Every once in awhile, someone says something that brings us to tears. Not tears of sadness, though. I’m talking about tears shed in happiness as we feel understood in the love and caring that is being expressed. You know, that moment when just the right thing is said at just the right time and it hits just the right chord inside of you and then a flood of emotion wells up within you. Yesterday I had that exact thing happen to me in the form of a birthday card for my special angel Brendan.

It read…

“Brendan, I pray for you my child. I know of your suffering but I also know about your brave strength in the face of all this trouble. I love you, your mom and Declan. May God continue to Bless and be close to you”

And then there was a note just for me…

“Dear Tracy, much love and prayers for you. You are strong and wondrous in your caring for Brendan. I hope all is as good as can be…but I know you are constantly in need for your beautiful boy. And then Declan – I hope he is happy, enjoying Kilkenny and hurling. Love…xxoo”

Short, simple, yet sincerely stated and deeply felt. Is it the words said or is it the person who has delivered the words that makes them so meaningful? Or, is it the perception of the person receiving the message that makes it have such an impact? I would hazard to guess it is all of those things.

The card was from the Godfather of my angel Brendan. He’s also the Godfather to my other son, Declan. Oh, and he also happens to be a priest. It’s coming near 22 years now that I’ve known Harry and with that length of time, a friendship sees many words, many emotions, many trials of life, come and go.

These particular words came at just the right time and for that I am incredibly grateful.

When my son Brendan was just a baby, Harry said something to me that will be forever etched on my mind and in my soul. It has become an internal force sustaining me at the lowest points of this journey with Brendan. He said ~

“The saying that God never gives a person more than he or she can handle is not right. He does give us more than we can handle, but He will never give us more than He can handle.”

Wise words from an old friend.  I share them with you now in hopes that it may reach the right person at just the right time, for that is when words matter most.

May you get strength from it as I did.