A touching birthday present

Sometimes the news just gets to me. We have Russia stirring up trouble again, in Europe, the Middle East, and South America. We have suicide bombings in Yemen and Pakistan (more on the latter one later). We have economic problems that the government is just making worse here at home.

But once in a while, the media comes across and reports on a genuinely nice human interest story, like this one.

Basically, a 54 year old man hunted down his father's fondly-remembered M1 Garand rifle that he carried during the Korean war. His dad talked about that rifle whenever the war was brought up, and how much he loved it, and what-all he could do with it. He even remembered the serial number.

So, Jim Richardson searched gun shops nation wide for that serial numbered Garand, finally finding it in Kentucky. He bought it for his dad's 79th birthday.

That was one of the most touching and meaningful birthday gifts I've ever heard of between son and father.

Sometimes, I run across stuff like this, and the smile and warmth it brings eases the weight of the rest of the news. For a little while.