A mom in a shore town here in NJ killed her nine year old son yesterday. My nine year old son was in the room with me when the story came on the local news.

I started tearing up and went over and gave him a hug. I’d been washing dishes and my hands were damp. He let me hug him for a second then squealed “Ah, you’re all wet!”

He started wiggling and squirming around, I laughed and let him go.

He asked “What was that hug for?” We hug each other often. It’s not unusual for him to just wander over for a hug out of the blue, multiple times a day. But he knew, there was something more to this hug.

I didn’t know what to say, so I told him I loved him and sent him off to play.