Christina Reitz has been searching for the boy who left a heart wrenching apology note and $5 bill on her door – and now, she has finally found him.
Christina, a resident of Lakewood, Washington, had originally posted a photo of the note from her Chrissy Marie Facebook account asking if anyone knew the identity of the author.
The letter read: “I am sorry that we stole your windchimes. Our mom died and liked butterflies so my sister took it and put it by our window. I am sorry this is only money I have please do not be mad. Jake.”
Rather than being mad over the stolen decoration, Christina was moved by the heartfelt message. She started searching for Jake in order to return his money and give him another windchime for him to keep as his own.
After the letter’s post went viral, Jake’s aunt finally came forward saying that she knew the boy.
Since the family has been grieving, however, they prefer to have their identities remain anonymous. But Christina says that she will soon be meeting with Jake in order to fulfill her mission of showing some compassion to a boy who needs it more than ever.
Click To Share This Sweet Story With Your Friends(Photo by Christina Reitz)
High school lunch periods are supposed to be a time for socializing and conversation – but there’s always someone who ends up sitting alone in isolation.
That’s why Denis Estimon of Boca Raton Community High School in Boca Raton, Florida has started the We Dine Together club dedicated to making sure that no one has to sit alone at lunch time.
Denis, a Haitian senior student who immigrated to America during the first grade, says that adjusting to school was difficult. Now that he’s found his confidence and social standing, he wants to do that for other kids having similar problems.
Since the We Dine Together club was formed in autumn, members have made their way around the school courtyard during each lunch period in order to seek out students who may be in need of a friendly face. Dozens of connections and friendships have already been formed between teens who may not have met otherwise.
“To me it’s like, if we don’t try to go make that change, who’s going to do it?” said Denis.
Denis and his friends are currently working on opening other branches of the club in schools across the country – so no matter where anyone lives, they have the chance to make a friend when it matters most.
(WATCH the video below)
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This woman didn’t care how large the price tag was for a last minute plane ticket – she just couldn’t stand to see a father in distress.
In a Facebook post published by Love What Matters, a father and his daughter were about to check in for their flight at an airport when the employee working the counter asked the dad how old his child was. When he responded by saying that she was 2 years old, the worker said he would have to buy her her own plane ticket.
The man had thought that his daughter could ride for free because he had booked the flight when she was still one year old. However, she had just turned two in January.
The price of the secondary price ticket? A whopping $750.
“He was hit with emotion,” wrote bystander Kevin Leslie. “He mentioned he couldn’t afford to rebook this flight or get her the ticket with such short notice. He stepped aside and tried to make a few calls. Hugging his daughter and grabbing his head, you could tell he was heartbroken.”
A woman, Debbie Bolton, standing in line behind the man overheard the exchange and walked over to where the distressed father was standing. After briefly discussing the problem, the woman reportedly walked back over to the counter and said she wanted to buy the toddler’s plane ticket.
“The agent said ‘You know how much this ticket costs right?’” described Kevin. “The woman said ‘that’s fine’ and just pulled out her credit card.”
“The agent kept talking about her goosebumps while the man hugged the woman and asked for her name to repay her. The woman just kept saying, ‘Don’t worry about it.’”
Several social media users commented on the photo and called the woman, who is the cofounder of Norwex, an “inspiration”.
“She is so full of love for everyone and does what is needed without being asked,” commented Jennica Kettle, an acquaintance of the kind woman. “She is an inspiration every time I see her and is constantly giving freely.”
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When these two friends heard there was a shark flailing in the waves, they didn’t run the other way – instead, they offered the animal their help.
Colin Baker and his friend Adam were enjoying the weather, fishing on Jensen Beach in Florida, when someone said that there was a distressed shark flopping in the waves.
The duo approached the creature and found that it was tangled in fishing wire with a hook in its mouth.
The friends moved quickly, unraveling the twine and carefully pulling out the hook before hauling the shark back into the surf where it was able to swim away safely.
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Johnny Jennings has been saving every penny and scrap of paper so he can help abused and abandoned children – and since he started his endeavor in 1985, he’s raised over $400,000.
The 86-year-old earns money by collecting paper, cardboard, and cans for recycling. Over the course of the last 32 years, Jennings has saved 79,000 trees by reselling 9 million pounds of paper. He has also collected $20,000 in pennies, which is equal to about 24 miles of the copper coins.
