So...it's been more than just a minute!
Haha. How are you all!
Man, the second half of this year has taken me by storm.
So, so, so much has been going on...in the last 2-3 months I have felt like my mind was being pulled in all directions...in some really good ways and in some more interesting ways.
To say things are settling down wouldn't be quite right, haha.
Still got loooots of things coming up...but that's for another post!
What a better way to enter back after my little hiatus than with some good news!
I know we are almost at the end of September now (craziness!) but there's still so much good news to come in the last week of September (hopefully! ☺️) - so, before we jump ahead to the end of September, I want to do a quick recap of August!
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Haha. How are you all!
Man, the second half of this year has taken me by storm.
So, so, so much has been going on...in the last 2-3 months I have felt like my mind was being pulled in all directions...in some really good ways and in some more interesting ways.
To say things are settling down wouldn't be quite right, haha.
Still got loooots of things coming up...but that's for another post!
What a better way to enter back after my little hiatus than with some good news!
I know we are almost at the end of September now (craziness!) but there's still so much good news to come in the last week of September (hopefully! ☺️) - so, before we jump ahead to the end of September, I want to do a quick recap of August!
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The lowdown:
I have always been all for being positive and optimistic
A long time back, I had the idea of doing a blogpost series called 'The Good News'.
The news and current affairs of our world is so important, it is crucial we keep updated on what is happening around us.
BUT...
A lot of that tends to focus on what is going wrong.
And, although it is necessary to think about what is wrong in order to right it,
I think we could stand to gain a lot from appreciating what is already right, or getting good, as well!
So, without further ado,
THE GOOD NEWS!
August, 2016
...
Donor Deference
Donor Deference
Via
A family's fifteen year old boy passed away recently, but before that their boy had made the decision to be an organ donor - giving someone else a second chance at life. The boy's brother shared a letter from the man who received his brother's donation. It read:
A family's fifteen year old boy passed away recently, but before that their boy had made the decision to be an organ donor - giving someone else a second chance at life. The boy's brother shared a letter from the man who received his brother's donation. It read:
Dear Donor Family,
I'd like to express my sympathy for the death of your loved one. I
also want to thank you for the special gift they donated. Without this
donation, I would not be healing from a successful surgery right now, and I
wouldn't have another chance at a healthy, pain-free life.
I needed a tissue transplant in order to fully repair my posterior
cruciate ligament (PCL), which I tore due to a nasty fall off a bike this past
September. It seems like such a dumb way to sustain a major injury, but it's
certainly a lesson in how quickly like can change! Now, because I could have
surgery with the tissue transplant, I have the opportunity to work toward a
full, 100% recovery. Moreover, repairing my PCL lessens long term risks such as
early, onset arthritis.
This is all quite a blessing to me. I'm a 21-year-old finishing up
my last semester of college. My favorite hobbies are playing music (saxophone
and piano), playing team sports, and getting out in nature. I try to be very
active. I've taken many trips to the Boundary Waters, and I’ve run a marathon
(and hope to complete another before too long!). As I mentioned before, I
wouldn’t have the opportunity to once again use my body's full potential
without the gift of your loved one. Thank you for honoring your loved one's
wishes at a very difficult time. I am humbled by your generosity and kindness.
Sincerely,
Ben
...
After a report of someone crying and shouting in an apartment complex, police in Rome arrived to the small home of an elderly couple, 84 year old wife, Jole, and 94 year old husband, Michele. Michele began crying when she asked her husband why there was so much hate in the news today?
After a conversation with the couple who said it had been forever since someone had visited them and were feeling lonely, and noticing that there were few signs of them having eaten a proper meal, the policemen knew exactly what to do.
One officer cooked some pasta, the other officers sat down for a conversation with the couple. When sharing the story on their Facebook page they said they realised there was no crime to report or forms to fill, but a much harder task at hand:
To reassure a couple who needed help and some warmth.
A call to the police and a home cooked meal
After a report of someone crying and shouting in an apartment complex, police in Rome arrived to the small home of an elderly couple, 84 year old wife, Jole, and 94 year old husband, Michele. Michele began crying when she asked her husband why there was so much hate in the news today?
