Not everyone is born under a lucky star. Some people have it easy in life and are able to afford nice houses, vehicles, and a number of commodities, while others have a hard time putting food on the table and struggle to make ends meet.
A teenage boy named Chauncy Black didn’t have much while growing up. He and his mother had a place to call home, but struggled to make enough money for food. Black, although just 16 years old, decided things needed to change. He couldn’t stand seeing his mother feeling guilty for not providing him a better life.
One day, he decided to take bus to a place where there was lots of food, a Kroger grocery store in an affluent neighborhood. He managed to save enough money for a bus ticket and had a plan to offer help to strangers in an exchange for some food. Little did he know that this pan of his would change his life forever.
Facebook/Jody Callahan
Once at the store, Chauncy noticed a man carrying a bunch of bags so he approached and asked if he could help him carry his groceries to his car in an exchange for some donuts.
The stranger, Matt White, agreed.
“This kid looked like he had been turned down 100 times. He looked ashamed, hungry and broken. In my heart I screamed a loud “yes!”, but to him I just chuckled and said, “yeah dude, we’ll get you some donuts,” Mark recalled.
Mark realized the kid had no money, only a bus pass to get back home where his hungry mother was waiting for him.
Facebook/Matt White
Feeling the urge to step in for Chauncy, Mark decided to repay for the teen’s help not only by getting him donuts, but a bunch of other things too.
“So, needless to say, he and I went on a shopping spree. We had so much fun! We got cereal and chips and frozen veggies, pizzas, Cheetos, melons and pasta, peanut butter, milk, soap, tooth brushes, just a little bit of everything,” Mark explained.
While they were shopping, Chauncy told Mark how he was an A-straight student and was doing all in his power to get a job in order to help with the rent.
“This kid was amazing. Chauncy kept calling himself poor, but he told me that one day he was gonna be wealthy and own his own businesses so that he could help other people in his neighborhood and buy them groceries like me. I was in awe.”Facebook/Matt White
Mark even offered Chauncy a ride home. Once there, he noticed that the boy’s mother was very ill.
“I gave him a ride home so that he didn’t have to take the bus and when we got to his house I was truly humbled. He wasn’t kidding. He and his mom had nothing. They didn’t even have beds or furniture. They were sleeping on pads made out of sleeping bags, they had two lamps and nothing in their fridge.”
Chauncy’s mother was shaking uncontrollably because of the condition she suffered from. She was fragile and in need of medical assistance.
Facebook/Matt White
Chauncy was extremely thankful to Mark. No one has ever done anything so generous for him and his mom before.
“As I was leaving I gave him a hug and told him how much God loved him and that he was going to grow up to be an incredible man. I’ll never forget that hug. It meant more to me than any possession I have.”
Mark couldn’t stop thinking of the poor life conditions of Chauncy and his mom. He knew he needed to do something in order to ease their life as much as possible so he started a GoFundMe page.
In no time, this teen’s story went viral, and support and donations came pouring in. An incredible $341K was raised in response to this family’s basic needs. On top of that, Chauncy could now afford to buy the necessary equipment for his lawn mowing business he was planning on starting long time ago.
Facebook/Matt White
One serendipitous encounter changed it all for this brave teen. For more on his life story go to the video below.
One of the few people who didn’t pass unnoticed by the wide public thanks to their turbulent life, unique style, and the controversy that surrounded their life is Cayetana Fitz-James, or better known as the Duchess of Alba.
This woman, who held the most hereditary titles in the world, led quite a life. Born as a royalty, she was direct descendant of King James II and Queen Victoria Eugenie, Cayetana attracted the attention of many. She was friends with many celebrities, including Marlene Dietrich, Audrey Hepburn, but most of all Princess Margaret. Both the Duchess of Alba and Princess Margaret are widely known for “breaking” the royal protocol numerous times, all because they wanted to live their lives by their own rules.
Cayetana received most of her titles after her mother’s passing. She caught tuberculosis at the time the disease was a pandemic and died of pneumonia. Cayetana was just 8 years old at the time. What helped her move on was the fact that she had close relationship with her father, Jacobo Fitz-James Stuart y Falcó, 17th Duke of Alba.