Every dollar that the senior collects, he donates to the Georgia Baptist Home for Children near Ringgold, Georgia. The facility cares for hundreds of children that have been rescued from abusive houses or trafficking rings within the state.
Jennings became devoted to the home after he visited the establishment as an 18-year-old. Touched by its sweet, young residents, he decided to try and dedicate the rest of his life to making sure they would have the financial assistance necessary to prosper.
Even though Jennings has suffered two strokes in the last month, he has never failed to make his paper runs around town and deliver the materials to the Chattanooga Recycle Center.
“He is the last of a dying breed,” says Shay Drennan-Love, an acquaintance of Jennings. “Our generation and the ones to follow could learn a lot from Mr. Jennings.”
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Little Edith Fuller just made history by becoming the youngest contestant to ever qualify for a national spelling bee
The homeschooler from Tulsa, Oklahoma triumphed over 50 other kids – some of them reportedly three times her age – in the regional Scripps National Spelling Bee last Saturday. Now, Edith is on her way to Washington, D.C. for the nationals.
The youngster won after correctly spelling “jnana”; an obscure Sanskrit word for knowledge.
Other words included in her winning repertoire are “virgule”, “sevruga”, and “odori”.
Edith’s mother apparently detected her daughter’s knack for spelling at a dinner table when she correctly spelled “restaurant” – which, while it may not be too difficult for an adult – had never been taught to her before.
“It’s fun to share her with everyone,” Edith’s mother, Annie Fuller, told Tulsa World. “I knew she’d be a novelty, so I’m proud she held her own.”
What we tell ourselves directly affects how we think, feel and act. And how we think, feel and act directly impacts our health. Healing this mind-body connection is, in fact, at the forefront of what I do as a clinician in the field of addiction treatment.
In many ways, my job is not unlike that of a computer programmer working to fix a broken hard drive. Clients with addiction issues often struggle to love themselves. Many bear deep inner wounds from past hurts or traumas. Negative self-talk, shame, guilt and the inability to forgive often replay themselves as both conscious and subliminal messages.
One of my goals, then, is to help clients identify and correct these damaging internal scripts, so they can replace them with healthier ways of relating to themselves and the world around them. Like a computer technician, I help them rewire, restore and reprogram that mental hard drive.
“Recovery affirmations” are one of the tools in my arsenal. These affirmations, which are healthy for the body and a balm for your mental health, will center around “something we want to eliminate in our lives or something we want to create in our lives.” They were written by the spiritual teacher, Louise Hay, author of the bestselling book Heal Your Body.
To what extent can such affirmations really be good for us? Research in recent years has given clues to how our thoughts affect our health. Negative self-talk is linked to chronic stress, which we now know is the chief culprit for a host of diseases, addiction included. Studies have shown how repressed anger (a common dynamic with addiction) can lead to hypertension, cardiovascular disease, digestive disorders and infection, according to a summary of that work from the University of Minnesota. And a 2014 study in Social Psychological and Personality Science found there were negative health dimensions to harboring a grudge, whereas forgiveness helped lighten one’s physical burden.
Furthermore, the work of leading positive psychologist Dr. Barbara Fredrickson and others in recent years has revealed the numerous health benefits of positivity and positive affirmations, such as better sleep; a stronger immune system (fewer colds, etc.); faster recovery from cardiovascular stress; less stress; and a longer life expectancy.
Such findings reinforce just how good positive affirmations can be for you, whether or not you’re in recovery. The more your daily inner dialogue is expressing self-love, gratitude, self-confidence and forgiveness, the healthier you’ll be. Getting there takes discipline and intentionality, however. It takes standing in front of a mirror each morning and reciting the day’s positive affirmation with gusto—saying it like you mean it, in other words. At Beach House Center for Recovery (where I serve), this exercise belongs to clients’ daily routine. It’s that important.
Here are 20 affirmations that can benefit not just those in recovery but anyone on the journey to better health. They come from Louise Hay’s video, “50 Minutes of Positive Affirmations to Change Your Life”, which is found below this article:
I approve of myself. You approve of yourself.
I love myself. You love yourself.
I support myself. You support yourself.
