Parenthood is the most powerful love, but with it can come unimaginable pain

"To see the smile on his face," said father of son, "I can’t describe what that feeling is because it gave him moments of forgetting about the journey that he was on. He was really emotional... He's been holding a lot inside.

- 

This was a young boy's Champions League win, a moment he was presented with both a Ballon d'Or for bravery and a key that opens a door to a sunlit future. Good on ya, kid.

Many of us who have never met Stephen or Josh or any of the family had the urge to punch the air in empathetic delight as Bradley senior reflected so thoughtfully on the tumult of emotions.

It hardly mattered whether you were childless, a parent to a newborn or had advanced beyond the equinox of life, your home now an empty nest.

Because, whether as a sibling, grandparent, teacher, friend, coach or neighbour to a child of similar age, hundreds of thousands would have felt their lips quiver by the stirring picture Bradley painted