However, when the Spanish royalty was forced into exile in 1931, Cayetana and her father moved to France. She wasn’t fond of the country’s capital, Paris, and the two soon moved to England. Once in London, she received formal education and learnt several languages.
Cayetana with her father in London / Getty Images
At the age of 21, Cayetana married her first husband, Pedro Luis Martínez de Irujo y Artacoz, who came from a noble Spanish family. Their wedding was dubbed the most expensive in the world, with a huge number of people watching the Duchess arriving at the cathedral of Seville in a horse-drawn carriage. Cayetana and Pedro had six children together, and a marriage easily described as picture-perfect. Unfortunately, Pedro died in 1972, at the age of 53. As a couple, they were a powerful one and got to hang out with some of the most influential celebrities and politicians in the world.
Cayetana, for one, hosted Jackie Kennedy in one of her castles during her visit of Spain.
Jacqueline Kennedy and the Duchess Cayetana of Alba at a charity party for the Red Cross Foundation at the ‘Casa de Pilatos’, 1966, Sevilla, Spain / Getty Images
After the passing of the love of her life, many believed Cayetana would never marry again. But they were very wrong. In fact, it was because of her second marriage to a former pastor who wasn’t in any way related to the royalty of Spain that she started being considered controversial. Jesús Aguirre y Ortiz de Zarate was 11 years her junior, which only added to the gossip that he was a toyboy and a gold digger.
“Some people will not forgive me for having married an intelligent man. We are very happy together; we do not need anyone else,” Cayetana told People in 1979.
The marriage, sadly, ended with Cayetana’s husband passing. She experienced another heartbreak, and what followed was her most controversial marriage of all.
The Duchess of Alba with her first husband / Getty Images
When she met public servant Alfonso Diez Carabantes and wanted to marry him, all her children were strongly against that decision. The reason why was that Cayetana was 85 and he was 25 years younger than her. The couple became so talked about that even the king of Spain himself took a stand. He dubbed Alfonso a gold-digger. In order to settle the dust, The House of Alba released a statement saying that the relationship “was based on a long friendship and there are no plans to marry.” That, however, didn’t turn out to be true because the marriage did happen eventually.
It was a hot topic not only in Spain and Seville, but all over the world.
Although the ceremony was a small gathering, hundreds of people gathered around the Palacio de las Dueñas to see the Duchess of Alba. As a thank you for the people’s support, she performed a quick few steps of the flamenco dance for them.
Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall and the Duchess of Alba watch a flamenco performance at the Flamenco Museum in Madrid / Getty Images
Sadly, she got to enjoy her marriage for three years only. Duchess of Alba died on November 19, 2014, at the age of 88.
She left all her fortune and her assets to her children. She was believed to have had a net worth of between €600 million and €3.5 billion.
Cayetana owned numerous castles all over Spain, with her most famous property being the Liria Palace in Madrid, built around 1770. Inside, it was believed there were around 249 oil paintings by artists such as Rembrandt and Rubens.
Cayetana, however, never spoke of her fortune and claimed she wasn’t that rich. In one occasion she even said, “I have a lot of artworks, but I can’t eat them, can I?”
Getty Images
Besides her controversial marriages, her many titles, and her connections and friendships with influential individuals, one thing that marked Cayetana’s life was the plastic surgeries she had over the years.
Although she never confessed going under the knife, it was very much obvious she had undergone procedures.
The Daily Mail once described her as a “Pekingese with Botox” and wrote how she was an extreme example of what can go wrong in the world of plastic surgery.
One thing is certain, Cayetana was happy with her looks and her life, and at the end, that’s what matters the most.
When you think of golf, the name Tiger Woods is probably the first thing that comes to your mind. This golfer who is currently ranked 14th is still one of the best and most famous in the world of this sport. His rich and very successful career made him a billionaire. In fact he earned his first billion 14 years after being a professional.
Despite being very successful at what he does, Woods showed many times that he cares for the community, thus he founded The Tiger Woods Foundation that helps children worldwide with their education.
