The great author Coelho once wrote, “when you really want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it,” and all a sweet girl named Shailee ever wanted was a family to call her own. This beautiful young lady went from one foster family to another, and she always secretly hoped that one of them would eventually adopt her. Her wish came true when she least expected.
Source: YouTube/ Love What Matters
One day, that she believed would be like any other, she got the surprise of her life. Although she was aware her foster parents wanted her to officially be their daughter, never in her wildest dreams could this girl assume it was going to happen that soon.
The parents picked both children from school, and Shailee’s soon-to-be adoptive mother turned her camera on as her dad told her how they weren’t going home but to court.
Source: YouTube/ Love What Matters
Hearing that, Shailee knew how the day she was waiting with anticipation was finally there. All she could say through the tears of joy was, “Really? You’re lying!” But then mom said, “Today’s your day.” It was a moment filled with so many emotions.
Source: YouTube/ Love What Matters
Shailee’s reaction is sweet and sincere and speaks a lot about how much this family really means to her. Her mom shared this whole story with Love What Matters and said, “Shailee’s reaction was more than I ever hoped for. For a kid that had been praying for adoption for years, this was it.”
Imagine how beautiful this world would be if every child gets a family that would love them unconditionally.
Source: YouTube/ Love What Matters
You can take a look at this family’s most precious moment in the video below.
Adopting a child and offering them the life they have always deserved is the ultimate act of humanity, especially when it comes to kids who found themselves abandoned by their neglectful birth parents who treated them badly.
Sadly, it happens that adoptive parents abandon the kids they once welcomed into their life too, and that is exactly what happened to a boy named Anthony.
Instead of loving him and be there for him in sickness and in health, Anthony’s adoptive parents took him to the hospital one day and left him there.
What’s worst about the whole thing is that this action of ‘dumping’ their son was legal.
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Most of us think that adoption is permanent once the papers are signed, but as one unlucky boy learned in a very traumatic fashion, you can actually cancel your kid like a Netflix subscription. Anthony thought he was getting a happy ending when he was adopted by a supposedly loving family at the age of four. ADVERTISEMENT
Sadly, that all came to a crashing end seven years later when Anthony’s parents inexplicably took him to the hospital, where they carelessly discarded him like a piece of trash. And get this – their actions were totally legal! SOURCE: INSTAGRAM/FOSTERDADFLIPPER
“All the promises of a forever family were thrown out the window and this young boy was left alone, abandoned, frightened, and crushed emotionally.”
Those who learned of this boy’s sad fate couldn’t believe there were people there like his parents. They took care of him for seven years, and then gave up on him when he needed them the most.
SOURCE: INSTAGRAM/FOSTERDADFLIPPER
The story of Anthony was shared on Love What Matters.
“He didn’t know when or if they were ever coming back for him because he was not in on the plan they orchestrated to abandon their child. Most people could not conceive that a parent could do this to a child, yet this was not their first time. You see, they did the exact same thing to their other adopted son a couple of years before, sadly enough.”
But then, a man named Peter Mutabazi came across Anthony’s path when he least expected and changed his life.
SOURCE: INSTAGRAM/FOSTERDADFLIPPER
Peter had a hard childhood. He used to live with an abusive father in a secluded village near Rwanda and Uganda. The ordeals he was forced to go through during his young years made him vow he would help children who experience hardship in life.
Once in the U.S., Peter started a successful real estate business in Oklahoma and he could finally afford to make his dream of helping kids in need of love and a family come true.
SOURCE: INSTAGRAM/FOSTERDADFLIPPER
Peter’s journey into fostering began with two brothers whom he grew fond of the moment he meet them. However, taking care of them didn’t last long as the Family Court decided to reunite them with their biological parents.
Peter was happy for them, but at the same time he felt heartbroken to be separated from them. So when he was contacted about a boy who he was supposed to look after “just for the weekend” he hesitated whether to agree or not.
Eventually, he said yes, but decided not to ask anything about the boy’s background. That’s when Anthony entered Peter’s life.
SOURCE: INSTAGRAM/FOSTERDADFLIPPER
What Peter didn’t know was that “just over the weekend” would in fact turn into a lifetime.
SOURCE: INSTAGRAM/FOSTERDADFLIPPER
Speaking of Anthony, Peter said:
“Never in my wildest dreams did I anticipate I would be parenting the child of two parents who had led lives that passed the extensive background check standards involved with parenting foster children, only just to abandon not one, but two of their children.”
