Some couples’ life stories are so deeply touching and beautiful that they remind us that true love does exist.
Actor Dustin Hoffman and wife Lisa have been married for 42 years but they have known each other way longer than that.
Dustin’s mother and Lisa’s grandmother lived in the same apartment complex in Los Angeles and were very close friends, so Lisa first met Dustin when she was still just a child.
In fact, on the wedding day of Lisa’s parents, when her mother was pregnant with her, Dustin, who was an aspiring pianist at the time, played the piano. Later, they both joked that she fell in love with him and his music even before she was born.
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At the time Dustin was 27 and Lisa was 10, they got to hang out together with Lisa’s brother one day. “Dustin was telling us jokes, playing the piano and encouraging me to dance around the living room. After we got together, my grandmother reminded me that later that day I had said, ‘I hope he waits for me because I want to marry him.’”
Even though he lived in New York and she was living in L.A. with her family, whenever Dustin visited his grandmother, he visited Lisa, too.
The two realized there was chemistry between them when he went to see Lisa’s family after her grandfather died.
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It was during their first date that they spoke about their future and the number of children they wanted to have. She said she wanted six, and he said how he already had two so four would be OK. That is exactly how many children they have.
Jake, who is an acknowledged actor, writer and director, was born in 1981. In 1983, the couple welcomed daughter Rebecca and Maxwell and Alexandra were born in 1984 and 1987 respectively.
Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images
Although she was aware that her husband’s career would mean going places, Lisa still decided to attend college. In 1980, she graduated from the faculty of law and passed the bar exam. However, she decided to dedicate all her time and energy to motherhood and her family. “I knew that having a law career wouldn’t be possible once I started traveling around with Dustin, but I also knew that I needed to complete this one thing for myself,” she said.
For both Dustin and Lisa, family always comes first, and despite his successful career, she somehow always stayed out of the spotlight but it’s her who is the driving force in the family.
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Speaking to Closer Weekly in 2017, she said of her marriage: “We work hard at it.”
We are glad these two didn’t let fame affect their relationship in any way. Their love and affection for one another is growing stronger and stronger with each passing day.
Dick Van Dyke was honored at last year’s Kennedy Center Honors alongside actress Debbie Allen, singer Joan Baez, violinist Midori, and country music icon Garth Brooks.
The Kennedy Center Honors is an annual honor given to those in the performing arts for their lifetime of contributions to American culture. This year’s event aired on CBS and was organized in a different but equally emotional manner as it has been throughout the years. The pandemic did postpone the occasion, but it didn’t steal any of the glamour it brings ever since 1978.
“Performances and tributes were filmed on stages and in locations across the Kennedy Center’s iconic campus or recorded virtually throughout the week of May 17-22,” a press statement for the event stated.
Many of the memorable tributes to Van Dyke reminded us once again why we all love him so much.
Source: Kathy Hutchins / Shutterstock
Of course, among those who delivered their speeches was actress Julie Andrews, Van Dyke’s co-star.
She reflected on the friendship with Van Dyke and described him as “endlessly kind, wildly imaginative, insanely talented and hilariously funny.” Andrews also compared him to Marry Poppins and said: “In truth, I think that Dick is as magical as she is.”
“Every day is supercalifragilisticexpialidocious with you, Dick,” she added.
Lin-Manuel Miranda, who starred in the sequel Mary Poppins Returns in which Van Dyke made a cameo, said: “Spend five minutes with Dick Van Dyke and you’re more alive than you were before.”
The event was a true pleasure for the heart and the soul. Derek Hough, Laura Osnes and Aaron Tveit, one of the biggest names of Broadway, delivered enchanting performances on Mary Poppins song “Step in Time” as well as on “Put on a Happy Face,” from Bye Bye Birdie.
Needless to say, Van Dyke was honored and thrilled.
“There was some great, great dancing tonight,” he said. “They were doing dance numbers I couldn’t have done. All those numbers reminded me of how much fun I had over the years.”
Source: Kathy Hutchins / Shutterstock
Born on December 13, 1925, in West Plains, Missouri, Van Dyke fell in love with the stage performance during his teen years when he joined his school drama club. His first professional job was that of a radio announcer. “I was in all the shows in school. I was a radio announcer at 17. And I really never thought about it. I loved entertaining, but as a profession it was just too far away to think about. It happened incrementally,” Van Dyke recalled in an interview with Maximum Fun.
When the war started, he took part in it, not as a soldier but as a radio announcer who entertained the troops. “Everybody was getting drafted. I saw the ad in the paper, and I went down to audition and we had a 250-watt CBS affiliate,” he said. “And I got the job! I did the news and had a disk jockey show and everything, I loved radio. I dreamed of becoming a television announcer. But things went a lot farther than that!”
