This week, a Georgia family discovered a deflating balloon had drifted into their backyard—with a touching message attached.
“A helium balloon floated into my yard today and landed in my heart,” wrote Suzanne Womac Edwards on a photo of the handwritten note, which she uploaded to Facebook. “Attached was a note that made me cry and hug my family a little tighter.”
The note was from a young boy, and was addressed to his apparently deceased father.
“Dad, I wish you were here so we could have fun together. I wish you a Merry Christmas,” the child’s note reads. “I hope you tell God to give me those presents. I hope you are happy in heaven. If you are, OK then tell me. I love you, Alexander.” In her Facebook post on Tuesday, Edwards asked the web community to help her find Alexander. And a few days later, they were in fact connected; the mother of the boy reached out to Edwards, calling her return message to her son “a miracle.” You can read the whole exchange below.
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Write to Raisa Bruner at raisa.bruner@time.com