One Saturday, Sam dialed 911. “911, what’s your emergency?” “This is Sam. I need help finding my mom,” he said.“Where is she?”“She went to heaven, but she hasn’t come home yet.”The dispatcher, Officer John Lewis, softened. “If you want to help her, write her a letter, and send it with a red balloon. She’ll see it from heaven.”
Sam wrote the letter, tied it to a red balloon, and watched it float away. But no response came.A month later, he called again. “She didn’t write back.”“She got your letter, Sam,” Lewis said. “But sometimes, moms in heaven can’t write back.”Sam sent another letter. Month after month, balloon after balloon.then, one day, police cars pulled up outside Sam’s house. Officers handed him red balloons, one by one. That night, Sam wrote another letter.The next morning, he found a letter on his bed, written in his mother’s handwriting.My sweet Sam,I see your balloons, and I hear every word you write to me. I love you more than all the stars in the sky. Please take care of your dad for me.Love always, Mom.Sam held it close. It wasn’t really his mom, but it was enough.