Parents respond to strangers who jump to hurtful conclusions because of their daughter’s rare skin disease

Every parent-to-be wishes for their little bundle of joy to be born healthy and have a happy childhood. Unfortunately, Paul and Rebecca Callaghan weren’t that lucky.

Their daughter had experienced problems while in the womb and had to be delivered prematurely. Sadly, neither the doctors nor the parents were aware of the severity of the baby’s health condition until she was welcomed into the world. 

Little Matilda Rose Callaghan has gone through so much during her life and she’s still struggling. But she’s one brave girl who has loving parents by her side. 

The moment Matilda was born, doctors noticed her face was covered in dark blue and red marks. Initially, they thought those were just bruises she sustained during birth, but that wasn’t the case. Those marks were something way more serious and were not about to fade away. 

During the first days of her life, Matilda had to undergo various surgeries. She even stopped breathing twice and medics had to revive her. Eventually, they learned that the marks on her face were a result of the baby’s Trachea Oesophageal Fistula (TOF) and Sturge Weber Syndrome. This syndrome is a neurological disorder characterized by distinctive port-wine stains on the forehead, scalp, or around the eye caused by an overabundance of capillaries near the surface of the skin. 

Sadly, having these conditions meant Matilda would experience glaucoma, seizures, weakness on the left side of her body and even learning disabilities. 

In order for her birthmarks not to spread and affect the brain or other organs, they had to be treated with laser treatments. 

The treatments that Matilda has to undergo until she’s 16 years old leave polka dot marks on her face. They fade away after around three weeks but since she receives laser treatments every two months, her face is most of the time covered in dots. 

Whenever she’s out with her parents, strangers stare at her and make her and her parents feel uncomfortable mostly because they believe the marks are a result of beating and abuse. 

The Callaghans are left heartbroken whenever people make fun of their daughter. They know that she’s way too young to be aware of her condition but fear that her self-confidence would be greatly affected as she grows older. 

Matilda’s father wants people to know the truth behind his daughter appearance and says, “They just see what is in front of them and jump to hurtful conclusions. I wish they could see past the birthmark and see what a wonderful little angel she is.”

Matilda is unable to walk on her own and has difficulties communicating, but her parents do their best to provide her with the best life she can get. They love her to the moon and back and are there to fight her battle with her. 

They share her story because they want people to be aware of the obstacles they are trying to overcome every single day. 

This is what Michael Jackson’s youngest son Bigi Jackson looks like today

11 years have passed since the world lost great Michael Jackson who remains until this day the one and only King of Pop.

Michael’s life was always interesting for the public and the paparazzi who followed his every step very closely. They were particularly interested in his privacy which he tended to keep for himself. When his children were born, many were questioning the stories behind the kids’ mothers.

Michael Jackson / Facebook

Two of his children, Michael Joseph “Prince” Jackson, Jr. and Paris Michael Katherine Jackson were brought into the world by the singer’s second wife and friend of many years Debbie Rowe. In fact, rumors were that he married her so that she could help him become a father, something the pop icon wanted badly.

Michael was first married to Lisa Marie Presley. He first met her when he was just 16 and she was 6. Years passed by before the two met again at a dinner hosted by artist Brett-Livingstone Strong and became a thing. At the beginning, they were just friends who talked on the phone every single day. However, they realized that they had a lot in common, including complicated relationship with the real world, and in one occasion, Michael asked her, “If I asked you to marry me, would you do it?” Lisa Marie, who was at the time married to actor Danny Keough and a mother of two, said yes.

Lisa Marie separated with her husband in 1994 and tied the knot with Michael just 20 days after her divorce was finalized. She, however, didn’t like the idea of carrying Michael’s children as she thought he was too childish to be a father.

According to J. Randy Taraborrelli, the author of the book Michael Jackson: The Magic and the Madness, the singer told Lisa Marie, “My friend Debbie [Rowe] said she will get pregnant and have my baby. If you will not do it, then she will. How about that?” to what she said she was okay with that. The pair, however, divorced in 1996, the same years he married Debbie.

