It was a beautiful, sunny day, and birds were chirping merrily in the skies. Nothing seemed wrong with the world outside. But for 33-year-old Brian, it was the darkest day of his life.

Brian’s loving wife, Lyra, and his only daughter, Amy, were killed in a car accident that morning. He shuddered as he rushed to the police station for identification and saw their pale faces hidden beneath thin white covers. How could God be so cruel? How could he take his family away from him?

As they were buried, Brian felt like someone had drained out the blood in his body. He couldn’t take his eyes away from the fresh mounds of Earth beneath which his wife and daughter lay, and at one point, he wished he was the one there, not them.

After losing Lyra and Amy, Brian felt his life had lost meaning. “Brian, you can’t be stuck like that. You’re young, and you have a whole life ahead of you. The living should live on,” his mom told him one day.

“Mr. Hoffman,” said the lawyer. “Trust me. You’d like to come to my office for this. There is someone you’d like to meet.”

It had been five years since Brian lost his family, but for him, it still seemed like it was only yesterday when he’d seen his wife and daughter’s pale faces. How could he move on? How could he forget that the people he loved the most were no longer with him? It wasn’t easy for him.

One day, Brian returned from work and went about his tedious routine. He sat at his desk, checking reports and completing his office work like he always did. His work kept him occupied and distracted him from his sad thoughts.

He switched the browser tab to his Facebook account, and a post about a little girl with Down syndrome suddenly appeared. Brian would have missed it if it hadn’t been for the message on the post: “…Rejected by 15 families, and yearning for a loving home. Andrea is a lovely girl with special needs and wishes for a family.”

Brian sighed and stared at the post for a few minutes. He needed a family, and so did she. Life had been cruel to both of them in different ways, and perhaps this was God’s way of finally relieving him of pain.

Brian thought about the Facebook post all night, and he wondered if she should adopt the girl. As a single father, he knew the process would be difficult, but this girl really needed a loving home, and he knew he could give her that.

“All right then,” he told himself. “I’ll try.”

The next day, Brian called the number in the Facebook post and expressed his eagerness to adopt Andrea. The woman on the other end provided him with the contact information of the social worker in charge of Andrea’s case.

A few days later, Brian saw little Andrea for the first time, and his eyes welled up. She was a lovely little girl of six, dressed in a blue floral frock and staring at him with puzzled eyes.

Sadly, she was abandoned by her single mother because of her disability. “How sad,” Brian thought to himself as she entered the room.

“Hi, Andrea,” Brian told her gently. “I’m Brian. I’m here to become your parent. Would you like to have me as your dad?”

Andrea didn’t say anything, but she smiled and nodded at him. At that moment, Brian knew he would do anything to provide her with a loving home. And he did just that.

After the exhaustive documentation process, background verification, and parenting workshops, Brian was officially Andrea’s adoptive father and his life found new meaning. They were so happy with each other, so delighted. He was happy to become a father to a little girl again, and he couldn’t have wished for more.