I love how life has a way of softening us around the edges, making things that once mattered so much seem less important as we age.

My friend's first granddaughter was born earlier this year. A beautiful, blue-eyed angel, born to her younger son and his wife. My friend watches the baby one day a week, on Fridays, when the mother works. She also has a grandson, a 2-year-old, born to her older son and his wife.

Every time I see my friend, she has a new pack of photographs of her grandchildren to share - of the baby's baptism, of the new toy tractor her grandson received for his birthday, or of both sets of parents, smiling happily as they hold their child between them.

The only shadow in this picture-perfect scenario is that my friend's two sons, the children's fathers, had a falling out a number of years ago.

Her explanation of their altercation always seemed vague and inconsequential. One brother said something to the other, and they argued. The wives, once friends, defended their husbands.

Now the wives aren't speaking to each other, even though the brothers' anger seems to have dissipated through the years.

My friend is saddened immeasurably by the differences that divide her two sons, despite the joy these two grandchildren bring to her family.

Shortly after the granddaughter was born, though, the parents learned that the baby has cystic fibrosis. My friend has armed herself with information - the incidence of cystic fibrosis, or CF, is one in 3,500 births, with 1,000 new cases being diagnosed each year, she tells me.

The abnormally thick, sticky mucous caused by the disease can clog the baby's lungs and lead to life-threatening lung infections. And the median age of survival is the mid-30s.

But there is a brighter future for those afflicted with CF, she says, as doctors work diligently to ward off the infections with daily doses of vitamins and support the function of the pancreas - an organ often damaged by the disease - with replacement enzymes, so the child will have the necessary nutrients to grow into a healthy young woman.

Tests and treatments will likely follow the little girl throughout her lifetime. Meanwhile, the parents and my friend attend support group meetings and cling hopefully to the encouraging words of the doctors.

Several weeks ago, at Great Strides, the cystic fibrosis walkathon in Pittsburgh, the parents, family and friends gathered to raise money for CF research. My friend's older son and his wife came to walk, too, to show their support of their new niece and her family.

Nothing was said of the brothers' differences, my friend said, but steps were taken that day not only to find a cure for cystic fibrosis but to heal a rift that really wasn't as important as it once seemed.