Twitter/CBS
When the war was finally over, he went back home and soon moved to California, but struggled finding a job. Eventually, he got a seven-year contract with CBS but was let go after only three years.
In 1984, he married his first wife, Maggie, on the radio show Bride and Groom. The program paid for their wedding and their honeymoon.
The couple soon welcomed their two sons into their lives, but things weren’t easy and he and Maggie had to travel the country, going from one job to another. Speaking of those tough times, Van Dyke said: “My road days weren’t over as soon as I thought,” according to Click Americana. “Our two sons, Christian and Barry, were born while on tour, and it’s a little nightmarish to recall the tough times when they had to sleep on mattresses in the back of the car when we jumped from job to job. Our two daughters, Stacey and Cathy, both born later, didn’t have to suffer these inconveniences, thank goodness.”
Twitter/CBS
Van Dyke appeared in several shows, but his career skyrocketed when he was given the role in the show Bye, Bye Birdie. It was comedian and producer Carl Reiner who was supposed to take part in the show he had written himself, but meeting young and versatile Van Dyke changed things. “I fired myself and made him the star of the series,” Reiner said. “It only took me five minutes to see that Dick was a real pro and, for one so young, the versatility of his talent was unbelievable.”
The show aired for a total of 158 episodes.
The next show which made Van Dyke even more famous was Mary Poppins.
“I never had to screen test,” Van Dyke told Parade. “[Walt Disney] brought me in and the Sherman brothers played that wonderful score and he showed me all the drawings of what was going to happen. Oh, my gosh. I just knew it was going to be great.”
Youtube/Access
Van Dyke’s award-winning career has spanned seven decades in film, television, and theater. The good thing? “One-man show” is still performing for his huge audience and is not planning on quitting any time soon. “I just love the work. I love to do it,” he explained.
What’s most, at the age of 95, he still dances every day and that’s what keeps him young.
“Oh, absolutely! Oh, god yes! You do a little dancing every day. If I go into a store and there’s music playing, then I’m dancing. In the market every morning. I can’t help it,” he said.
“Any kind of movement like that will help keep joints and bones moving. And my wife keeps me young! She has a lot of energy. She’s a singer and a dancer, so we do musicals around here all day.”
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He believes that people should do what they enjoy and what makes them happy despite their age. Speaking of his, he gave CBS This Morning an update about his health and said how he regularly works out in his home, doing sit-ups and dancing.
“I’m 95, and a lot of my friends won’t do these,” he says, demonstrating his fitness regimen on the ground. “… So all you old guys out there, listen to me, I’m telling you: You can keep going for a long— I’m still dancing! And singing!” the legendary actor said.
Asked what would he do when he reaches 100, Van Dyke told Parade: “I remember George Burns booked himself at the Palladium. He didn’t quite make it there, but at least he had an optimistic outlook. I’ve got nothing booked yet!
“There’s an old saying: ‘Sing like nobody can hear you, dance like nobody can see you and love like you’ve never been hurt.’ That’s a good way to live. that’s my motto.”
Twitter/CBS
We wish him only the best and hope he stays as charming and as active in the years to come.
The first step towards overcoming an addiction is acceptance and confession. The biggest issue with addicts is that rather than admitting the problem exists, they’ll do all in their power to justify and continue the behavior. Just like drugs and alcohol, food can turn into addiction too. Most people who overeat simply can’t control their hunger and crave unhealthy food. This can easily lead to obesity and a number of health issues. Proof that the life of these people can be a real struggle is the famous TV show My 600-Lb Life.
One of the participants of the show who caught our attention is Jeanne Covey. This woman’s life was far from easy. In fact, it was during her early years that she started building an unhealthy relationship with food. When she was still very young, she used to live with her grandmother who didn’t treat her right. As a form of revenge, Jeanne started steeling her grandma’s cookies, and that’s when she started overeating and gaining weight uncontrollably. At her heaviest, Jeanne weighted 700 pounds.
Source: YouTube / The List
Living with her mom, dad, and their dogs, Jeanne felt she was a burden to her parents. Her mom was forced to wash her using washcloths as Jeanne couldn’t fit in the shower.
At one point, she decided enough was enough and turned to Dr. Now, the famous doctor from the show who helped save the lives of a number of obese people. The good thing was that she lived in Big Sandy, Texas, just a few hours away from Houston, where Dr. Now’s office is.
