Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU--you are all so wonderful for posting. I'm sitting here with tears in my eyes.
In "A Streetcar Named Desire," the character Blanche says she's always been dependent on the kindness of strangers. In the play, that comes across as a sad, pitiful thing--but in real life, I think the kindness of strangers (and unseen internet friends) is one of the purest forms of giving there is.
Bless all of you, and thank you for helping brighten my Dad's birthday. I don't know if he'll see another one--the odds are not good, we're told--but we are going to make the most of this one.