Despite all this, some people don’t really have a nice opinion of the golfer all thanks to the infidelity scandals he was involved in.
Back in 2009, while he was still married to the Swedish beauty Elin Nordegren, Woods was reported to be cheating on her. What’s most, tabloids claimed he was involved with 18 different women during his marriage. This news shocked the world, especially his fans who believed he was lucky to be having such beautiful wife and family.
When Woods and Nordegren first met, she had a boyfriend and worked as a nanny for the Swedish professional golfer Jesper Parnevik. It was reported at the time how she didn’t have intentions dating Woods, and he was okay with that. “Tiger was OK with that,” Mia Parnevik, Jasper’s wife, said. “There was a big line of single golfers wanting to meet her. They were gaga over her. “
But then, the two somehow fell in love and got engaged in 2003 during a four-day vacation on a South African game reserve.
The famous couple got the attention of many people and the paparazzi. Their life resembled a fairy tale. The two got married at a private ceremony at the 19th hole at the Sany Lane resort in Barbados. Among the guests were Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley.
In 2007, Nordegren gave birth to their baby daughter, Sam Alexis, and two years later, the couple welcomed their son into the world, Charlie Axel.
Then in 2009, Woods’ affairs were exposed and the marriage burst like a bubble. The Parneviks felt the guilt of introducing Woods to Nordegren. However, it wasn’t their fault because they couldn’t possibly know of the secret life of their friend Woods.
”I’m kind of filled with sorrow for Elin since me and my wife are at fault for hooking her up with him, and we probably thought he was a better guy than he is,” he said.
Woods tried to fix things, but the pair eventually split. After their divorce in 2010, Nordegren got $100 million and she and the kids moved to Florida. Over the years, Woods and Nordegren managed to smooth things down and remained friends for the sake of their kids.
“Having the relationship that I have now with her is fantastic. She’s one of my best friends. We’re able to pick up the phone, and we talk to each other all the time. We both know that the most important things in our lives are our kids. I wish I would have known that back then,” Woods told Time.
”My relationship with Tiger is centered around our children, and we are doing really good – we really are – and I am so happy that is the case. He is a great father,” Nordegren told People in 2014.
It looked like Nordegren could now take time for herself. She finally made her wish of becoming a child psychologist true after she graduated from Rollins University.
She was such an inspiration for many other moms out there that she was asked to give a speech during the graduation ceremony. ”I was surprised when they called and asked if I wanted to give this speech. In the press I have been called a woman of few words and criticized by the media for not talking very much. A commencement speech is meant to inspire. And when I started to think what I should say to you all today, I got a little scared. What words could I use to inspire us all after a long journey in college? One week after that phone call, I got off an American Airlines plane and one of the flight attendants gave me a note. I hurriedly took the note and said a quick ‘Thank you’ and continued to pick up my bags. Later, I finally had time to read what it said. The note read: ‘Thank you for being my inspiration, greetings from another single mom.’ I was touched by the beautiful words from a total stranger.”
Although she has always tended to stay out of the spotlight, one thing about beautiful Elin Nordegren that caught our attention recently is the new house she bought. After she sold her $50 million dollar estate, she chose a new one, again in Florida, in the prestigious Old Palm Golf Club gated community.
The six bedroom place has been newly renovated. It has a breathtaking view and looks at a pond on the community’s own golf course.
Realtor.com
Everything inside, from the lighting to the security system, could be controlled with a phone as the place is integrated with a smart home Lutron HomeWorks System.
There is also a gym inside, an office, an elevator, and a huge media room for movie nights with the kids. The backyard is as breathtaking as the rest of the home. There is a pool there, a spa, and an outdoor kitchen, while the inside kitchen is huge with a state-of-the-art dual island, a coffee bar and a grill. The best thing of all, however, must be the glass-enclosed refrigerated wine room.
Realtor.com
Thanks to the huge windows, there is plenty of natural light in the house. As of Nordegren’s master bedroom, there is a fire place which makes the room cozy, a separate sitting room, custom closets, and over-sized dual bathrooms.
