Warm and fuzzy

I think someone is trying to tell me something... Perhaps that everything is going to be OK.
Not long after I wrote yesterday's post, I got a call from a sweet old lady in Lafayette — Roberta Osterloh. She said I came out to her house a while back and wrote a story about her husband, Leroy. I didn't remember the exact story, and when I looked it up in the archives it turned out I wrote it at the end of 2007! But she remembered me and has followed my writing in the paper. She saw the news that Brian and I had a daughter and wanted to know her name because she was making a personalized gift for us. I thanked her, told her it wasn't necessary — but also told her Ellie's name.
The next thing I knew, I got a call from the front desk telling me there's a gift for me. Sweet Mrs. Osterloh gave us three quilted baby bibs, each with Ellie's name stitched across the front. They're gorgeous! That was my first warm-fuzzy to start of the weekend.

Then, today, I had to work. One of my assignments was covering an Eagle Scout ceremony. It was for an amazing young man, Seth Mullen, who is 20 and suffers from severe cerebral palsy. He's nonverbal and confined to a wheelchair, but that hasn't stopped him from accomplishing something very few people have. (I know how important it is to become an Eagle Scout since I'm married to one!)
I almost cried several times during the ceremony as Seth's father read a poem to his son and later talked about his son's struggles. The most touching part of the poem he read went something like this:
Don't listen to the words shouldn't, wouldn't, couldn't and can't....
Only listen to the words should, would, could and can.
These are the words that will make you a man....
If you follow these words, they will make you hurt and ache ...
But you must follow your heart's words.

I'm less worried about Ellie and the world today. It's the Christmas season and I've been reminded of the good and amazing people out there.