Grieving woman brought to tears at open condolence letter instead of speeding ticket

Gina Penny-Headen didn't expect that an encounter with a police officer would help relieve her grieving heart.

In a Facebook post, she recounted the heartwarming experience. She wrote that Deputy Dan Hill of St. Clair Sheriffs Department pulled her over for overspeeding. He took her license and registration.

'While I sat and waited I was reminiscing about my dad like always lately. The officer returned to my car and said it's your lucky day, we were born on the same day and year, slow down and have a good day,' she wrote.

Penny-Headen smiled at the police officer and thanked him. As he walked away, she could not contain her emotion. She broke into tears. She didn't realize that the police officer noticed her crying.

'He surprised me and tapped on my window asking if I was ok. I told him I was sad, I just lost my dad. He said, take a minute and breath,' she recalled. The police officer then helped her get back into traffic.

A week later, Penny-Headen received a card from Deputy Hill in the mail.

The police officer wrote on the card: 'Mrs. Headed, My condolence on the loss of your father. I'm sure he was a great man who loved his family. I pray that your tear of sadness becomes tears of joy in remembering his legacy.'

He then quoted a verse from the Bible.

Penny-Headen's Facebook post, which she shared on December 11, 2015, quickly went viral.

It has been shared almost 30,000 times.

Many Facebook users praised the police officer and wrote messages of sympathy for the woman.

'Oh Gina, see good things come to wonderful people like you. Thank you Deputy Hill, for your kindness and care,' commented Kathy Martin.

Angela Janowski wrote: 'What an awesome officer! This made me tear up reading this. Love you and hope you are doing okay.'

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