Realtor.com
On the property, there’s also a separate one-bedroom apartment and a couple of garages.
What makes a good neighbor? Is it someone who is friendly and helpful, or someone who minds their own business and doesn’t care about those living around them?
Canyon Chasers could be one of the best people you would like to be neighbors with. If you wonder why, just hear his story.
Namely, Chasers would get a motion alert from his driveway security camera every single day. After checking it out, he would see the same kid riding his bike on the flat concrete. At first, Chasers found those alerts annoying. But then, his wife came with an absolutely incredible idea.
Source: YouTube/ Canyon Chasers
“Every night I would get an alert from my driveway security camera, and at first I was a bit annoyed, but then I found myself looking forward to the evening alert. And then inspiration struck, in the form of my wife giving me this great idea,” he explained in a video he shared on YouTube titled: “How I Deal With Kids Playing in My Driveway.”
Now many would think he came up with a way of chasing the boy away, but he did the complete opposite.
Source: YouTube/ Canyon Chasers
Chasers waited for the night to come in order to get out and create a fun makeshift course for the kid. The following day, he waited to see the little one’s reaction. When he and his mom arrived in front of Chasers’ driveway, they were both stunned by the sight. The boy had the time of his life trying to follow the hand-drawn track.
But this wasn’t a one time day of fun. Whenever it rains or the track gets erased, Chasers draws a new one and improves it each time.
Source: YouTube/ Canyon Chasers
There is a starting point, a hairpin turn, a corner labeled “eyes up,” and even a “for the win” part.
What is best is that many other kids and even grown-ups, including moms with strollers, use the track.
Source: YouTube/ Canyon Chasers
It doesn’t come as a surprise that the cool video has been seen over 14.6 million times. You can check it out below.
“True friendship comes when the silence between two people is comfortable,” the saying goes. We would add to this that true friendship comes when differences between two people are embraced.
Jia Sarnicola and Zuri Copeland, both eight years old, are classmates and best friends. What’s most, the two consider themselves twins, despite their different skin color.
“They will tell you that they are twins and they have a long list of reasons why to back it up,” Jia’s mom, Ashley, told BuzzFeed News back in 2017 when the girls caught the attention of the media.
Jia Sarnicola and Zuri Copeland believe they are twins.
An older kid told them they couldn’t be twins because they don’t have the same skin color…Jia broke down and said, “You don’t know what you are talking about… we are twins because we share the same soul.”
The two are born two days apart and have celebrated their birthdays with joint parties over the years. Both Jia and Zuri believe they look alike. They even wear matching outfits and share a number of traits. Their families describe them as positive and outgoing.
“[They have] the same vibrant energy, intelligence, heart to take care of others, and both [are] extremely vocal about their needs,” Ashley said.
“We have always taught the girls that being different is cool, and to make friends with new people every day,” she added. “In their class at school, there are six different languages between the 15 kids.”
In 2017, Jia Sarnicola and Zuri Copeland said they are not just best friends but twins. They were just 4-years-old at the time of this story by @SteveHartmanCBS. But their message could teach us “grown ups” a lot today. https://t.co/dz0oKtUJ8m
The girls’ families grew close over the years as well. They are happy their girls are besties, but they are also worried for the comments made by other kids at school.
Once, while at a birthday party, one of their classmates told them they couldn’t be twins because they have different skin color. This made Jia very said and she started crying, but her answer to this comment left everyone in awe. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. We’re twins because we share the same soul,’” Jia replied.
Zuri’s sister, 23-year-old Victoria Williams, found this exchange so sweet that she felt the urge to share it online. These two girls really teach us a valuable lesson on friendship. “We have a lot to learn and we can learn from children,” Zuli’s mother, Valencia, said, as per CBS News.
My sister and her bestfriend think that they’re twins because they have the same birthday and this was the outcome.. pic.twitter.com/x1dCZmIip3
The most unlike friendships are at the same time the most beautiful ones. A sweet 2-year-old boy named Deacon Ross made friends with the garbage collector Oladele Olurunrinu, known as O’Dee.
