Yesterday was a really weird day. So weird, that I couldn’t write about it last night, as I needed to reflect on it.

What happened? Things that caused extreme emotions…

First, there was a work glitch that upset me. Not a big deal in the scheme of the universe, but it bothered me a lot.

Then, while I was trying to let that go, we picked up the mail. In the mail was this envelope:

And I admit, it almost drove me to my knees. I know, it sounds stupid if you haven’t lived it, but that piece of mail drove a spike of pain through me. It was a fundraiser for the Lincoln Library, and Sam used to take a client there, and I’m sure he signed up because he liked to sign up for every mailing list. But here we are, more than five years after his death, and he’s still getting mail. And it hurt more than I can express.

Then my phone buzzed with a Facebook message. It was from someone Sam loved so very much, someone we love. She sent a note about my book, and shared a story with us about a day she spent with Sam years ago. And it made us laugh. We laughed, and then we scrolled down, and there were two pictures included with the note. Both pictures are beautiful, but this one took our breath away — it is such a Sam picture, and we had never seen it before, and it just made our hearts sing.

It was as if Sam was popping in to say hello, and to remind us of how much love we all share, and that friend said that reading the book reminded her of how Sam should be remembered, for his relentless love.

After the ups and downs of emotion, I realized again that love is what matters, period.