Dolly Parton says she never had children because they were a “sacrifice”

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Monica Pop
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Born on January 19, 1946, in Locust Ridge, Tennessee, as one of 12 children, Dolly Parton‘s family struggled to make ends meet at times, but they were very close and the children grew up in a loving home where music was always present.

Dolly’s mom had a lovely voice and sang to her kids whenever she could. Dolly herself started singing at the church when she was very young and was always excited to see an instrument. Her love for the music was so strong, that her uncle Lewis decided to give her his little Martin guitar, and she considered it her treasure. Her other uncle, Bill, helped her get into the music business, and by the age of 10, Dolly had already performed on local TV and radio stations in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Source: Instagram/ dollyparton

When she turned 13, Dolly made her debut on the national country radio station, Grand Ole Opry.

Dolly was the first person in her family to graduate from high school, but she didn’t attend college because she wanted to fully focus on her music career. “I had a dream,” she recalled. “And I had a talent, I thought. And I really believed it was going to happen.” And it did happen as Dolly Parton’s name is until this day one of the most famous names in the music industry.

Source: Instagram/ dollyparton

She knew that if she wanted to be heard, she should move to the center of the country music, Nashville. There, she worked with Porter Wagoner on The Porter Wagoner Show, and the duo became very popular. It was the start of a career which spans decades. What’s most, Dolly doesn’t seem like she’s planning to slow down. She’s still writing music and performing, and that’s awesome because we can never have enough of her voice, her music, and her energy.

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Speaking of one of her most famous songs, Jolene, Dolly shared the story behind the name. “One night, I was on stage, and there was this beautiful little girl — she was probably 8 years old at the time,” she told NPR Music. “And she had this beautiful red hair, this beautiful skin, these beautiful green eyes, and she was looking up at me, holding, you know, for an autograph. I said, ‘Well, you’re the prettiest little thing I ever saw. So what is your name?’ And she said, ‘Jolene.’ And I said, ‘Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene. ‘That is pretty. That sounds like a song. I’m going to write a song about that.’”

As for the lyrics, they were inspired by a bank teller who had crush on Dolly’s husband and greatest love of her life, Carl Dean.

“She got this terrible crush on my husband,” Parton said. “And he just loved going to the bank because she paid him so much attention. It was kinda like a running joke between us — when I was saying, ‘Hell, you’re spending a lot of time at the bank. I don’t believe we’ve got that kind of money.’ So it’s really an innocent song all around, but sounds like a dreadful one.”

Source: Instagram/ dollyparton

Jolene was nominated for two Grammy Awards for Best Female Country Vocal Performance (both studio and live version). Over the course of her career, Dolly has won eight Grammy Awards, has written over 3,000 songs, and has sold more than 100 million albums. She has topped the country chart 25 times.

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When Dolly was 18, and already a famous singer, she met her husband of more than 50 years, charming Carl Dean. Speaking of their first encounter, Dean recalled how he knew he would marry her and how he thought she was the most beautiful girl.

They tied the knot in May, 1966, in a private ceremony in Ringgold, Georgia.

In 2016, on their 50 year anniversary, Dolly and Carl renew their vows. They are in love with one another as day one, but decided not to have children. Doll didn’t speak of this decision much, but recently, speaking on Today, she shared that she gave up having kids because of her career.

“I’ve made sacrifices, but I think, like I said, I believe what I know I’m supposed to do,” she said. “I’ve made the sacrifice of time… and not having time to spend with family, and you give up family and friends, vacation, and work without end, 24/7, 365, but you got to make the sacrifice.”

Source: Instagram/ dollyparton

In one occasion, Dolly told The Guardian how she and Carl have always wondered how their children would look like.

However, although she doesn’t have kids on her own, Dolly is making sure millions of children receive high-quality books through her program. She says she started it because of her dad and added: “So, he got to live long enough to see it really take off and start doing good, and so he loved it when the kids called me the Book Lady. He was prouder of that than saying that my daughter’s a star: ‘My daughter’s the Book Lady,’” as per NCSL.