SOURCE: INSTAGRAM/FOSTERDADFLIPPER
Once Anthony met Peter, he referred to him as ‘Dad.’ But Peter told him not to call him like that because he didn’t want to get too attached to someone that would be in his home for just 48 hours.
“I told him he could call me ‘Mr. Peter’ and 20 minutes after his arrival, he asked if he could call me ‘Dad.’ What? I didn’t even know his last name, yet he was asking to call me ‘Dad.’ This was not typical, as most children in foster care initially want to remind you that you are not their father and ‘never will be.’ This child I had just met was not even presenting that argument.”
SOURCE: INSTAGRAM/FOSTERDADFLIPPER
When Monday arrived, Peter couldn’t help but ask the social worker about Anthony’s life. The answer he got broke his heart into a million pieces. He could never imagine how this loving boy was abandoned twice, once by his biological parents and the other time by his cruel adopters.
Peter didn’t even know it was legal for adoptive parents to get rid of the kids just like that.
SOURCE: INSTAGRAM/FOSTERDADFLIPPER
The social worker added how Anthony’s case was simply labeled as a “failed adoption.” It was then that Peter knew he couldn’t be another person who would fail this boy who has gone through so much.
“They signed an agreement relinquishing their parental rights and never looked back. I was completely shocked! I could not believe what I was hearing. I began to cry out of anger for what these people had done to this 11-year-old child.”
SOURCE: INSTAGRAM/FOSTERDADFLIPPER
“I refused to allow him to be cast aside again. Besides, he was already calling me ‘Dad.’ I asked the social worker to provide me with a placement letter so I could enroll him in school the following day. She asked me about 100 times if I was serious and we both cried tears of joy.”
It only took a couple of months for Anthony to become Peter’s legal son. The two were over the moon they found each other. And although it looked at first that this amazing man saved the fragile boy, the truth was that they saved each other.
SOURCE: INSTAGRAM/FOSTERDADFLIPPER
“This is the blessing I am most thankful for in my life. It has been an amazing journey. I’m amazed at how resilient and positive he is, despite all that he has had to endure,” Peter said.
This story is so worth sharing with the whole world. It sparks joy and love, and that’s something we need in our life.
I have this feeling that this world we live in is getting crazier with each passing day. Cases of horrific crimes are taking place each and every day and we somehow lose faith in humanity. The good thing is that there are always these individuals whose actions are worth every praise.
16-year-old Crystal Allen experienced a real hell after she was kidnapped and used in sex trafficking.
YouTube
She was repeatedly drugged and abused and scared for her life. One day, however, she managed to escape from her captors’ car and hid behind a bush, completely confused and unable to stop crying. It was then when a postal worker named Ivan Crisostomo heard her.
YouTube
Ivan was on the job and on his regular route in Sacramento. When he heard the cries he approached closer and saw the trembling girl who kept saying, “They are coming to get me.” She was pointing to her arm and told Ivan how they were putting things inside her. At first, he had no idea what was going on, but quickly realized that Crystal was a sex trafficking victim.
He got scared as well as he had no idea what kind of people were looking for the teen, but he knew he had to help her and let her in his van until police arrived.
YouTube
In the meantime, Crystal called her mother from Ivan’s phone. Speaking to KPIX, the worried mother recalled the call and said, “She was frantic. I didn’t know what was going on. I couldn’t even talk to her, she was that upset.”
YouTube
Crystal later told Ivan how she was lured by a friend to Sacramento and that’s how she ended up with the captors. The good thing was that she could now leave all that behind as she was free thanks to the kind postal worker.
Deputy David Cuneo of Sacramento County Sherrif’s Department spoke of Ivan’s brave action. “What Ivan did was wonderful. He stepped up where a lot of people would have just continued driving down the road, and he made a huge positive impact on this young girl’s life.”
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We are so glad there are still people like Ivan out there.
If you ever suspect someone’s a victim of sex trafficking don’t hesitate to alert the nearest police station.
Those people who never forget what others did for them while they were going through tough times are the best people. One such special person is a man named Kevin who used to spend his days at a West Seneca, New York corner, asking strangers and passersby for some money.
