I started today with the most beautiful note about Of Grief, Garlic and Gratitude. The note was from someone that I admire and love, and greatly respect her opinion. Her warm words washed over me like the absolute best of hugs — you know the kind, the long, strong hug from someone you love that makes the world seem right.

One of the things she mentioned in that note was a memory about the two of us listening to the song “Clouds” by Zach Sobiech. Check it out here: CLOUDS

I asked her to listen to that song after our youngest had gone to a Hugh O’Brien Youth Leadership event, and heard it there. He’d gotten in the car to come home, and insisted we listen to the song in the parking lot. That’s how much it meant to him.

I fell in love with that song, and the next day at work, I asked that friend to listen to it with me. And she did. And she held my hand, cried with me a bit, and made me feel loved and supported.

This is an example to me of the idea that little things matter in life. That friend taking the 3-4 minutes to listen to the song meant so much then, and still does now. The friend sending a text to just say hi? That matters. The friend handing me a tiny giraffe eraser? That matters.

One of the things I’ve learned in the years since Sam’s death is that big things matter, but sometimes the smaller things matter even more. Sometimes we get so hung up on the big things, like I want to get that really special gift for someone, when just picking up the phone and calling to say hi would matter just as much.