After a conversation with the couple who said it had been forever since someone had visited them and were feeling lonely, and noticing that there were few signs of them having eaten a proper meal, the policemen knew exactly what to do.
One officer cooked some pasta, the other officers sat down for a conversation with the couple. When sharing the story on their Facebook page they said they realised there was no crime to report or forms to fill, but a much harder task at hand:
To reassure a couple who needed help and some warmth.
...
Olympic Spirit Shines Through
Source: ABC
When USA's Abbey D'Agostino took a heavy fall during the Olympics 5000m semi-final New Zealand's Nikki Hamblin showed exactly what sportsmanship means. Nikki offered injured Abbey her hand and said "Get up. We have to finish this."
Finishing the race as the last competitors on the track, the crowd roared for them. In post-race interviews, Abbey said,
"That girl is the Olympic spirit right there. I've never met her before, and isn't that just so amazing. Such an amazing woman…I’m never going to forget that moment…When someone asks me what happened in Rio in 20 years' time, that's my story ... That girl shaking my shoulder, (saying) 'come on, get up'."
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Helping the Homeless with a Guitar in Hand
His name is Chris Leamy and one day he walked out of the subway with his guitar case, as usual. It was then that a homeless woman pointed to him and his guitar, exclaiming how much easier it would be if she had one of those!
And so began, #HePlaysForMe, Chris thought what if the homeless on the side of the street couldn't afford instruments? So, for around two years now he has sat beside them, playing for them.
Another smart setup of Chris'?
Every time he helps a homeless person get $15, he matches it giving $15 to the Bowery Mission Homeless Shelter and urging his followers to do the same.
One of the best cases to come out of this is Miguel's story. After being spotted with Chris in a video, a donation page was set up for Miguel with the goal of:
$500, for
- Clothes from Goodwill
- Food
- A Savings Account
- Two Months of Apartment Rent
- Any spare money would go towards buying meals for the Homeless Shelter
The results?
- Miguel got back on his feet and even landed himself a job at the Dairy Queen
- They were able to buy 1257 meals for the shelter
- And Chris has been signed for a record deal by Sony...as he continues to play for the homeless
#whatgoesaroundcomesaround
...
Family Heirloom Preserved
North Texas Jeweller was confronted by a customer trying to sell her mother's gold necklace and just couldn't take it from her.
Noah spoke with CBSDFW about the incident.
“It seemed like she was sad and there was tears in her eyes,” said Noah. He said the woman told him she needed money for bills and was broke. “I let her tell me how much she wanted to sell it and I gave her exactly what money she wanted,” said Noah. The jewellery store worker not only dug into his own pockets, but after handing over a significant amount of money he gave back the necklace. The moment was captured on security cameras. “I didn’t think about it, I just grabbed the money. I grabbed the money and gave it to her.” said Noah.
“It seemed like she was sad and there was tears in her eyes,” said Noah. He said the woman told him she needed money for bills and was broke. “I let her tell me how much she wanted to sell it and I gave her exactly what money she wanted,” said Noah. The jewellery store worker not only dug into his own pockets, but after handing over a significant amount of money he gave back the necklace. The moment was captured on security cameras. “I didn’t think about it, I just grabbed the money. I grabbed the money and gave it to her.” said Noah.
...
518 Litres of Helpful
Demi Frandsen, Omaha
mother, donated over 500 litres of breast milk to her local hospital, honouring
her late son who was just 10 months old.
Her son, Leo, was born two months premature with a defect known as
gastroschisis (a permanent opening in his abdonminal wall) - which meant he couldn't
be breastfed.
Frandsen then made the
beautiful decision to give her breastmilk to others, as reported by local
broadcaster ABC 6.
They reported:
Ms Frandsen said
her total donations would have been enough to occupy a “dairy aisle,
basically”. Leo unexpectedly passed away on October 2 last year. Ms Frandsen
said she’s still dealing with his passing. "We're still trying to figure
out how to have a life without such a big part of it...a little piece of our
soul," she said. “It's not even day to day. It's moment to moment.”