Dolly is a true legend. Besides being one of the most famous musicians of all time, she’s also an actress and one of the most caring and most beautiful women we know.

Wendy William’s hefty divorce settlement – this is what the host ended up with

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Monica Pop
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Wendy Williams started her career as a DJ and a radio host before she moved to television and rose to stardom.

Williams was born on July 18, 1964, in Asbury Park, New Jersey. Ever since she was a young girl, she felt like she stood out from the crowd. However, what she didn’t know at the time was that being sort of different would help her become the celebrity that she is today.

She used to describe herself as a “misfit.” In her memoir, Wendy’s Got The Heat, she wrote she was “the big girl in a family of perfect bodies.”

“I was a misfit basically from the time I came out of the womb,” she explained. “My parents are perfect, my sister, Wanda, who is seven years older than I am, is perfect. My brother, Tommy, the only boy and namesake to my father, is perfect. Then there is me.

“I was an outcast in my own home, and when I got to school, I didn’t quite fit in anywhere there, either,” she added. “I was the Black girl in a practically all-white school. And among the handful of Blacks, I was the ‘white girl,’ the outcast. I spent most of my youth in my room, rocking back and forth for endless hours, plotting my future. I knew that one day my being different would pay off.”

Al Pereira/Getty Images/Michael Ochs Archives

While at university, she never saw herself as part of a sorority. Instead, she got heavily involved with the student radio channel WRBB 104.9 FM. This experience only made her even more convinced that being a radio personality was her thing. At the same time, she knew she needed to work really hard in order to become successful and reach for the stars.

“It made it wonderful because I got involved with something that I thought, back at that time, would serve me better in the future than hanging out with a bunch of people at parties or even being a sorority girl. I got involved with something that would be germane to my future if I just focused,” she shared with WRBB.

Besides the student radio channel, Williams worked for other radios while at university. Then, in 1984, she became an intern for Matty in the Morning on KISS 108 in Boston. That was her first real job.

Dominik Bindl/Getty Images for NYFW: The Shows

After becoming a famous DJ, Williams turned into a radio celebrity. She interviewed famous people and never asked soft questions, something which made her listeners fall for her even further. Williams earned a Billboard Radio Award and was honored as the R&B Major Market Radio Air Personality of the Year. Williams was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame once her radio show was over.

Later on, she turned to television with her show The Wendy Williams Experience on VH1 which attracted 12 million people daily.

In 2009, she started her show The Wendy Williams Show which brought her even more success and a nomination for an Emmy for Outstanding Talk Show/Entertainment four times.

Santiago Felipe/Getty Images

Williams was married twice. Not much is known of her first husband with whom she stayed together for two years. Her second husband and the father of her only son has caused heartbreak at Williams over the years. Kevin Hunter has cheated on Williams, but she decided to forgive him each time.

They stayed together for 21 years before they finally filed for a divorce in 2019.

“If you told me when I was 25 years old or 30 years old that I would stay around for a cheater, I would have been like you are lying,” Williams told Essence.

“I’ve got way too much to offer a man to stick around for him cheating on me. At that particular time, I had my career in radio, I was making a great salary, I had vacation property of my very own, and the world was my oyster, so I definitely thought I wasn’t staying around for some cheating. But I did, and I don’t regret it.”

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In 2017, it was revealed that Hunter cheated on Williams again, this time with a massage therapist named Sharina Hudson. It was also reported that he impregnated her.

“He’s my best friend, he’s my lover, he’s all this, and he’s all that,” Williams said at the time. “Anybody who’s been married for five minutes or 500 years, you know marriages have ebbs and flows. Marriages are not easy.”

However, they eventually divorced in 2020. As Hunter had equal shares in the Wendy Williams Productions Inc. and the two had shared property, they needed to split assets.

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According to Page Six, she ended up with their New Jersey home which was listed for $1.7 million, but gave him $250,000. Further, he got their other home.

Williams and Hunter settled for her to be the sole owner of the Wendy Williams Productions Inc. and pay him for his shares.

