The other night, Cale and I were looking at Reddit together like we sometimes do. I was on the mend from strep throat and honestly hadn’t been getting quite enough sleep for that to be the case.

It was National Dog Day, so Reddit was, of course, full of doggy posts. One of these posts (I think it might have been a golden retriever wearinga cone with a kitten nuzzled up inside it) made me extra sappy. Because interspecies friendship.

And then we found a gif of two former military comrades who’d been searching for each other for 38 years finally reunite. That was sweet enough, but Cale found the source video, and, really, who could help getting a little teary when one of them says, “I’m gonna cry for the rest of my life thinking about this day,” and so enthusiastically telling his fellow veteran that he loves him??

Cale left to go to the bathroom or something, so handed me his tablet. When he came back, I was full-on bawling looking at the image of the post, “A man who lost both his arms cares for his elderly mother.” In the photo, the man held a spoon in his mouth by its handle and offered it to his mom.

“Manders!! It’s ok. Don’t cry. Maybe it’s time for bed?” Cale said, gently retrieving the tablet from my hands.