If you’ve watched this show, you know that Dr. Now asks from the participants to follow a strict diet and lose some weight before he can perform the gastric bypass surgery during which the patient’s stomach is reduced to the size of a walnut.
Source: YouTube / The List
Jeanne went to Houston with her mom, but once there, her mom got sick and had to undergo a surgery. With everything that was going on, the two realized they haven’t heard from Jeanne’s dad for some time and got worried for him. They called the police and asked them to check on him, but when they arrived in Jeanne’s family home, they found her father dead. This affected Jeanne’s mental state a great deal and she wasn’t able to continue her journey with Dr. Now. Eventually, she decided to leave the show.
”I talked to my mom and we both decided we’re not going back to Houston,” she said at the six-month check-in on the program of My 600-lb Life. “With my dad gone, we can’t leave the dogs alone and I can’t go by myself. So I’m just not in a place to do Dr. Now’s program. I know I have to lose weight and I don’t have a lot of time, but I don’t know what to do about it right now.”
Her destiny was one of the reasons why people became very interested in her life. Many believed that Jeanne would gain even more weight because of the heartbreak she suffered, but she proved them wrong.
In August 2020, this determined young woman wrote on her Facebook page, “Im down to 388lbs. So you don’t need to private message asking my weight.. here it is.. I’m doing great, going out more.”
Apparently, she worked hard for a fresh start, found a boyfriend and moved places.
In December last year, Jeanne posted an update. “Hope everyone is having a wonderful beginning of December… Not going into all the details But for Christmas Ill be sharing some new pictures of me and my new Beau… not giving too much info as I’d like everyone to respect his privacy but sharing some good news with everyone who has been in my corner,” she wrote.
A month ago, she posted another update and made her fans really happy. “This was our last day in Texas … We are now in Arkansas and the dogs love it .. Mom and I are doing well as well as are the fur babies … Now to start unpacking…”
We can’t even tell you how happy we are for Jeanne and her journey during and after My 600-lb Life.
She looks incredible. We wish her only the best in the years to come.
After all the drama between the members of the British Royal Family, it looks like the Sussexes still didn’t manage to smooth thing down with the rest of the family.
Harry and Meghan welcomed their second child, daughter Lilibet, last year, but the royals haven’t seen the girl in person yet, although that’s something everyone is looking forward to.
After stepping down from their royal duties, Harry and Meghan moved to California, and Harry went back to Britain during a couple of occasions; his grandfather’s funeral and the unveiling of his late mother’s statue on what was supposed to be her 60th birthday. Both times, he went alone, without Meghan by his side.
Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images
Rumors are that Prince Charles was the one mostly affected by Harry’s decision to leave Britain. He was mad and accused his son of dragging the family’s name through the mud. However, at the same time, he’s desperate to see his grandson and granddaughter and spend some time with them.
According to Express, Prince Charles invited Harry and Meghan to UK and offered them to stay with him during the visit. Media outlets say that staying with Prince Charles would be the only logical solution, because otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to travel to Britain due to the lack of security and protection.
With their decision to step down from their duties, Harry and Meghan lost the right to protection. According to the Daily Mail, Harry had sought a judicial review of a Home Office decision not to allow him to pay for protection from the police when in the UK. His legal representatives claimed in a statement they issued that he “inherited a security risk at birth, for life.”
Further, the statement read, “While his role within the Institution has changed, his profile as a member of the Royal Family has not. Nor has the threat to him and his family.
“The Duke and Duchess of Sussex personally fund a private security team for their family, yet that security cannot replicate the necessary police protection needed while in the UK. In the absence of such protection, Prince Harry and his family are unable to return to his home.”
Yui Mok – WPA Pool/Getty Images
In the past, while still living in Britain, Harry and Meghan received protection funded by the taxpayers’ money, just like everyone else in the family.
Magazines report that Harry and Meghan plan to visit Britain together with their children for Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee celebration. The Queen hasn’t seen Lilibet yet, and both Harry and Meghan would love for that meeting to take place. They also believe it is very important for Archie and Lili to be close with their cousins, George, Charlotte, and Louis.
Pool/Samir Hussein/WireImage
“Harry has his heart set on returning to the UK to see the queen with Meghan, Archie, and Lilibet, but that will only happen if the government takes the appropriate measures to protect his family,” a source told US Weekly. “He refuses to put them at risk. Their safety comes before anything else.
“Harry and Meghan are doing everything they can to make the world a better place and feel it would be wrong to rob their children of the opportunity of getting to know their cousins,” the insider added. “It’s obviously difficult because of the distance factor, so Harry sweetly organized a special Zoom call with Prince William so that the cousins could get to see each other.”