She also kept him in on her insurance policy and will continue cover his health insurance. She also got the money from their joint account.

According to Celebrity Net Worth, the host is worth $40 million.

Great Robin Williams made Koko the Gorilla laugh for the first time in 6 months after the death of her childhood playmate

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Monica Pop
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Koko, the gorilla we all loved so much, was one of the few apes that was able to communicate using Gorilla Sign Language, a modified version of the American Sign Language. But she became even more popular after she made friends we the man who will always be remembered not only as one of the greatest actors of all time, but an amazing humanitarian who made many laugh too, one and only Robin Williams.

The first encounter between Koko and Robin, that later turned into a special friendship, took place back in 2001.

Speaking of the unique opportunity to be around Koko, late Robin said, “I recently had a mind-altering experience communicating with a gorilla. Her name is Koko.”

Why Robin made a choice to pay Koko a visit in the first place was because he cared about others so very much and was always to go above and beyond to see both people and animals thriving. He learned Koko was devastated and depressed after her playmate died, so Robin somehow knew he could make a change in her life, and he was right.

Six months after she lost her childhood friend, Koko laughed for the first time when she met Robin.

The video of the two meeting is incredible. They look at each other and sit next to one another, holding hands and laughing.

“Notice that Robin made Koko smile — something she hadn’t done for over six months, ever since her childhood gorilla companion, Michael, passed away at the age of 27,” said Francine Patterson, Koko’s caregiver. as reported by Today.

Source: YouTube Screenshot – kokoflix

Everyone could say they had fun and a huge impact on one another. Koko tried Robin’s glasses and “stole” his wallet.

“Robin’s ability to just ‘hang out’ with Koko, a gorilla, and in minutes become one of her closest friends, was extraordinary and unforgettable,” Patterson said. “But not only did Robin cheer up Koko, the effect was mutual, and Robin seemed transformed.”

“We shared something extraordinary – laughter. Koko understands spoken English and uses over a 1,000 to share her feelings and thoughts about daily events, life, love, even death,” Robin said at the time.

Koko was born at the San Francisco zoo and spend her whole life around humans whom she loved. Her caregivers reported that when she heard of Robin’s tragic passing, she signed, “cry.”

(SAN FRANCISCO | Koko the gorilla, who learned sign language, dies at 46) has been published on STL.News,…

Posted by STL.News on Thursday, 21 June 2018

Koko truly was a very special animal. Experts who got to work with her said her intelligence matched that of a 3-year-old child. She understood around 2,000 words of spoken English and expressed human-like behavior.

“Through mastery of sign language—the familiar hand speech of the deaf—Koko has made us, her human companions, aware not only that her breed is bright, but also that it shares sensitivities commonly held to be the prerogative of people,” Patterson said.

One of the most famous photographs of Koko which brought her even greater popularity is the one where she was posing with a camera, taking picture of herself in the mirror, which was on the cover of the National Geographic magazine published in 1978.

Cover gorilla for National Geographic Magazine, zoo-born Koko took this selfportrait in a mirror—hence the reversed…

Posted by James Shafer on Friday, 29 June 2012

What was even more incredible about this world-famous ape is that she had a cat pet that she took care of and raised like her own child, named All-ball. “The cat was a Manx and looked like a ball,” said Ron Cohn, a biologist with the foundation. “Koko likes to rhyme words in sign language.”

Once, Koko ripped a steel sink from the wall and signed, “the cat did it.” The relationship between Koko and All-ball is still dubbed as one of the most unusual and sweetest friendships between animals of different kind.

Koko & All Ball, her Manx kitten
my favorite celebrity from childhood

Posted by Jms K Lemert on Wednesday, 3 June 2020

Koko passed away in 2018, at the age of 46. Rest in peace sweet Koko, you will be dearly missed.