Debbie was still more of a friend than a wife. In fact, she was more like a surrogate than a mother and wasn’t attached to the children.

Michael Jackson in the opening of one of the concerts of his “Dangerous tour” in 1993.

“My kids don’t call me Mom because I don’t want them to. They’re Michael’s children. It’s not that they are not my children, but I had them because I wanted him to be a father. People make remarks, ‘I can’t believe she left her children.’ Left them? I left my children? I did not leave my children. My children are with their father, where they are supposed to be. I didn’t do it to be a mother… If he called me tonight and said let’s have five more [children], I’d do it in a heartbeat,” she said during an interview with English journalist Martin Bashir.

In 1999, Michael and Debbie divorced and he got full custody of the children.

Instagram / Debbie Rowe Official

The star’s third child, Bigi Jackson, or better known as Blanket, was born in 2002. The nickname, which he got because his face was always covered with a blanket when he was out in the public, caused Prince troubles while growing up because his friends often teased him. He now prefers to be called Bigi.

Information about Bigi’s mother was never revealed. In fact, Michael claimed he had his youngest child through artificial insemination and he had no idea who the mother was.

Facebook

His father’s death affected Bigi a lot. The boy was just nine years old at the time and had a hard time coping with the pain. After the tragic incident, Michael Jackson’s mother, Katherine Jackson, was the one who cared for him and raised him.

Today, Bigi is doing perfectly fine. He was trying to keep a low profile until recently, but he’s now active on the social media. Together with his older brother, Bigi runs a YouTube channel, Film Family, where they rate different movies. After a couple of videos, the number of their followers reached 35,000, so we guess we’ll be seeing more of him in the future.

Bigi lives at an elite Calabasa, California neighborhood and attends Buckley School, a private school in Sherman Oaks, California.

What fans can say for sure is that Bigi inherited his father’s looks and his love for comics. He loves being around friends and practices karate.

53-year-old mom and her 31-year-old daughter give birth to biological sisters just weeks apart

A woman in her thirties named Kelsi Pierce and her husband struggled to conceive. They did all in their power to become parents, but nothing worked. They underwent a number of procedures, including IVFs which cost them fortune, but to no avail.

After everything they went through, doctors told Kelsi that conceiving was practically impossible for her because she had a low ovarian reserve. As it turned out, the lining of her uterus was too thin to carry a pregnancy.

“He [the doctor] told me that nothing was working and my body just wasn’t able to [carry a pregnancy],” Kelsi told Good Morning America. “It was a very emotional conversation, of course, but I understood that we’d tried everything possible.”

Source: Facebook

This left the desperate couple with two options. They could either adopt or find someone to carry one of their embryos for them. They wanted to go with the second option but since they spent all of their money on the procedures it wasn’t possible because it would cost them over $100.000.

“We had already poured more than our savings and gone into debt incredibly just for what we had done before, so it wasn’t an option,” Kelsi explained. “It was a very depressing time.”

But then, out of the blue, someone special stepped in and helped them restore their shattered dreams. It was someone this couple never thought of; Kelsi’s mom.

Source: Facebook

Although she was 53 at the time, Kelsi’s mom underwent a number of tests which confirmed her body was able to carry Kelsi’s baby.

“I woke up and there was a text on my phone and it was a picture of a positive pregnancy test and I just lost it,” Kelsi said of the time she learned her mother was pregnant shortly after she underwent an embryo transfer in February.

This news was the best she could ever receive. That meant Kelsi would finally be a mother. It also meant she could stop seeing doctors and take fertility meds.

But then, something truly unbelievable happened. Something which convinced the mother to be that God truly works in mysterious ways. “I used to take pregnancy tests every month and it was just one of those things where, by habit, I took a pregnancy test,” she said of that day in March. “I glanced down at the test and I was going to throw it away like normal, and that was the first time I saw two lines.”

Source: Facebook

She couldn’t believe her eyes and was convinced there was a mistake with the test so she took another one which only confirmed that Kelsi was indeed pregnant.

