A Go(o)d present

You might remember this horrendous shooting we had here in Omaha a while back, where a 19 year old killed eight people before he took his own life....
Well, I also mentioned that he had lived in my neighborhood.
He had been taken in by a foster family that wanted to give him a home because his own parents (divorced) were....well you be the judge,

I am not the kind of person that digs around in these kind of stories and I would have never known, but through a conversation with a neighbor I found out I actually know the foster "Mom".
She has three dogs and I had met her various times on dog walks.

I felt so bad for her and I wanted to say something next time I would see her, but with my new job, I hadn't seen her in weeks.

On Sunday, my birthday, I took Mr. Whiskers for a walk and I saw her with her dogs.
Mr. W ran up to the dogs as always and I "had" to walk up to her.
By the time I reached her, I just took her in my arms and told her that I have been thinking about her and that she has been in my prayers...

She had tears in her eyes and said that she is so grateful that for all the kindness that people have shown towards her.
She wanted to help that kid and feels so bad that she couldn't.

She thanked me several times and it was almost a magic moment.

That was my best birthday present.