I trust myself. You trust yourself.
I am my best friend. You are your best friend.
I become more lovable every day.
My body is beautiful. Your body is beautiful.
It is easy for me to forgive. It is easy for you to forgive.
I forgive everyone. You forgive everyone.
I forgive myself. You forgive yourself.
I forgive the past. You forgive the past.
I am free. You are free.
I know life is for me. You know life is for you.
I know what to do. You know what to do.
I am capable. You are capable.
I easily solve any problems. You easily solve any problems.
I can handle anything that comes my way. You can handle anything
that comes your way.
I am full of praise and gratitude. You are full of praise and gratitude.
I awaken each morning with joy. You awaken each morning with joy.
I end each day with gratitude. You end each day with gratitude.
These affirmations are meant to be spoken aloud while looking in the mirror, and can be recalled throughout the day. Take the time to incorporate them into your daily routine, and they will help you build greater reserves of self-love, gratitude, self-confidence and forgiveness.
Candice Rasa, LCSW, is Clinical Director of Beach House Center for Recovery, a drug and alcohol addiction rehabilitation center in Juno Beach, Florida. She has more than 10 years’ experience in the mental health and substance-abuse arena, and supports healing in the clients she serves from a perspective of spirituality and alternative Eastern methods.
(WATCH the video below)
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An article published last week reported on groundbreaking work by researchers who have successfully reversed a teenager’s sickle cell anemia with the world’s first gene-editing treatment for the disease.
Sickle cell disease is a condition in which the body’s bone marrow creates defective blood cells in the shape of a sickle, rather than a sphere. These sickle-shaped cells then block blood flow throughout the body causing extreme pain to the patient. Sickle cell disease affects over 100,000 Americans, and many more worldwide.
The subject who received the therapy in question reportedly had so much disease-inflicted damage on his internal organs, that he had to receive a blood transfusion every month while on medication.
Doctors at the Necker Children’s Hospital in Paris achieved these results by first draining the 13-year-old’s bone marrow. They then “infected” the marrow with a virus containing genetic instructions to correctly manufacture healthy red blood cells, instead of the deformed ones that blocked blood flow.
After the insertion of the edited bone marrow into the teenager 15 months ago, the youth was able to stop taking medication and has shown no symptoms of sickle cell disease since.
Specialists are reluctant to call this procedure a “cure” since more tests need to be conducted, however the triumph has raised hope for millions of people suffering from the same disease.
This adorably grouchy pup has finally found a home after winning hearts on the internet in his role as “Grumpy Dog”.
Sheldon was brought into an Arizona animal shelter a few days before Christmas, but, with such a scrooge-y looking mug, there weren’t any potential adopters interested in bringing him home.
Heather Haltmeyer, a volunteer at the Maricopa County Animal Care and Control shelter who specializes in taking photos of canines that need a special spotlight for adoption, made a post on the organization’s Facebook page for Sheldon. She couldn’t help but gush over how perfect this grouchy pup really was.
“Look at this face!! We may be biased, but we think Sheldon should be a doggy celebrity with all those expressions!” wrote Heather. “Sheldon is a great dog with a great energy level. Sheldon is equally happy to sniff around on his own or come over for some pets and attention. Oh and get this- he already knows “Sit” and “Paw” too! WOW- looks, smarts, AND personality!”
The post became a huge hit and was spread far and wide with social media users admiring his countenance and tagging him with #GrumpyDog. Most importantly, however, the photos eventually reached Emily Chmiel who fell in love.
Without waiting more than a day, Emily headed to the shelter the following morning and signed the adoption papers for Sheldon, who has fondly been renamed Cas.
Cas reportedly now spends his days snuggling with his new momma and hanging with Emily’s five rescue cats.
Share This Pawesome Story With Your Friends(Photo by Heather Haltmeyer)
Bucking a historic trend, Americans reportedly consumed more bottled water than soda in 2016.
According to the Beverage Marketing Corporation, bottled water sales volume grew to 12.8 billion gallons, resulting in about 39 gallons of bottled water per person, as opposed to the estimated 38.5 gallons of soft drinks.
Though this raises concerns for whether Americans are efficiently recycling the materials used to package bottled water, the report offers hope for tackling the surging obesity rate countrywide.