These mother and daughter both carried Kelsi’s babies. At 36 weeks pregnant, Kelsi’s mom was forced to give birth to a baby daughter named Everly. Despite being delivered prematurely, the little one was super healthy. Just seven weeks and three days later, baby Ava was welcomed into the world.

Kelsi and her husband became parents to two beautiful girls. They couldn’t believe how their lives changed in just two years time. From having been told they could never conceive, to welcoming two bundles of joy.

Source: Facebook

“Even if you have to go a super unconventional route, if being a mom is important to you, there are a lot of ways to do this,” Kesli wrote in an attempt to encourage others who are in the position she was in some years ago.

For more on this miraculous story go to the video below.

Fashion designer Calvin Klein, the man behind the legendary label: Net worth, boyfriend, marriages

Calvin Klein, along with his friend and business partner Barry K. Schwartz, established the Calvin Klein Inc. and soon turned it into a multibillion-dollar operation and one of the most successful and recognizable brands in the industry.

For young Klein, the dream of designing clothes was born when he was still just a child. His grandmother was a seamstress and he enjoyed watching her work with fabrics and create beautiful pieces.

Klein was born in 1942, to a Jewish family in the Bronx, New York. His father fled Hungary amid the World War, and his mother was born in America to parents who were immigrants from Europe.

Realizing their son was was interested in his grandmother’s work, Klein’s mother supported his passion and encouraged him to study at the High School of Art and Design in Manhattan.

Calvin Klein in 1979 / Joan Adlen for Getty Images

In 1962, Klein graduated from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York and started his apprenticeship at a cloak-and-suit manufacturer, Dan Millstein. Further, he worked for various shops and manufacturers in New York. However, he wasn’t happy with the idea of manufacturing pieces he didn’t find appealing, so he eventually quit. According to the designer himself, one particular situation made him consider starting his own business instead of working for others.

”One day I saw a woman walking down the street in the yellow suit with the yellow fox collar and cuffs, a yellow hat, a yellow handbag and yellow shoes – and I quit. I was so sick to think that I had been part of making that outfit possible,” Klein explained in a rare interview in 1984.

The story of how his small business turned into a fashion empire is a rather serendipitous one. One day, a representative of the major department store, Bonwit Teller, entered Klein’s small rented showroom by accident. Apparently, she missed the floor and ended up at Klein’s workshop. When she noticed his work, she placed an order for $50,000 for his coats.

People loved his pieces and he made millions in sales by the early ‘70s.

Calvin Klein, Georgio Santangelo and guest during “Opium” Perfume Launch – After Party at Studio 54 at (Photo by Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)

Klein became a prominent figure in the fashion industry creating an iconic brand which initially focused on women’s coats and coordinates and later expanded to menswear, sportswear, jewelry, watches, perfumes, scarves, shoes, belts, sunglasses, lingerie, you name it.

Klein has always nurtured a minimalist style. “I grew up in an environment that was very baroque, and always loved simplicity and purity. Everything had to be pure, minimal and strong,” he told Huffington Post.

When he “reinvented” the jeans and offered a brand new experience to people with his tight-fitting denim, Klein reached new heights in the world of fashion. His commercials, which many found vulgar, brought him even more success. One of them, which is probably the most famous one, featured then 15-year-old Brooke Shields who could be seen wearing the famous jeans and saying, “Do you know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing.”

”You know there were a lot of people that were offended, but that wasn’t the intentions,” Calvin Klein told Cherwell in 2019.

Another of his advertising campaigns, which was released in 1979, created as much controversy as the previous one.

“We had someone shoot [then 23-year-old model Patti Hansen] on her hands and knees — she had this incredible mane of hair. People were really upset. That didn’t win me a lot of friends, but I believed in reaching people — especially when making products that a lot of people can afford to buy,” Klein told Huffington Post and continued: “We never did any of the creative, thinking it would cause controversy… We just thought of creating something exciting that would push the envelope, but not be vulgar.”

Klein has always been a very respected public figure. In the past, he could be often seen attending numerous events, but in the recent years, he is rarely seen in public and tends to stay out of the limelight.

