We were having a a nice and quiet family diner at our favorite Italian Restaurant.  Things had been light and playful.  Irene was mixing her gelato with her spoon, turning it into gelato soup.  Sam was making himself laugh by playing patty cake with nobody.  And that's when they came.

The tears.

Yep.  Once again, the Sam Birthday tears have begun.  It wasn't that anything set me off per se.  We were talking about who was going to join us for this years celebration, which got me thinking back to last year, which got me thinking about how hard it was, and before I knew what was happening, I was crying into my gelato.

And then something wonderful happened.  My too-mature-for-her-own-good-almost-7-year-old got up from her chair, wrapped her arms around me, and began to wipe my tears away.  She gently told me that it was OK, that Sam was OK.

How did I get so lucky?

Here is hoping the next few days pass without too many more unwanted tears, because, let's be honest, Sam is doing just fine!