O’Dee picks up the trash from the Ross family every Friday, and the toddler is eagerly waiting for each encounter with his favorite friend.
Source: YouTube/ Humankind
“He’s really just struck up this friendship with O’Dee. Looks forward to Fridays,” Deacon’s mom, Summer, told WFAA ABC 8. “I think this is Deacon’s first friend [where] he really understands what friendship is.”
When someone asks Deacon who his best pal is, he’s screaming: “Oooooo Deee.” In fact, he loves being around O’Dee so much that he wants his future brother to be called like that.
Source: YouTube/ Humankind
O’Dee would see Deacon waiting for him in front of his Texas home, but he had no idea just how much the little guy was fascinated with him. “I didn’t know, but I can see it,” he said.
Unfortunately, the Ross family is soon moving to a bigger house and that means Deacon and O’Dee won’t be seeing each other.
“O’Dee! Him coming! Him coming, him coming. Collect our garbage!” Deacon said when he saw his friend for the last time.
In order to express her gratitude to O’Dee, Susan decided to throw a goodbye party. She prepared bags with gifts and candies for O’Dee and his colleagues and Deacon couldn’t wait to give them to them.
Source: YouTube/ Humankind
The two friends had some fun time for the last time and O’Dee said he will miss the Ross children so very much.
“I was teary the whole time,” Summer said. “Just trying to relish the moment.”
Source: YouTube/ Humankind
One person who stumbled upon this uplifting story and who works as a waste management driver took the time to comment. “As a driver for Waste Management, I can tell you from personal experience this is the highlight of my day when the little ones come out and talk to us, watch the truck, give us water, snacks. I love being able to light up their day with the air horn, or letting them watch the truck ‘eat the trash’ as they say,” he wrote.
You can take a look at the whole story in the video below. Cute beyond words!
Ever since he released his first song Killer at the age of 27, Seal made a name for himself in the music industry. He, however, didn’t have it easy growing up and worked several jobs before he decided music was his thing.
Born Seal Henry Olusegun Olumide Adeola Samuel on February 19, 1963 in London, England, the singer-songwriter, who has sold over 20 million records worldwide, grew up in a foster care. He later moved in with his father and his stepmother and because his dad was many times harsh on him, he was afraid to show his musical talent to him and those around him.
Youtube/SiriusXM
Seal remembers the time he performed in front of his parents for the first time, referring to is as to “the scariest moment” of his life. He performed a Johnny Nash song during a Parent-Teacher Association event when he was 11 and after he was done, everyone was clapping while his parents were shocked by his voice and talent.
“I closed my eyes, sang the song, and at the end of it everyone clapped. My parents were just shocked,” he recalled.
“And it turned from the scariest place in the world to the most welcoming place. I never forgot that feeling. It was a spiritual feeling, it was healing, it transcended the physical and became more of a cathartic balm or elixir for my spirit, for my soul.
“Music has always had that. I think that’s been my ‘MO’, because I don’t know any other way, for better or worse.”
Over the years, Seal received a huge number of awards, including three Grammys, Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.
Speaking of his love for music, Seal, who has a degree in architecture, said: “I just assumed at an early age that that was the ‘why’ behind music. Not necessarily what it would do, but why it would do. ‘Why do I sing, why do I have a voice, why does it connect with people?’ And I always assumed that that was why.”
“That one was meant to offer that same relief, give that same compassion, and make that same connection available for everyone else. I guess my songs reflect that. They have been less religious and more allegorical, offering an account of life as I’ve been experiencing it. The older I get, I’ve come to understand it’s not all that different from anyone else’s, to be honest,” he explained.
Besides for his incredible music and number one hits, Seal is also known as the ex-husband of supermodel Heidi Klum with whom he has four children. Leni, the oldest, is the daughter of Heidi and Formula 1 manager Flavio Briatore, but Seal adopted her.
What Seal and Heidi had was truly unique. They seemed to click the moment they first laid eyes on one another. That’s why many were in shock when the “super-couple” announced they were getting a divorce after seven years of marriage, back in 2012.