In fact, even during the time of the peak of his career, Klein never revealed much about his private life.

What we know of him is that he was married twice and has one daughter, Marci Klein, who is an established producer best known for her work on NBC’s Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock

Calvin and Marci Klein at the MET Gala circa 1992 in New York City.
(Photo by PL Gould/Images/Getty Images)

Klein married his first wife, Jayne Centre, a textile designer, in 1964. The marriage ended after 10 years. Then, in 1986, he married Kelly Rector with whom he stayed for 20 years. Their wedding was a number one topic back in the day.

”I love him,” she said at the time. “I love everything he does. He’s just the best guy in the world. I am his muse. I happen to be very American, look very American. That helps, to fit right into his sense of design and style.” 

Calvin Klein in 2015 / Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images

In 2011, the famous fashion designer admitted he was dating a man, model Nick Gruber. Speaking to Forbes, Klein said, ”I met someone and fell in love. He’s a great guy. And I’m now experiencing life in a whole new way, in a fresh way through someone’s eyes who hasn’t seen a lot of what I’ve seen.”

The couple went separate ways in 2012, and today, Klein, who is 79, is dating boyfriend Kevin Baker. They made their first public appearance in 2016 at the American Ballet Theater’s Fall Gala.

Kevin Baker and Calvin Klein attend ACRIA Holiday Dinner Honoring The Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation, Judith Light, and Casey Fremont at The 69th Regiment Armory on December 7, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Aurora Rose/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)

In 2002, Klein sold his company to Phillips Van Heusen Corp. He is believed to have a net worth of $700 million.

Bus driver’s unexpected plan for kids after ice storm makes headlines

This is one of those stories that warm our hearts even during the most severe winters. And as you already know, winters and cold weather in the South may result in turning the residents’ daily routines upside down. They are used to warm weather, and even the slightest snowfall makes them stay inside and spend their days in the comfort of their home.

After a snowstorm affected the state of Alabama, people were trying to find a way to conduct their daily activities. The school officials even issued a late start for school because of the ice.

Flickr/Alabama National Guard

However, one man knew that arriving late to school would mean a lot of students missing the breakfast as they were part of the National School Lunch Program, so he decided to take matters in his own hands.

Wayne Price is a bus driver who grew fond of all those tiny humans he gets to drive to and off school every single day. This man did the most amazing thing ever because he simply couldn’t let students skip the most important meal of the day.

Facebook/Montevallo Elementary School

Before he went to pick the kids up, he first stopped by the local McDonald’s restaurant and bought around 50 sandwiches and biscuits. He told ABC 33 that he made sure each of the students who is part of his bus tour gets their breakfast.

“One of the kids said, ‘Oh, Mr. Price, you must be rich.’ I am not rich. I am in full-time ministry, but you sit there and think about it, you take your family out to dinner, and you can drop $50 going out to dinner, and it was nothing more than taking my family out to dinner. When it came down to the financial side, it was just second nature. I really did not think about it. I thought, hey this would be neat. I bet they will like this.”

Wayne told Today how the students were quite puzzled when he asked them what would they want to have for breakfast.

“When the kids got on I said, ‘So, what do ya want? Sausage? McMuffin?’ . I got some sweet kids and I get really attached to them . They were really appreciative. I dunno. I just love my kids. I got lots of fist pumps, lots of high-fives, lots of ‘Love you Mr. Price,’ lots of ‘Thank you Mr. Price.'”

Flickr/Mike Mozart

Students were over the moon. Everyone adores Mr. Price so much, and this action of his only made them love him even more. Fifth grader Elizabeth said:

“I did not think he was going to do it. I am really thankful for having him as a bus driver, and he feels like a dad to me.”

Facebook/Montevallo Elementary School

Montevallo Elementary School shared the generous act of the bus driver on their Facebook page, writing how he “truly demonstrates the spirit of Christmas.

“What a kind act that our students will forever remember! Thank you, Mr. Price, for making a lasting impact in the lives of our students!”

People like Wayne Price restore our faith in humanity. He is indeed a really compassionate man and a true friend.

Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!

Dad films cute discussion between puppy and baby girl

One of the best things parents can do for their babies is allowing them to be raised around dogs. We all know that dogs are man’s best friends, and their relationship with tiny humans is probably the purest of all.

Being around dogs and getting to take care of them helps little children learn responsibility. At the same time, they would always have a loyal friend by their side.

One cute little baby girl named Sophie and the family’s dog named Wicket, a Shih-Tzu and Yorkshire Terrier mix, had some fun time together. Sophie’s dad found their bonding time too cute not to film it and share it with the rest of us to see it.

Source: Shorkie Puppies

It looks like tiny Wicket wan’t to communicate with his human sister, and she’s more than happy to answer back, although neither of them can actually speak.

As Sophie uses her hands and her baby talk in order for Wicket to know what is that she wants to tell him, he barks and wags his tiny tail as though he wants to assure her he understands her point.

Source: Shorkie Puppies

Shorkie dogs are considered designer dogs because they are a mix of a Shih-Tzu and a Yorkshire Terrier. What is interesting about this breed is that they are extremely sociable and friendly, and in case they are separated from their owners, they can easily develop separation anxiety. They are also easy to train.

Sophie is one lucky girl because she gets to grow up around such a cute dog like Wicket.

For the video of the two friends which attracted the attention of over 22 million people go below.

Two women meet during writing class at university only to discover they’re long-lost sisters

One would say that stories like this one, of two complete strangers who had much more in common than they assumed, could only be seen in movies, but fate proves otherwise.

When two young women named Lizzie Valverde and Katy Olson attended a writing class at the Columbia University, none of them could possibly imagine that it would be life that would write their story for them.

Source: YouTube/ CBS Evening News

As the two presented their narratives during the class, something felt off. Many of the details they shared overlapped. It was as though their stories were written by the same person. Could that be just a coincidence, or there was more about these two students than met the eye?

After the class was over, Katy was eager to learn more about Lizzie’s life, who was given for adoption as a young baby, just like Katy was. Their conversation revealed more shocking details. It looked like Lizzie knew a lot about Katy’s younger sister whom she never met. But then something clicked for Lizzie, and she uttered: “I don’t know your sister, I think I am your sister.”

Source: YouTube/ CBS Evening News

Katy and Lizzie were separated when they were still babies. Their mother, who battled drug addiction at the time she had them, was forced to give them for adoption because she was practically homeless and had nothing to offer them. She loved them unconditionally, but she wanted them to have a chance for a better and more decent life than she was able to provide for them.

Source: YouTube/ CBS Evening News

Lizzie was adopted by a family from New Jersey, while Katy was raised by a family from Florida which later moved to Iowa.

After their initial encounter, Lizzie and Katy had a long conversation. “We went straight to the bar,” Katy told ABC News. “And we just ordered pitchers of beer and just started going back and forth with our lives and biographical details… Like, do you like chicken wings? I like chicken wings. Do you have a weird pinkie toe? I have a weird pinkie toe.”

Source: YouTube/ CBS Evening News

Katy, who had already tracked her biological mother down some years ago, couldn’t wait for the three to reunite. Their mother, Leslie Parker, was over the moon when she heard she could finally see and hug her other daughter.

Eventually, the three got together. “We were all talking and laughing,” Katy said to ABC. “We talked about a wide variety of subjects … my birth and why she wasn’t able to keep me … all the way to who’s your favorite male celebrity.”

Katy and Leslie also attended Lizzie’s graduation and were by her side during this significant moment of her life.

“To see both my moms together — that’s a pretty intense moment,” Lizzie shared with ABC. “With my family watching … all the people in my life who’ve gotten me to that point — especially my daughter — was really humbling.”

Source: YouTube/ CBS Evening News

These two sisters entered Columbia University as two complete strangers with a shared passion for writing stories, and left as part of one of the strangest life stories there are.

We are extremely glad they found each other after 30 years.

To learn more of this stranger-than-fiction encounter go to the video below.