His sign which said that he was a war veteran, drug-free, alcohol-free and looking for a job was recently replaced with another one and it warmed many people’s hearts. The new sign placed where Kevin stayed during the past couple of months said: “Thank you everyone who has helped. I start working Monday.”
According to neighbors in the area, a man named Kevin had been standing at the intersection almost daily for months…until now.
One of the local residents, Jesse Dixon, who often stopped to help Kevin, spoke to WKBW-TV and described him as a very nice guy.
“It seemed like he, you know, hit a patch of, you know, patch of bad luck, so we were just trying to help him through it. If I didn’t see him for two or three days at a time, it was unusual. Like I said, I usually… usually saw him at least a couple times a week,” she said.
Those who were willing to offer Kevin a helping hand were grateful for the sign and the kind message.
Source: Twitter
Jesse added that she was extremely happy for Kevin, and Megan Bingham, co-chair of the annual local Project Homeless Connect event, described his act as heartwarming. “Here’s a man who is so grateful to have found a job that he left a sign for anyone who’s helped him over the last, you know, however many months,” she told WKBW-TV. “I mean, that gives me goosebumps.”
When the story was picked up by the local outlet 7 Eyewitness News and shared on their Facebook page, it went viral in the blink of an eye. A huge number of people took their time to comment.
POSITIVE NEWS to start your Sunday: A man who used to be a fixture at a West Seneca intersection left a sign behind this week, letting supporters know he found a job! Read more: https://t.co/wMn1ol93OBpic.twitter.com/sTf44KYH7L
One person wrote: “Our family has helped him out on many occasions. He was always so grateful for anything we gave him. Congratulations,” while another added: “So very happy! I have stopped on a few occasions and given him food and gift cards. He is such a remarkable kind man. So glad to hear this news.”
Apparently, Kevin got a job with a landscaping company. We are so glad his life turned for the better and we wish him success in the future.
With eight Grammy awards under his belt, Genesis drummer and lead singer Phil Collins is one of the most prominent musicians there are. He is one of only three musicians, alongside Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney, who have sold more than 100 million albums both as a solo act and a member of a band.
Born on January 30, 1951 in London, England to parents who possessed creative spirits, Collins fell in love with making music.
When he was just five, his uncle made him a drum kit out of tambourines, triangles, cymbals and toy drums, Collins recalled. “The old cliché is, ‘Well, at least it will keep him quiet’,” he told Interview Magazine.
Soon after, he found himself performing in shows at his parents’ boating club.
“When I started playing seriously, the English beat thing was just happening, the Shadows and bands like that. It was the very early ’60s,” Collins recalled.
“I remember buying Please Please Me. I used to put the record player on very loud and set up my drums so I was facing the mirror, that way you don’t look at what you’re doing.
“Then when I was fourteen I went to a teacher to learn to read drum music. I figured when this rock-and-roll thing finished I would have to make a living playing in a dance band or in an orchestra pit. So I learned to read drum music, but I found that my capacity for reading was not anywhere near as good as actually playing by instinct.”
Youtube/LiveAid
It was in the 1970 that Collin’s life changed forever. He was already playing in some bands when he came across an ad by a group called Genesis which was looking for a drummer. He decided to get in touch with them and the rest is history. In the first years of Collins being part of it, the group released five albums with singles that reached the charts.
After the founder and lead singer of Genesis left the group, Collins took his place. He was both a singer and a drummer. Speaking of his new role, he said he didn’t really feel comfortable, but as the group failed to find a singer, he simply stepped in.
Besides being a member of Genesis, Collins also had a very impressive solo career. With smash hits such as In The Air Tonight, You Can’t Hurry Love and I Don’t Care Anymore he soon became one of the best in the music industry.
When he decided to leave the group and focus on his solo career, Collins said: “Having been with Genesis for 25 years, I felt it time to change direction in my musical life.
“For me now it will be music for movies, some jazz projects and of course my solo career. I wish the guys in Genesis all the very best in their future. We remain the best of friends.”
However, in 2017, he decided to reunite with the band. Last year, they announced a world tour, The Last Domino, but had to put it on hold because of the pandemic.
Shutterstock/ Featureflash Photo Agency
And as fans were looking forward to seeing the group on stage together, Collins gave an interview with BBC Breakfast which made many concerned about his health. He and his band mates announced that it will be Collins’ son Nicholas who would do the drumming and Collins will only sing.