Obesity, which affects over 3 million Americans, increases the risk of diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and arthritis. It also costs taxpayers and individuals over $200 billion in medical costs annually.
So while the excessive use of plastic may be worrisome for the environment, the growing popularity of bottled water illustrates a trend toward healthier lifestyle choices.
“Bottled water effectively reshaped the beverage marketplace,” Michael C. Bellas, Beverage Marketing’s CEO said in a statement. “Where once it would have been unimaginable to see Americans walking down the street carrying plastic bottles of water, or driving around with them in their cars’ cup holders, now that’s the norm.”
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Icelandic representatives announced at the International Women’s Day summit in New York earlier this week that they plan on becoming the first country in the world to enforce equal pay for women at a national level.
The law, which is set to be fully enforced by 2020, would require companies with more 25 employees to become certified as an equal pay employer every three years.
The bill is expected to receive wide support from the Icelandic parliament, which reportedly consists of half women and half men.
According to a study conducted by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development in 2016, Iceland is currently ranked number one for the best working environments for women, even though research shows that women still earn 14 to 18% less than men.
Iceland is followed closely by Sweden, Norway, Finland, Poland, and France respectively. The United States is ranked at number 20, which is below the OECD’s average.
“Gender equality benefits all of us,” said Iceland’s Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson at the summit. “We may rank number one in the world at the moment, but the job is not done still.”
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Beckett Wyatt’s personality is so inspiring to the people around him, these kind acquaintances organized a special ride to pick him up for his Tuesday chemotherapy appointment.
The 9-year-old was picked up from his local soccer field in Midlothian, Virginia and taken to the roof of the VCU Medical Center via his first ever helicopter ride.
Beckett’s spirits have never been dampened since he was diagnosed with bone cancer in June 2016. So as a way of brightening up his weekday appointment, a classmate’s mother and Whit Baldwin, president of HeloAir in Sandston, Virginia, arranged for the special lift.
“Beckett’s story brings to light the beauty of human nature, that in the face of adversity we band together to bring love, joy and support to a child and their family,” Beckett’s physician, Megan R. Lyle, said in a statement to ABC News. “The journey through childhood cancer is about much more than radiation treatments, clinic visits and chemotherapy. It’s the individuals and organizations throughout the state of Virginia, and from New York to Florida, who have stepped in to support and encourage Beck and his family.”
If you would like to help lighten the weight of Beckett’s medical bills, check out the family’s Go Fund Me page.
(WATCH the video below)
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This Australian widower had no problem selling his beloved Volkswagen Kombi van to a young couple for half the asking price – so long as they promised to make as many special memories with it as he and his wife used to before her recent death.
26-year-old Elise and 29-year-old Domenic Cooke are avid world travels. So they were all the more delighted to find a sparkling, carefully cared for VW van for sale in the online classifieds section. However, their hearts sank when they saw that the asking price was $39,000.
The recently-married couple decided to go look at the van anyway, even if it was out of their budget.
Domenic and Elise then went to pensioner Peter Von Maltzahn’s house to look at the vehicle. The van, still perfectly running in all of it’s cozy glory, was everything they hoped it would be and more.
While chatting with Peter, the senior told travel stories from decades past. His life had apparently been so filled with adventure during his marriage, it was enough to make Elise “envious”, even though she is a travel blogger herself.
A post shared by Elise Cook ◈ AUSTRALIA (@elisecook) on
Dejected, but still inspired, Elise and Domenic left Peter’s house accepting that they couldn’t afford the dream van.
But then one week later, the couple received a call from Peter. The pensioner explained that even though he had received two other offers for the van’s asking price, they had both been made by collectors who were content to let the vehicle gather dust in a display, rather than to actually use it. He then asked what Domenic and Elise could afford to pay.
The couple said that realistically, they could only afford about half of the original price.
“He told us that the idea of the Kombi going to a young married couple, beginning their lives together, just like he and his wife when they bought it together back in ’72, meant so much more to him,” Elise told the Daily Mail. “With tears in his eyes he told us he would accept our offer, but only on one condition.”
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“I told him we would do anything. He said, ‘You have to promise me you’ll have adventures and when you have your own children you have to take them on many, many adventures’.”
The couple has since taken the van – fondly dubbed Scout – across Australia, thus fulfilling their promise to Peter.