Goldie Hawn opens up about her depression in her young days and says she ‘couldn’t go outside in public’

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Monica Pop
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Goldie Hawn is one of those celebs who radiates positivity wherever she appears, whether it’s interviews, premieres, or the red carpet. I would say she’s one of a kind. She has spent her entire life under the spotlight but is very grounded and enjoys a peaceful life with her partner of many years, actor Kurt Russel. What these two have is an exception to the rule that Hollywood marriages don’t last. Well, maybe it’s because they never really married and believe that is exactly what kept them together for so long.

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Born on November 21, 1945, in Washington DC, to father Rut and mother Laura who ran a dance school, it wasn’t surprising that Hawn herself fell in love with dancing and ballet. Her first public performance was in the Ballett Russe de Monte Carlo production of The Nutcracker when she was just 10.

Pretty much everyone who knew Hawn and her inner talent for dancing knew she would make it big in the industry. And so it was. Young Hawn appeared in the television series Good Morning, World and stole millions of hearts.

A year later, in 1968, she had her first film debut as a dancer in the Disney film The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band, and the rest is history. This movie not only helped boost her career, but it was also when she met Russel for the first time. He was younger than her and despite she thought he was very handsome, the two didn’t embark on an adventure.

“I was 21 and he was 16,” Hawn recalled during a BBC Radio 4 interview. “I thought he was adorable, but he was much too young. Then, years later we met up again, and I remembered that I liked him very much when I first met him. We both said we would never go out with another actor so it just shows you never can tell.”

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Years later, during the filming of Swing Shift, Hawn and Russel met again, and that was it. He couldn’t resist her charm and used the pick-up line “Man, you’ve got a great figure.”

After that, they went on a date and have been together ever since. They are now grandparents and love their new roles so very much.

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However, no matter how awesome her life sounds, Hawn had her struggles throughout her life. When she was just 21, she experienced depression and had a hard time coping with her mental state.

During a Good Morning Britain appearance, the award-winning actress spoke up of her struggles openly saying: “When I was young, I became depressed. I was 21 and I was rising to success.

“I know it sounds terrible, but it’s a very, very difficult thing, I didn’t necessarily want that.”

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She also recalled how she was afraid of going out of home and be under the spotlight. That was a difficult thing to do, however, because the world of film was already a huge part of her life and the public was interested in the young and stunning blonde lady who became a celebrity almost overnight.

“I didn’t want to be a big deal, I wanted to go home, I wanted to get married, I wanted to be a dancing school teacher,” she continued.

“I did have a plan and I didn’t have delusions of grandeur on any level, I was extremely realistic. This is something that, for me, I worked through,” she added. “I went to a doctor, I went to a psychologist, I learned about quieting my mind and what happens to the brain.”

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Having someone so famous who many young people look up to speak up about such a sensitive subject is truly a great deal.

Hawn does all in her power to help others who are going through a hard time because of depression and speaks of the importance of a good mental health through her organization MindUp. It focuses primarily on young children. Hawn believes that offering help is even more crucial in the times of the pandemic because all this chaos affects the mental state of pretty much everyone to one extent or another.

Source: Youtube/Today

“When this pandemic happened, it gobsmacked everyone,” Hawn said on Good Morning Britain. “We didn’t know how to handle our children, we were dealing with ourselves. It’s just a plethora of problems.

“For every one of us, we may have a different reason why we may feel low, or anxious, or depressed,” she added. “All I want to say is that if you really aren’t happy, we do need to be able to tend to ourselves, to go to a doctor. Don’t be embarrassed.”

Thank you Goldie Hawn for everything you are giving to the world.

Actor Danny Trejo witnesses car flip and rushes to pull out boy with special needs

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Monica Pop
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Machete saves the day yet again! The actor who played in a huge number of movies and is a true Hollywood legend, one and only Danny Trejo, showed us yet again why we all love him so much.

As he was on his way to have his car worked, he witnessed an accident. A driver went through a red light and crushed into another vehicle. Unfortunately, a grandmother and her special needs grandson found themselves trapped inside their overturned car.

Source: YouTube/ ABC7

Trejo rushed to help together with another witness named Monica Jackson. Having worked with children with special needs before, Trejo was aware he needed to make sure the boy stayed calm.