“Nic is a great drummer, but he is capable of sounding like early Phil. For Mike and I, that was always quite exciting,” Genesis band member Tony Banks said.
“It means you can play some of the songs that you haven’t played with Phil as the drummer for a long time.”
Youtube/7NEWS Spotlight
Speaking of why he’s not getting behind the drums, the musician revealed: “I’d love to but you know, I mean, I can barely hold a stick with this hand. So there are certain physical things that get in the way.
“I’m kind of physically challenged a bit which is very frustrating because I’d love to be playing up there with my son,” adding that he doesn’t know if he wants to be touring any longer.
“We’re all men of our age, and I think to some extent, I think it probably is putting it to bed,” he said. “I think yeah, I think just generally for me, I don’t know if I want to go out on the road anymore.”
Shutterstock/Jimmie48 Photography
During the past few years, Collins experienced certain health issues which left him struggling to get on his feet. Speaking to Billboard, he revealed that after a surgery in 2009, he was left with dislocated vertebra, nerve damage. He had also suffered a foot fracture that left him feeling like he’s walking “on sticks.”
The life of Terri Calvesbert from Ipswich, England, changed forever when she was just an 18-month-old baby. Today, she is considered a fighter who never gave up on her life and her future.
Around the time she turned one and a half, Terri suffered a horrible incident. Her mother, Julie, had a hard time putting the baby to sleep. “She was normally such a brilliant sleeper, so I didn’t understand why she wouldn’t settle,” Julie recalled in an interview with The Sun. Not knowing what to do, Julie decided to let the girl tire herself out and left the room forgetting she placed her burning cigarette there. “I never smoked in the flat, but this one night I did. I don’t know why to this day, I did such a stupid thing.”
Shortly after, Julie heard Terri screaming so she went back to the room. At that point, the entire place was filled with smoke and everything was caught on fire.
Youtube/Realstories
In a state of panic, she immediately called 911.
“I remember running into the kitchen and getting a bowl and filling it with water and throwing it into the bedroom, but it made no difference. So many people have said to me since that I should have gone in there and got her. But I panicked,” Julie recalled of that horrible night.
Terri suffered horrific burns on 90 percent of her body and no one believed she would survive.
“I have never seen anybody with extreme burns to that degree,” firefighter Simon Bevan, who saved Terri, said in the Channel 5 documentary, The Girl With 90% Burns. When he spotted her, he thought she was a charred plastic doll.
“She was so badly burnt I could not extend her neck to resuscitate her, and her body was totally rock hard. No one was expecting Terri to survive.”
Youtube/Realstories
Terri spent six months at the St. Andrews hospital in Chelmsford, England, and required more than 40 skin grafts. Until the age of 12, she had undergone 60 surgeries and her survival was dubbed a miracle. Sadly, Terri lost her hair, her nose, her fingers, and one of her feet.
During the time she was fighting for her life, her mother, filled with guilt, left Terri an her father. Luckily, Terri’s dad, Paul, is one of the best and most caring people there are.
“My dad stays with me and takes me down to the operating theatre, but all the operations scare me and they hurt a lot,” Terri said in the past.
“The last operation I had was on my left hand, to open out my fingers, but that was horrible because it got infected and I was really sick. I need eye drops too and because I didn’t have them put in that time, my eyes were sore too,” she added.
Youtube/Realstories
For her bravery and determination to regain her life back, Terri was awarded a Pride of Britain child of courage award by the Duchess of York in 2004.
With the help of her dad, she achieved many things. Terri was able to go to school where she made many friends who never teased her for her appearance but accepted her for who she is.
Terri moved on with her life. She even forgave her mother for leaving her. Years after the accident, Julie contacted Terri’s father and asked to see her daughter. Having such a big heart as she does, Terri agreed and the two see each other every now and then even today.
Facebook/TerriCalvesbert
“My mum phoned Dad after she heard he was getting married to his girlfriend Nicky and said she wanted to see me,” Terri recalled when she was 12 years old.
“Now I see her every few weeks at my grandma’s house. It’s not weird at all, it’s just normal. We talk about things like what I’m doing at school. I’m not angry with her about the fire.
“I just think I’m lucky because I see my mum and then there’s Nicky too. It’s like I have two mums instead of one.”
Facebook/TerriCalvesbert
Over the years, Terri received support from those close to her as well as from complete strangers. The fund set up to help her with the expenses helped raise around $500,000 from 1999 to 2012.
