Even if you have never seen it happen in real life yourself, it's true, grown men, even the biggest and toughest of us have been known to break down into tears. It could be for any number of reasons, but in this case, it was because of a new family pet.
Pets are are not just property, many people regard them as members of the family, and for James Xuereb, who had recently lost his two beloved dogs Nemo, and Lucy, his early birthday gift ended up bringing on a flood of tears.
When his daughter handed him his birthday card it was a pretty big giveaway, a picture of a Bichon puppy was plastered all over the front. As he began to read the card you can hear the emotion creeping into his voice as he fully realizes what is happening: he wasn't even able to finish reading the card himself.
His daughter Jaleen then handed him his new best friend, a puppy they had named Lumo, a combination of his two previous dog's names. The video of the interaction has gone viral, but the story behind the lead up to it will leave you heartbroken.
Over a decade ago, James had been going through a pretty bad case of depression. That's when his wife, Wanda, decided that he needed a friend to keep him company and bought him his first dog, Nemo.
"He had an attachment to him. He leaned on him for anything and everything," says Jaleen.
Two years later they decided that Nemo needed a friend of his own, so they went out and got Lucy, another Bichon.
Sadly, this past August, Lucy, who was 11 years old suffered a heart attack and passed away. To add to this terrible situation, two weeks later Nemo's health began to severely falter. The family decided to ease Nemo's suffering and had him put to sleep. James was absolutely devastated, and although no dog will ever replace either Nemo and Lucy, you can hear the healing in James's voice as he receives his new friend.