“He was panicked. I said OK, we have to use our superpowers. So he screamed ‘superpowers,’ and we started yelling ‘superpowers,” Trejo said. “I said do this, with the muscles. He said, ‘muscles’. We got kind of a bond. I kept facing him away from the accident.”

Source: YouTube/ ABC7

Firefighters arrived just in time to help release the grandmother. During her rescue, Trejo stayed by her grandson’s side.

Following the positive outcome, Trejo praised the first responders for their quick acting and reminded everyone of the importance of safety while driving.

“Pay attention. And the only thing that saved that little kid was his car seat, honest to God,” the actor said.

Trejo is known as someone who does a lot for the community and for people in need. He is a great humanitarian and a drug counselor who helps many young people overcome their addiction. Being sober for over 50 years, he’s aware that the support of those around is crucial for staying on the right path.

He might look like a tough guy, but Trejo is in fact a person with a heart of gold and a gentle personality who works with a number of charities. Among the rest, he donates hundreds of meals from his restaurants Trejo’s Tacos. During the pandemic, he donated meals to frontline workers.

“Everything good that has happened to me has happened as a direct result of helping someone else,” he often says. We believe that’s a good rule to live by.

We wish more celebrities follow this actor’s example.

For his first stand account of the incident go to the video below.

Deaf son gives mom the surprise of her life by secretly paying off her mortgage

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Monica Pop
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Can we ever repay mothers for everything they do for us? I guess not, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try doing that.

As a thank you for everything she did for him throughout the years, one devoted son from South Carolina decided to give his mother the surprise of her life. Malcolm Jenkins has been deaf since he turned three years old. Despite that, he has lived a fulfilling life and has a successful career.

After working hard for years, he could finally help his mother, Claudia Smith, 59, pay off her mortgage.

With the help of his two sisters, Natasha and Claudia, named after her mom, he managed to make his mother’s day in the best way possible.

They told her how they were making a small contribution towards her mortgage payment and called the bank to inform them about that while the mother was listening. But instead of a tiny contribution, Natasha told the bank representative: “I actually want to use it to pay off the account.” Claudia couldn’t believe her ears. Her initial reaction was a loud “What???” followed by a happy dance.

“My brother lost his hearing at three years old, but that never stopped him from living and excelling in life. He saved his money from working to do something like this for our mother,” Natasha said of her brother’s lovely gesture. “My mom made sure as we all grew up that there was nothing we could not accomplish despite any odds that may have been stacked up against us. He is a true example of doing anything you put your mind to. The moment her mortgage was paid off was priceless!”

We are so glad this beautiful surprise was caught on tape. A lot of people commented under it saying that Claudia raised her children right.

“We can never repay her for all of the sacrifices she has made for us over the years – there is no monetary amount large enough to do that,” Natasha told Happily News. “To this day she is a great support to all of us with anything we want to do, we are all adults but she is still as present as she was when we were growing up. We love her wholeheartedly and this was just a small way to show her that,” she added.

Stray dog with injured paw checks himself into vet clinic and gets much-needed help

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Monica Pop
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Dogs are man’s best friend, and that’s the only truth when these incredibly friendly animals are in question. Their love for their humans is overwhelming and genuine. Dogs truly make the best pets one could ask for. Besides being loyal to the core, dogs are also very intelligent.

When they are forced to live on the streets, they are able to fend for themselves. They are capable of looking for food and shelter as well as help from humans, just like the canine from this story.

The day started like any other for Dayse Ferreira, a veterinarian who works at a clinic in Juazerio do Norte, Brazil, until an unexpected visitor stopped by her clinic.

To everyone’s surprise, one dog entered the place all by itself. As they were all waiting for the owner to follow after him, no one was around, and that’s when Ferreira realized the dog was a stray in need of help.

“When he came in, he put the injured paw forward, as if to say hello and to show that he was hurting,” Ferreira told The Dodo. “We were surprised because he knew where to ask for help.”

Source: YouTube/ MY WORLD

She approached closer and decided to take the dog in for examination.