“The trust fund has been amazing, I have lost count of how much money people have raised for me,” Terri told Ipswich Star. “I even get messages now on Facebook still, with people from Canada or America, which is crazy. It means so much to me.”
Facebook/TerriCalvesbert
Today, 25-year-old Terri is happily married to her “best friend.” The two met through Facebook some years ago and have been together ever since. Terri is a mom of five-year-old daughter Poppy-Mae.
“It’s scary to be a mum and I never thought I would be able to be one. But it is great and I love it. She’s a good girl,” Terri shared with the Ipswich Star.
She is happy and loves her family to the moon and back. “I wouldn’t take my leg off at first in front of Richard,” Terri shared. “But he made me feel really comfortable very quickly and now I take my wig and my leg off at night. He really does love me.”
After everything she went through, Terri truly deserves the life she has today with her husband and daughter. “There have been difficult times over the years going through so many painful operations, but I’m so proud I’ve got to this point,” this brave woman says.
Valerie Bertinelli, the Hot in Cleveland star, was married to Eddie Van Halen, the main songwriter, guitarist and keyboardist of the rock band Van Halen, for over 20 years.
Their love story started unexpectedly and Valerie described it as love at first sight. Being a child actress, she has enjoyed fame her entire life so during one of Van Halen’s concerts back in 1980, her brothers made her go with them because they wanted to use her popularity in order to go backstage and meet the band members. After hesitating for a while, she agreed to go and that’s when she met Eddie for the first time.
Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic, Inc
A few days later, he called her and asked her on a date. One thing led to another and the two tied the knot just months after starting their relationship.
In 1990, the couple welcomed son Wolfgang, who is their only child.
On the outside, their romance resembled a picture-perfect one, although people close to them claimed things were different behind closed doors. According to some, Valerie and Eddie fought often, despite the enormous love they had for one another.
They stayed together for 20 years, until 2001, but their divorce wasn’t finalized until 2007. A year later, Valerie spoke openly of the reasons which led to her separation from Eddie. She said it was part because of his alleged infidelities and drug addiction, and part because of their son. They couldn’t pretend everything was fine between them in front of Wolfgang any longer and called it quits.
Just a year after the divorce, they both married other people but if reports are to be believed, their endearment for one another never diminished to the point of fading away completely.
Valerie married financial planner and entrepreneur, Tom Vitale, while Eddie tied the knot with stuntwoman and wrestling manager Janie Liszewski.
Unfortunately, Eddie died of throat cancer on October 6, 2020, aged 65, after a long and tiring battle. The news about his passing were confirmed by Wolfgang who wrote Eddie was the best dad he could ever ask for.
Getty Images /Kevin Winter
During his travel to Germany for his treatments, Eddie bought Valerie a pendant-sized gold bar for Thanksgiving 2019. People close to him said at the time that the gift was sort of apology for the mistakes he made during the 20 years they spent together. She, too, accepted responsibility for some of their issues.
Valerie visited Eddie on a daily basis during the final weeks of his life that he spent at the hospital. Both she and Wolfgang were said to be by his side during his final moments. His last words to them were that he loved them, AmoMama reported.
Following his passing, Valerie paid tribute to Eddie by writing that he was the person who changed her life forever. She said she only remembers the best of him. She reportedly regrets not spending more time with him during his battle with cancer.
Humans and animals have created incredible relationship over the years. We don’t only speak about the domesticated animals that we keep as pets, such as cats and dogs, but some wild creatures too.
There are plenty of remarkable stories of humans stepping in for animals when they need it the most. Whether it is a case of a lost creature, a drowning one, or else, some people never hesitate to offer a helping hand, even if that brings a risk on its own.
A Colorado Springs man named Todd Dierdorff and his wife were left puzzled when they heard strange noises coming from outside. After inspecting around the house, they saw a fawn in distress. The little one was trapped in a window well on the side of their home and was crying for help.
Todd knew he needed to get the fawn out but wasn’t sure how to do that so he called a wildlife rescue and asked for some tips. They were kind enough to provide him with instructions so he could take the fawn to safety without hurting it or getting hurt himself. As he stepped into the bushes and approached the animal, its mother appeared out of nowhere and watched Todd releasing her baby.
The deer’s reaction when she saw her fawn running towards her was an incredible one. You can check it out in the video below.