Children’s Milk
Depot Lactation Consultant Tammi Martin has praised Demi for her selfless act.
"With all that was going on in her life, she (still) found it in her heart
to give to other babies," Ms Martin said.
...
A Princess, Always
Cancer doesn't stop me me from being a princess. 👑 pic.twitter.com/39RaDuVwkH— Andrea Sierra (@sierraandrea99) August 10, 2016
The beautiful
Andrea Sierra Salazar didn't let Stage Two Lymphoma and Chemotherapy stop her
from pursuing her lifelong dreams of modelling.
Using the time she
had to take off of school to her advantage, she began modelling for agencies
and shoots. In that time she experimented with wigs, but she had a realisation
and went for something different.
She posed for photographer Gerardo Garmendia
without hair or wigs and the result was magical. Andrea took to Twitter with
the powerful caption, "Cancer doesn’t stop me from being a princess”.
Salazar is proud
that she's inspiring other girls to be confident (and be the princesses they
are) regardless of disabilities of any kind - regardless of their shape and
size, they're beautiful, she says.
How stunning of a soul is Andrea!!!
...
Stop and smell the...pink flower shirt!
10 year old Cami Skouson has autism and adores this specific pink flowery shirt she got from Target 5 years ago - but after constant wear it got too tattered to be used again.
So, mum Deborah took to Facebook and made a post explaining the situation, a post that has been shared over 40,000 times!
So, mum Deborah took to Facebook and made a post explaining the situation, a post that has been shared over 40,000 times!
Today
reported:
"My count is up to 178," Deborah Skouson told TODAY
about the number of shirts she was expecting. She's already received about 50
in the mail. "We got one on Friday from Germany!"
“I don’t know how
much she understands, but when she first saw multiples of the shirt, she was a
little confused, because she’s only ever had one at a time,” Deborah told TODAY. “She
likes to pick up each one of them, and she rubs them against her face and
smells them, and just gets a big smile on her face.”
...
8000 Hats (And Counting) for the Homeless From His Hospital Bed
91 and ill in hospital, and Moorie Boogart still keeps himself busy by knitting hats for the homeless - and he's been doing it for over 15 years now!
He kept count till 8000 hats and since then he's just kept knitting.
Boogart spoke to Fox 17 West Michigan, who reported:
He kept count till 8000 hats and since then he's just kept knitting.
Boogart spoke to Fox 17 West Michigan, who reported:
"You keep going around like that, one at a
time and pull it over that peg," explains Boogart. "Keep it going all
the way around. I do it awfully slow, it maybe takes me two days to make a
hat." He spends his days in hospice care at
Cambridge Manor in Grandville, slowly wrapping yarn around the pegs of the loom
one by one. "The only time I'm not doing it is if I
fall asleep," confesses Boogart.
There are boxes of hats ready to be
delivered to shelters throughout Grand Rapids and bags of yarn waiting to be
knit. "The hats have a rim around the edge to
cover their ears and keep them nice and warm," said Boogart. Boogart doesn't know how much time he has left,
but he's making that time count. "Why do I do it? It just makes me feel
good," said Boogart.
For now, he's working on getting more hats
ready to be delivered in October, with a photo of his wife who has passed on,
Donna Mae, to his left and a box of yarn to his right. "It's not so much of a story, but it means
a lot to me," said Boogart.
I have to disagree with Boogart on one matter, what a story!
...
A Helping Hand to a Grandma Scared of Escalators
People are wonderful. Simple gestures, so much meaning to someone else.
...
Everything is A-OK/Mint with this baby's birth!
Newborn British Baby took Imgur by storm when he was shown making an A-ok/Mint sign minutes after being born, raking in over seven million views!
You know what? With all this good news, I feel like we are all A-ok ☺️
You know what? With all this good news, I feel like we are all A-ok ☺️
...
And that was some of The Good News for August! ☺️
What were you surprised to hear about? Do you have a favourite?
Do you like listening to some Good News? ☺️
They're all linked so you should just be able to click on them! :)
Until next time,
Until next time,
❤️, Raa