“Right away, I felt that he needed help and I invited him in,” she shared with Bored Panda. “He kindly let me examine him and after some tests.”

After thorough inspection, Ferreira realized the dog had a tumor on his paw. He was also covered in fleas. The good thing was that the tumor was treatable.

The first thing Ferreira did was treat the dog, whom she named Quindim, a bath. Needless to say, he loved being around people and showed everyone around how lovable and friendly he was.

“He is doing very well now, reacting perfectly to chemotherapies, to the drugs he has been taking and so far he has had no adverse reaction,” Ferreira told Bored Panda. “He is loving, very playful, he is very outgoing, runs, plays and socializes well with other animals.”

Source: YouTube/ MY WORLD

More good news followed once Quindim’s story went viral. Many fell in love with his bubbly personality and intelligence and adoption requests came pouring in.

“Quindim is now for adoption. We already have around 10 people from Brazil all interested in giving him a loving home,” Ferreira said, adding they were looking for a local adopter.

“The most admirable thing is that he came on his own. His intelligence is beautiful,” Ferreira told The Dodo. “I’m sure he will find a home that will welcome him and receive him with all the love he deserves.”

What an amazing story. For more go to the video below.

Diving YouTubers help find the remains of a number of missing people

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Monica Pop
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What started as a YouTube channel featuring videos of cleaning waters from debris, ended up with solving cases of missing people.

Oregon-based scuba-diver Jared Leisek embarked on a mission to help clean the local rivers and post videos of his underwater adventures on his YouTube channel. His buddies, Sam Ginn and Doug Bishop, who shared his dream for a clean environment, joined him in his mission.

At the beginning, they would pull out all sort of garbage, old phones, scrap metal and a lot more, but as time passed by they bought the latest equipment for pulling out old vehicles in order to prevent their fluids pollute the waters.

Source: YouTube/ Adventures With Purpose

As their videos started attracting the attention of more and more viewers, families of missing people reached out to Jared and asked for help in locating their loved ones. “Families [of missing people] saw what it is that we were capable of,” Jared explained. “We can go out. We can search. We can find. We can float, and we can recover these vehicles. ‘We have a lost loved one. Jared, do you think that you and your organization can come help us out?’”

Nathan Ashby went missing in July of 2019. His family told Jared and his crew how his vehicle was detected at the bottom of a Missouri river by sonar equipment but investigators were unable to reach it because of the strong current and depth.

“I turned to Sam [Ginn], who’s my main dive partner and buddy, and I said, ‘Sam, are you up for taking a 32-hour trip to Warrenton, Missouri?’” Jared said. Once there, it took these divers nine hours to have Ashby’s body and his truck out.

Source: YouTube/ Adventures With Purpose

After COVID lockdown, the group were live-streaming a video for their channel when Jared saw a body. He stopped filming and called the cops.

“This is Timothy Robinson, who went missing 12 years earlier and left a note that said, ‘I’m going to the river to a boat ramp, and I am taking myself out.’ And here we are, 12 years later. We now have been able to give that family answers,’” Jared said.

Source: YouTube/ Adventures With Purpose

Among the number of families that Jared, Sam, and Doug helped find answers about their loved ones was the family of Tammy Goff. Her husband Bob contacted Jared and told him how his wife of 42 years, Tammy, went missing some three years ago. He asked from them to help him find her body and they agreed.

After four hours of searching featured in four separate episodes on their YouTube channel Adventures With Purpose, Jared and his crew found Tammy’s truck at the bottom of the river. They ripped out the license plate and handed it to her grieving husband.

Source: YouTube/ Adventures With Purpose

“The moment alongside the river, when I’d seen the license plate, knew that it was her truck and that they told me that she was inside, it was just this whole two and a half years of load that just fell off of my shoulders,” Bob, who finally got the answers he was looking for, said.

Jared, Sam, and Doug don’t ask for payments from the families they help. They only rely on YouTube and donations from people who appreciate what they do. Amazing, isn’t it?

Source: YouTube/ Adventures With Purpose

For more on the work of these incredible divers go to the video below.

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