Taylor Hill/WireImage
Hopefully, the decision about the protection would be re-evaluated and the Sussexes would visit Britain very soon.
“The UK will always be Prince Harry’s home and a country he wants his wife and children to be safe in. With the lack of police protection comes too great a personal risk,” the statement by Harry’s legal representatives read. “Prince Harry hopes that his petition – after close to two years of pleas for security in the UK – will resolve this situation.”
There are some things in life that are too embarrassing or to taboo to talk about openly, well at least in polite company of course.
One good example of this is our sex life, another could be toilet goings on, women’s periods, everything associated with it, tampons etc, and last but not least women’s hygiene.
Lily Alter, a 14 year old, was writing an essay at school and decided to make the subject of her work a subject that she felt more people should be able to talk about more openly without feeling bad or embarrassed, women’s hygiene.
Lily dove into the subject deeply and thoroughly, but the more she realized what a burden it might be for some, that’s when she had a brainstorm, a lightbulb moment that was to spread far further than the realms of her classroom.
Her English teacher in her school, Oak Park River Forest High School in Chicago, had requested that students write an essay on a school issue, and that’s when Lily had the wonderful idea for her project.
Lily said:
“I thought about homelessness, women’s rights” … “And I wanted to combine it in a way that I could actually maybe help people.”
Lily had been deeply researching the subject, and that’s when she made a really sad discovery.
She discovered that of the population, there are many homeless women who constantly had to make tough choices, but that one of those choices lay between Staying healthy, Eating, having a roof over their head, or having sanitary products, and the last of these, the sanitary supplies, was usually the first thing to cut out!
Lily thought about this and really wanted to make a difference, not just write a school paper about it, so she started collecting tampons and other little things for women’s hygiene and pack them into little kits.
Lily said:
“They contain enough supplies for one menstrual cycle”
She took the kits out into the streets with her and gave them to homeless women, such a great, kind and selfless act, both compassionate and thoughtful Lily had stunned her teacher and everyone else!
No too long after this she had collected $3000 for her project to continue!
Lily said:
“With the money I have made now, I could probably have a year’s worth of kits for the woman in the shelters”
A small gesture that made a huge impact:
If more people could be so selfless and follow this girl’s passion for helping others. Maybe if you share her story it will prompt others to get stuck in and help each other out!
Dick Hoyt and his wheelchair bound son Rick Hoyt were icons of the Boston Marathon.
Not only people from the U.S, but also from countries from all over the world learned of this incredible duo that paved the way for other disabled people participants in marathons.
Sadly, the Boston Athletic Association shared the devastating news of Dick Hoyt’s passing at 80 years old on Wednesday, as per Today. “We are tremendously saddened to learn of the passing of Boston Marathon icon Dick Hoyt. Dick personified what it means to be a Boston Marathoner, finishing 32 races with son Rick. We are keeping his many family & friends in our prayers.” He died in his sleep.
The organization further wrote: “Team Hoyt’s 1,000th race together came at the 2009 Boston Marathon, and in 2015 Dick served as Grand Marshal of the race in recognition of his impact on the event and Para Athlete community.”
Team Hoyt crosses the finish line of the 118th Boston Marathon on April 21, 2014 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images)
Over the years, these father and son completed more than 1100 marathons together, among which 32 Boston marathons, with Dick pushing his son in a customized wheelchair.
Rick has cerebral palsy and was diagnosed as a spastic quadriplegic. He is unable to walk or speak. His condition is a result of the lack of oxygen in his brain during birth caused by the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck.
When Rick was welcomed into the world and diagnosed with the condition, Dick and his late wife were advised to place him in an institution, thus telling them he would be vegetable and burden for the rest of his life, according to his now late father Dick, as per Today.
However, his parents never gave up on him. On the contrary, they did all in their power to offer him the best life. Despite his condition, Rick finished high school and graduated from theUniversity of Boston.
Dr. Bryan Lyons throws out the first pitch as Dick Hoyt and his son Rick Hoyt, left, look on before the game between the Boston Red Sox and the Baltimore Orioles at Fenway Park on April 19, 2015 in Boston, Massachusetts. Dick and his son Rick have competed in marathons and triatholons together. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
After Team Hoyt were memorialized in a life-sized bronze statue placed at the starting line of the Boston Marathon, Dick opened up and said: “Today he’s 51 years old and we still haven’t figured out what kind of vegetable he is — and guess what? That vegetable has been turned into a bronze statue.” He was very proud of his son, and happy that Rick proved the doctors wrong.
