Feel-good story of the week

I'm a sucker for news like this.

Marine Scott Wood died four weeks ago after suffering injuries during combat in Iraq. Before his burial, his wife dressed him in two uniforms. On the outside, Scott wore his military dress blues. Underneath, he wore the blue No. 80 jersey of Houston Texans wide receiver Andre Johnson.

. . .

When Sara got an offer to go watch the Houston Texans play the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, she jumped at the opportunity. She knew her husband would have loved to have gone to Reliant Stadium to watch his beloved team play. Plus, she and Landon had never been to a game before.

... the team brought Sara to the game under the pretense that she and her son would be part of a halftime ceremony in which Landon would receive a bike and Scott's memory would be celebrated by the 71,500 in attendance. Both those things happened, but a much bigger surprise awaited.

The team told Sara she and Landon would be receiving a custom-built, mortgage-free house in a Houston suburb. It's courtesy Operation Finally Home, an organization that builds houses for wounded and disabled veterans or their widowed families.

. . .

Scott won't be there, but that doesn't mean Landon won't talk to him.

"We told him he could talk to daddy in his prayers," she said, "and even in the middle of the day, you'll see him walk around the corner and you'll hear him say the 'now I lay me down to sleep prayer,' which Scott taught him. And then he starts talking to daddy."

There's more at the link, and further details in this report.

I'm terribly sorry for the Wood family in their loss; but I hope their new home will be, in some way at least, a light in their darkness of sorrow. One hopes Scott Wood knows about it, too, and is aware that his loved ones are being cared for. Perhaps we'll be able to find out one day.

Peter