This is the reason why actor Max Baer Jr. never had children

Some people dream of becoming actors their whole lives and work hard to fulfill those dreams. Others, like great Max Baer Jr. who gained worldwide fame with his iconic role of Jethro Bodine in The Beverly Hillbillies, found themselves in the business accidentally.

Max Baer Jr. was born December 4, 1937, in Oakland, California as the son of boxing legend Max Baer and Mary Ellen Sullivan. He was into sports from early age, but didn’t pursue boxing as a career. Instead, he nurtured his passion for golf and even won the pro-am division of the Andy Williams Golf Classic in San Diego after he paired-up with professional golfer Charlie Sifford.

Back in 1971, Baer told The Times: “Acting, though, is really only a hobby with me. Golf is my occupation.”

However, it was acting that helped him turn into a celebrity adored by millions of fans from every part of the world.

Film Favorites/Getty Images

The story of how Baer found himself in Hollywood is quite an impressive one and resembles a movie plot. One day, as he was riding his motorcycle to Los Angeles, he pulled over at the Warner Bros lot. An executive took notice of Baer, approached him, and told him he resembled James Garner. He then offered Baer to try himself in acting, something Baer found appealing. Soon after, he was given minor roles in series such as 77 Sunset StripMaverick, and Hawaiian Eye. At that point, Baer had never acted before.

After an audition, Baer got the role in The Beverly Hillbillies, which followed the life of the Clampetts, a poor, backwoods family from the hills of the Ozarks, who move to posh Beverly Hills, California, after striking oil on their land.

Photo by Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images

“When you play a role like Jethro, it’s for other people to judge because it’s pretty hard to be subjective or objective about yourself,” Baer told Medium

“You just do the best you can with the material that you’re given, and then you try to add to it [with your performance] as much as you possibly can. But in the end, it’s the audience who has the final say. ‘Well, we liked what you did’ or ‘We don’t like what you did.’ And you really don’t have any other way of evaluating it.”

The show, which was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best TV Show Comedy in 1964 and earned four Emmy nominations, ran for 11 years, with a total of nine seasons and 274 episodes before being canceled in 1971.

Silver Screen Collection/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Asked if he had a favorite episode, Baer said he simply couldn’t pick one. “Anyway, I really don’t have any favorites because you’re playing the same character over and over. And it’s pretty hard to pick out who you really like and who you don’t. I mean, which one, which particular episode out of 274?” he told The Five Count on KMSU Radio.

Out of all the great actors who made the show what it is today, a true Hollywood classic, Baer is the only surviving cast member.

The passing of Buddy Ebsen, who played the role of Jed Clampett, was a huge blow for Baer. He recalled the last conversation he had with Ebsen after Ebsen’s wife called him to tell him that her husband didn’t have much time left.

Baer, together with Donna Douglas who starred as Elly May, rushed to the hospital to see Ebsen for one last time. “I tiptoed in,” Baer told The Courier-Journal in 2008. “Buddy was lying there with his eye shut and a catheter in him. I put my hand on his head, and he says, ‘Jethro.’ It was so sweet.”

Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images

After the show was over, offers for other series didn’t come pouring for Baer. Somehow, everyone saw him as Jethro so he had a hard time landing a role. He did make guest appearances on several shows like Love, Fantasy Island, and Murder, She Wrote.

Baer then decided to turn to producing and directing. Some of his films are Ode to Billie Joe and the small-town psycho cop film Macon County Line (1974). Baer made millions with the latter and became a successful businessman. In 1991, he decided to purchase the rights to The Beverly Hillbillies name from CBS. 

Youtube/thethundervalleyresort

Baer was married once, to Joanne Hill. They two stayed together from 1966 to 1971. After the divorce, Baer never married again.

Speaking of why he didn’t become a father, the actor revealed to Fore Magazine: “I never had any kids because I don’t think I could have been the father that my father was to me.”

Later in life, Baer dated Chere Rhodes, a model from California who was 30 years his junior. Unfortunately, she lost her life in a tragedy which took place in January 2008 in what was ruled a suicide.

Max Baer Jr. remains a true living icon.