You can follow the couple’s adventures via Elise’s Instagram page.
Click To Share This Inspiring Story With Your Friends (Photos by Elise Cook)
Soon after, he is joined by another quick-thinking pedestrian and they are able to safely escort the woman to safety.
“The red light started blinking and then just started going down,” John Mango, one of the good samaritans, told WGN. “And even in the video, I can hear myself going ‘no!’ So then I just jumped out of the car and ran as quick as I can to try to get her out of the way.”
19-year-old Caleb Swanigan has become one of the best players in college basketball – but if it weren’t for his adoptive father’s faith over the years, he may not have ever made it onto the court.
That’s because for most of Caleb’s childhood, he weighed 360 pounds and was homeless.
His mother would take him from shelter to shelter around Indianapolis, until she finally gave up her parental rights in 2011. It was then that recently-divorced Roosevelt Barnes volunteered to adopt Caleb as his rightful son.
Roosevelt was determined to encourage and inspire his new offspring no matter his weight or upbringing. So when Caleb said he wanted to play basketball, Roosevelt – being a former pro-football player himself – set up a training schedule for his son.
Caleb recently graduated with a 3.3 GPA and now plays for the Purdue Boilermakers. He has also been voted one of the top prep players in the national class of 2015 by ESPN.
And he says he wouldn’t have accomplished any of it if it weren’t for his father.
Everybody knows that there is nothing quite like grandma’s cooking.
That’s why Jody Scaravella created a restaurant that is only run entirely by grandmothers.
Every day of the week at Enoteca Maria on Staten Island, New York City, a grandmother from a different country takes charge of the team and creates a menu based off of her home nation. The “nonnas” – which is Italian for “grandmother” – come from all over the world. From Sri Lanka, to Peru, to Ireland, to Greece, to Russia; every single one of the women on the 30-person team take turns playing lead chef.
Jody first became inspired to create the restaurant after he lost both his sister and mother in a short span of time. Aching for a matriarchal connection in his life, he got the idea to create a place that could specifically play host to the love and wonders of classical grandmother cooking.
“When I opened the Enoteca, I was really grief-stricken,” says Jody. “It was comforting to have these grandmothers cooking in the kitchen. You know, the would pinch my cheek or say ‘do you wanna try this’, and at that point I realized that what we were doing was much bigger than I thought it was going to be. When you walk through the restaurant – and you really listen to the people you pass by – they’re talking about their mothers or talking about their grandmothers.”
The Parliament of India has just passed a bill extending nationally mandated paid maternity leave from 12 weeks to 26 weeks.
The bill, which will reportedly benefit almost two million women in the organized working sector, will apply to all businesses that employ more than 10 workers.
The policy change also makes India the third best country in the world for paid maternity leave, trailing only Canada with 50 weeks of paid leave and Norway with 44.
However, the extended paid leave will only apply to the first two children. If a mother gives birth to a third, then the time off is cut back to 12 weeks.
“This is my humble gift to women, a day after the world celebrated the International Women’s Day,” said Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya.
Though Parliament members were arguing for similar benefits to be applied to new fathers as well, certain paid paternity leave policies either already exist at a state level, or are currently under negotiation.
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This 18-year-old woman is a shining example of Canadian kindness – and Canadian resilience to the cold.
Eileen Eagle Bears was warm and dry at home with her family during Monday’s blizzard near Brandon, Manitoba when highway cameras showed a trucker stuck in the snow on the side of highway 10.
Heartbroken by the driver’s situation on television, Eileen vowed to help.
The trucker, a Winnipeg driver named Peter Douglas, had had to spend Monday night in his truck waiting for the snow to clear up. On Tuesday morning, however, he awoke to an unusual surprise.
Eileen had trekked two and a half miles on horseback – and some of the distance on foot due to the ice – so she could deliver a thermos of hot coffee to Peter.
Later that day, Eileen returned once more to give Peter water and a thermos of stew.
Peter was eventually towed, but he was still shocked that the youth underwent so much trouble just to help him out.
“She had to walk that horse half a mile up that hill and half a mile down because it was so icy. Blew me away,” Douglas told CTV. “She said she saw me on the camera. Her and her family were watching.”
(WATCH the video below)
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