TRUE STUFF(Tom Williams) I just looked up to heaven with tear filled eyes and thanked God with every molecule of myself.

My older brother had a son many years ago. By no fault of his own he lost contact with that son for more than thirty years. I held memories of this kid as a toddler for most of my life because no matter how hard we searched we couldn't locate him. My family carried a great sadness during the absent time. It was as if a distant piece of our souls was floating around out there pulling at our hearts yet too far to reach. For me, this was a deep, silent sadness that couldn't be quenched by any amount of comfort from another source. I spent many hours searching through records over the years along with other family members without even the slightest clue as to where he might be. Our hearts never gave up on him but after a time we relented that we may never see him again. I used to pray for him and that God would bless his life wherever he may be. He was the great unspoken sadness in our lives.

One day a couple of year ago we found a lead and ran it down quickly. God blessed us that day because the lead proved to be accurate. I have a nephew. The toddler had grown to be a tall, strong, intelligent, good man of kindness and good heart. If I would have been given the choice of what kind of man he would be I would have chosen exactly him. As a bonus reward for the suffering through the longing years, he was married to a wonderful woman and they had made a beautiful daughter. Her family are good, kind people that know the value of laughter and life. It was as if the universe had collasped around us in blessing.

The universe has continued to bless us with them to this day. Life often can take us down twists and turns that we don't expect. After only meeting his new found son once or twice my brother had a heart attack and left us for the great comfort of Heaven. He had indeed been blessed by divine intervention. The great misery of his life on earth had been quenched by mercy just weeks prior to his death. We, in mortal life, were blessed with the renewal of his legacy. My nephew is dearly loved by all of us.

My brother and I were quite close and shared our feelings openly with each other in the trust that certain things would stay just between us. There was one thing that he wished for me to share in the rare wisdom that seems to manifest in us when we come near death, even when we don't realize our future fate. "Tom, if anything ever happens to me I want you to pick a special day and say something for me. Tell my son that the happiest day of my entire life is the day I hugged him again. I had forgotten what true, deep, heartfelt joy was until that day. Tell the entire world how proud I am of the man he became and that I'll love him through eternity. Tell him that I'm always there and will never let him go again. Tell him that if he feels me smiling proudly that it's real. I've asked God to let me visit often and I know he will. Tell him I love him always." I laughed at my brother for even considering that he might die at 57 years old and hung up the phone. He called back immediately and made me promise to say those things. I did promise and two days later my brother was gone.

So kid, today is your birthday and there it is. Your dad spent every day apart from you begging God that he would see you again. What I wrote is true stuff that your father said. I feel him smiling at both of us as I write this. From him and from me: HAPPY BIRTHDAY! YOU have truly filled our hearts with joy. :)

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