Losing a spouse is hard, but losing a parents is even harder.

When a woman named Claire lost her husband, she and her young son were left all by themselves. Things were hard as they both missed him dearly and had a hard time moving on.

Luke, Claire’s son, was devastated, but he always remembered his father’s words that ‘living has to live on.’

Watching his mother being sad, he always tried to cheer her up, and eventually, he even mentioned to her that if she wanted, she should meet someone and welcome him into their loves. Claire believed those were some wise words coming from an 11-year-old boy.

However, she wasn’t ready to look for love after Andy’s passing.

As time passed by, Claire did meet someone, although it felt like she was making a sin for replacing her late husband with someone new. However, before she even tried anything, she wanted to make sure that Luke was fine with that.

One day, she asked him, “Do you think you’re ready for a new dad, Luke? Mom is not pressuring you, honey,” to what the boy nodded, pursing his lips.

“If I get a new dad, mom, will you be happy? If you’re happy, I am too,” he said. “And yes, mom, Dad always used to tell me that life must go on. That’s how I understood I could be happy after Gran Molly left us. I loved her so much!”

Those words stuck with Claire and after much contemplation, she decided to introduce her new boyfriend, Mike, to Luke.

Meeting Mike was a new experience for Luke, but he knew he liked him the moment he met him.

In fact, Mike was much like his father. He would pull out the chair for Claire as she sat at the dinner table, and helped her clean the kitchen after they were done eating.

“Luke, would you like to have ice cream? I was wondering if chocolate would be a good choice,” he said, and Luke smiled.

“That’s mom’s favorite,” he said. “Mine too!”

“Alright then, chocolate it is! I like vanilla more, but I guess chocolate wins!” he laughed.

“Vanilla?” asked Luke, disappointed. “That’s boring! Not cool, Mike!”

“Same thoughts, actually. Gonna upgrade my favorite to chocolate now coz my two favorite people love chocolate,” he winked, and Luke smiled.

Over time, Luke and Mike bonded and became very close. Mike would take him to baseball games and the two would spend a quality time together.

When Mike popped the question, both Claire and Luke were overly excited and couldn’t wait to say ‘Yes.’

“Yay! So I get to call you dad now!” said Luke as he hugged them. “But, Mike, I hope you don’t mind, but my late dad will always be my favorite person. I loved him more than anyone else.”

“No issues, champ,” replied Mike, embracing Luke and Claire. “I don’t care if I come in first or second. I’m glad you and Claire are here with me.”

When Claire and Mike’s wedding day arrived, Luke was the happiest little man on Earth.

He was given the honor to walk his mom down the aisle. “You know I’m going to walk you down the aisle, right, mom? I want to do this,” he told her, to which his mom replied, “Of course, you can do it, honey. I’d love to see you do it.”

When he escorted Claire down the aisle, and placed her hands in Mike’s, Luke pulled a box out of his pocket. He then handed it to his mom and said, “Dad wanted you to open this now, mom.”

“But before you open this, mom, I have to tell you something…” he began, pulling a letter from another pocket. “Dad wrote it when he was in the hospital. I’d like to read this.”

Claire started shaking when Luke started reading his late dad’s letter.

“Luke, I know your mom will always love me as much as I love you both. But one day, she will bring another man to our house, and that’s okay. Your mom has the right to be happy, and so do you, but you have to ensure he’s someone who cares for you and her. And if he is that man, then I already respect him. And you have to respect him too. But you must be the one who tests his attitude toward you, his genuine intentions, and who leads her down the aisle where this man will be waiting for her. You must choose the best man for your mother! Now you can open that box, mom…” he finished.

With a strange feeling of excitement, Claire opened the box and saw Andy’s wedding ring with another letter addressed to her.

“I’m sure Luke chose the best man for you. I love you and always will. Knowing you, I’m sure you’re feeling bad about moving on, and I know how to get you out of it. Please put the ring on your future husband’s ring finger. Let him always remember that you can only be the wife of a strong and true man!”

Realizing his mom turned very emotional and couldn’t contain her tears from rolling down her face, Luke approached her and said, “Mike deserves it, mom.” The boy continued, “I know he’ll be the best dad to me…and he’ll love you, just like dad did. Thank you for that, Mike!”

Mike was deeply touched as well. He embraced Luke and told him, “I will never let you down, champ. I promise.”

Sometimes, moving on feels like the hardest decision we make, but life is for living and no matter how hard things seem to be, there is always light at the end of the tunnel and God always give us second chances.

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