Erie Times-News reporter Lisa Thompson wrote a wonderful, heartwarming story called "Love's Enduring Bonds" for the front page of today's editions. It relates how Missi Meely, a 25-year-old Harborcreek woman, discovered at work that her boss, Laurie Thompson, 42, was actually her birth mother.

This happened earlier this year when Missy worked in adversing sales at Froggy 94 radio station.

Thompson gave birth to Missy when she was 16. She and her husband, Chuck Thompson, who is Missi's birth father, were thrilled when Missy returned to their lives. The Thompsons have no other children.

What makes Lisa Thompson's story so appealing is the fairness, balance and sensitivity she showed in her writing. Meely's parents, Doug and Sandy Meely, are also portrayed in great depth in the story. What comes through is how much this woman is loved by both her parents and her birth parents. And because they think so much of Missi, everyone has embraced the opportunity to get to know each other.

This story pretty much landed in our laps. Several months ago, when Missi joined the Erie Times-News sales staff, I was asked to introduce her around the newsroom. As we chatted, she mentioned that she had recently met her birth mother, and that her birth mother had actually been her boss at her previous job. (She told Lisa Thompson that she left Froggy 94 because neither Missi nor her birth mom could resist the urge to talk to each other all the time.)

It's the kind of story that seems ideal at this time of season. But it works because Lisa Thompson labored so intensely to get it right: the facts, the tone, the voices, and, again, the balance. It's a long read -- the story seems like the type of article you might find in a magazine -- but it's so interesting that, as reader, I found myself zipping right through it.

Two or three calls from readers about a particular newspaper story is a lot, but 10 readers called me today to comment about Missy Meely's story, and four others sent e-mail messages. One caller identified himself as the social director of a local nursing home, and, after commenting at length about the article, he passed the phone to several residents at the home, who also gave me their impressions.

Everyone, it seems, liked what they saw on today's front page. And I couldn't agree with them more.

-- Kevin Cuneo