The story behind the love for marathons is truly a touching one.
One day in 1977, after he got back from school, Rick wrote on his computer how he wanted to take part in a charity race for a boy who was involved in an accident and was left paralyzed.
Dick agreed and the two participated in that race. “We came in next to last, but not last,” said Dick. “When we got home that night, Rick wrote on his computer, ‘Dad when I’m running, it feels like my disability disappears’ — which was a very powerful message to me.”
“YES YOU CAN”: Dick Hoyt, the dad famous for completing more than 30 Boston Marathons with his quadriplegic son, has passed away at 80. @willganss reports on his inspiring legacy. pic.twitter.com/ysla3SFVPA
Speaking on their positive impact on others, Dick once said: “It gives me a great feeling inside to see other families run with their family member with a disability, or for people without disabilities to push people who are disabled in races. We run for the people who think they can’t run.”
Not being able to see your parents for long periods of times can be devastating. This is something children whose parents serve in the military know best.
Brian Kelly is a 5-year-old boy from Belleville, Illinois, who loves spending time with his dad. The two do a lot of fun things together, and that includes yard work. However, now that Brian’s dad Daniel is overseas, serving the country, the little guy feels really sad.
“Brian misses his father,” mom Barbara Kelly says of her youngest son. “He’s a shy boy, and he loves his daddy.”
Source: YouTube Screenshot / CBS Evening News
Luckily, Brian found a way to fill his void, and now the story of him and one of the neighbors who stepped up when the boy needed it the most is melting hearts all over the Internet.
Namely, one day, Brian decided to knock on Dean Cravens’ door and that’s how the lovely friendship started.
“Nobody ever comes to our front door, so I was like, OK, who could that be?” Dean said. “And you could see him through the window, it’s Brian. And I just looked at him and I could tell he wanted to do yard work and I said, ‘Sure, meet me around the garage. We’ll get some tools out and go.’”
Source: YouTube Screenshot / CBS Evening News
For the next six weeks, the newly made friends had a lot of fun together. Dean went on to say that sweet Brian was “taking it upon himself to adopt me to do the yard work.”
Although Dean is quite busy having a full-time job and a family on his on, he just couldn’t say no to a boy who was missing his dad’s company so much. “I just like to see the smile on his face and see him happy doing it,” Dean said and added how he cherishes every moment spent with Brian.
Source: YouTube Screenshot / CBS Evening News
Brian’s mom said she was extremely grateful to Dean for standing as a father figure for her son while Daniel was away. “He’s just there to help Brian get through the days. He’s ‘absolutely’ filling in. That’s exactly what he’s doing.”
Thank you Dean for showing the world how awesome you are for impacting the boy’s life in such a manner.
Source: YouTube Screenshot / CBS Evening News
You can take a look at the whole story and how these two friends have fun together in the video below.
Not everyone is lucky enough to meet that special person they want to spend their eternity with. Well, true love is hard to find, so once we stumble upon it, we should never let it go.
Matt Grodsky and Laura Steel have known each other their entire life. Their families were good friends and they got to spend a lot of time together. What’s more, they attended the same preschool and loved hanging out.
Source: Facebook/Matt Grodsky
When they were just three years old, Matt stood in front of his class and said that he would one day marry Laura. Of course, everyone thought that was very sweet coming from someone so young. The truth is, no one ever believed this promise would one day turn into a reality.
“We have very fond memories of each other. Matt reciting movie lines and scenes from “The Lion King,” Laura teaching Matt how to draw and swing. We went on playdates to each other’s houses and movies with our parents,” they told Obsev.
Spurce: Facebook/Matt Grodsky
After preschool, Matt and Laura attended different elementary school and would only see each other on the Christmas photo cards their families sent to each other.
Years passed by, and these two were reunited once again during high school. They instantly fell for one another and started dating. Unfortunately, after finishing high school, they attended different colleges which were some 1,600 miles apart. Laura went to Northern Arizona University, while Matt went to Columbia College Chicago.
They could easily call their relationship quits, but their love was so strong that they came up with suitable visiting schedules.
Source: Facebook/Matt Grodsky
Long-distance relationships can be hard to maintain, but when it comes to true love, nothing is impossible, and Matt and Laura are the perfect proof of that.
During their senior year, Matt popped the question. He had his friends capture the lovely moment on camera.
“I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, is this happening?’” Laura told Today. “I saw the ring and was like, “This is gorgeous. I’m so happy with it.’”
Matt’s uncle, who officiated the marriage, said: “For most kids in preschool, it’s about finding your snacks and your sleeping mats, but for them it was about finding their soulmates.”