“While we have enjoyed seven very loving, loyal and happy years of marriage, after much soul-searching we have decided to separate. We have had the deepest respect for one another throughout our relationship and continue to love each other very much, but we have grown apart,” the statement released by the couple read.
Shutterstock
Many fans of Seal can’t help but wonder how he got the scars on his face, which he embraces and which became his trademark.
Seal opened up about it and explained how his scars are a result of discoid lupus, which causes coin like scarring of the skin. He was diagnosed with it at the age of 21. “Something that had kind of been initially traumatizing turned out to be something that has made me instantly recognizable,” he told Yahoo Lifestyle.
Shutterstock
He also spoke openly of his battle with panic attacks. He first had a huge panic and anxiety attack while at a recording studio and mistook it for a heart attack. He was rushed to the hospital and says he’s learning how to cope with it.
“It’s given me such empathy and understanding for people who can’t get help,” Seal told Yahoo Lifestyle.
“There is no shame… there is no guilt in asking for help and talking about it, whether it’s therapy or it’s a friend. It needs to be shared.”
Seal is such an inspiration. Not only he is successful and brave enough to speak openly about his mental health, but he is also helping young musicians make a name for themselves.
This story is so touching that it brings tears to our eyes. It speaks of one teenager’s selfless act during the most difficult of times.
In the midst of the battle for his life, 19-year-old Rhys Langford, who was diagnosed with terminal bone cancer, put all his savings towards helping a little boy, 6-year-old Jacob Jones, who has been battling neuroblastoma.
Jacob was diagnosed with the disease at the age of two. He was then cancer free for a year before his parents noticed something was wrong again. Sadly, the cancer returned.
When Rhys learned of Jacob’s life story, he was heartbroken. “Rhys found the story of little Jacob. He called me upstairs and he was crying in bed reading the story,” the teen’s mother Catherine recalled.
Initially, Rhys gave up £1,000 of his life savings to set up a fund and raise money for Jacob’s treatment in America.
“He said, ‘Mum, I want to donate some money to him. He’s six years of age and he’s been ill since he was two. I’d be over the moon if someone would save him.’ I couldn’t believe he was thinking about someone else when he’s on death’s door himself,” Catherine said of her selfless son.
The GoFundMepage dedicated to Jacob has raised £66,185 so far.
Although both boys are from Ebbow Vale in South Wales, the two never met, but that didn’t stop Rhys from helping as much as he could.
“Reading about little Jacob and his own fight and his cancer relapse has really upset me. I know nothing can be done for me now but as one of my many last wishes, I would like to help Jacob and help him fight this awful disease… Jacob is now six and has been fighting this disease most of his life. It should not be this way! Jacobs’ family is looking to raise money again for treatment. I have transferred £1000 to Jacobs family privately but it’s still not enough. Please help me, help Jacob! ❤️” the page read.
As reported by the Daily Mail, Rhys’ mother added: “He said, ‘There’s nothing more they can do for me so if I can help save this little boy.’ Our hearts are breaking because we are losing our son but bursting with pride because considering his diagnosis he is thinking of other people.”
Unfortunately, Rhys lost his battle.
“My warrior, my hero, my son, my baby, has given up his fight. He lay down his sword and died peacefully at home with all his family around him, he closed his eyes for the last time at around 7 p.m. yesterday evening,” his mother shared in a heartbreaking post.
Not everyone is born under a lucky star. Some people have it easy in life and are able to afford nice houses, vehicles, and a number of commodities, while others have a hard time putting food on the table and struggle to make ends meet.
A teenage boy named Chauncy Black didn’t have much while growing up. He and his mother had a place to call home, but struggled to make enough money for food. Black, although just 16 years old, decided things needed to change. He couldn’t stand seeing his mother feeling guilty for not providing him a better life.
One day, he decided to take bus to a place where there was lots of food, a Kroger grocery store in an affluent neighborhood. He managed to save enough money for a bus ticket and had a plan to offer help to strangers in an exchange for some food. Little did he know that this pan of his would change his life forever.
