Yesterday after Mass I was just leaving when I saw the littlest boy of a lady in our parish come back into the now-empty church and slide into a pew. His Mom has been out of town for almost a week, getting her two eldest settled in at college in another state. He is the cutest little kid, only five or six, and he was holding a little blanket - I doubted it was because he was cold, it was pretty hot outside.

I went over to him and said, I heard your Mom is coming back tomorrow. His eyes lit up and he smiled at me (both front teeth gone at the moment) and said, yeah!!!

We talked about how hard it is to miss someone, and how far away her return seemed (about 24 hrs) and that when he lay down to sleep, the hours would just zoom past. I asked him to give her a hug from me, for a safe journey home. He accepted the mission, I have a feeling he won't forget.

just thought you'd like to visit him with me. T will be back very soon, Tree. Hang in there