You know those times in life when everything seems to be piling on, coming all at once, one thing after another?  We’re in the middle of one of those times.  A few curveballs thrown our way, some extra stressors, and more than a few tears shed.  Here we are, amidst the ups and downs of life, the ebbs and flows, the peaks and valleys.  Things will calm down and ‘normal’ will return.  But Wednesday was a particularly trying day….. until Sarah happened.

Have I told you about Sarah?  She’s my sister.  Well, not technically a sister; she’s actually a sister-like friend who has been beside me through all things life and love since we were twelve.  For ten years now, she’s lived in Washington, DC, and I in Burlington, Ontario.  Ten years being more than 700kms apart, and I can honestly say that our friendship hasn’t changed much.  We don’t see each other as often, but we’re in touch almost daily, and when we get together it seems we were never apart.

On Wednesday morning, I came home with my kids and found a package at our front door.  Addressed to my daughter, sent by Auntie Sarah, we raced inside and my toddler excitedly opened up her treasure.  And there, inside the box, was a fuzzy pink Build-A-Bear…. wearing glasses.  The note explained that Casey and her new bear can wear their new glasses together; the empathy of a stuffed animal.  For those keeping track, my 2-year-old daughter has just been diagnosed with amblyopia, and will require glasses and daily eye-patching to ‘teach’ her left eye to function.  But Sarah happened.  She’s a plane-ride away and she managed to feel my worry, to support my daughter, to help us out, to make me better.

How do I explain to her the power of her gesture?  How can I convey what that meant to me, what it meant for Casey?  The tenderness she shows my children warms my heart like only family can.  Sarah’s currently pregnant with her first baby, expecting her little boy to arrive in June.  It’s true what they say about a mother’s love, you know… how it’s a love like no other.  She will feel that in June.  And when she’s having a rough day and emotions are running high, I hope I’ll be able to return the favour.  Maybe then she’ll really understand how much it meant that Sarah happened.