Christmas time represents those days of the year when even the elderly who have seen it all during their lifetime and know how hard things can get at times believe in some magic.
No matter if one is young or old, rich or poor, jolly by nature or not, everyone deserves to have cheerful holidays. And what would holidays be without the symbol, the Christmas tree?
One homeless man named John, who resides in a tent underneath New Orleans’ Pontchartrain Expressway, was getting ready for the most wonderful time of the year and did all he could to decorate a Christmas tree. Sadly, placing the tree in front of his tent was against the state’s sanitation codes, so the city just picked it up.
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He was left heartbroken, but then his story spread around and people stepped in to give him a a bunch of trees and the Christmas he deserves. Many passersby joined in in decorating another tree.
John, on the other hand, showed his kindness as well. He gave his spare trees to other people in need who couldn’t afford one. In return, those people filled his stocking with notes of sweet words written on them.
John and the rest of homeless people join in together and sing Christmas carols, and we think that’s very sweet because Christmas is all about being together and sharing the joy the holidays bring.
We hope John will celebrate his next Christmas in a new home.
Providing your dog with food and taking them out for a walk every now and then isn’t all what owners are expected to do. Dogs need to be trained as well. They have to be taught how to act around other animals and humans and to know they should never attack anyone.
Unfortunately, one of the neighbors of 6-year-old Mason Lindman never took the time to teach his dog these things and that resulted in this boy to be viciously attacked one day while he was out playing.
Mason tried to prevent an incident from taking place by reaching his hands towards the dog in a peaceful manner, but that wasn’t enough for the animal to calm down.
No one really knows what triggered such violent behavior at the dog. The rest of the kids got scared and ran away leaving Mason all by himself.
Sadly, Mason got bitten and was screaming in panic and pain and couldn’t protect himself.
“My son, he was just laying on the ground, I mean he’s six. Like he… He kind of knows what to do but… He’s never been put in a situation like that,” said Mason’s mother, Jillian Lindman.
Luckily, one very brave teen named Grant Brown found himself in the right place, at the right time and didn’t hesitate even a bit before rushing to help Mason.
Seeing Grant running towards them with high speed, the dog left Mason’s side and started chasing Grant. Mason could now get home, but Grant found himself in trouble. The dog was furious and ready to attack.
Eventually, the dog reached Grant who fell on the grass and tried to bite him. Grant got injured, but managed to escape.
Both Mason and Grant ended up at the hospital, but they will be just fine. Mason ended up with staples for his wound he sustained on the back of his head, while Grant had a deep cut on the hand.
“I looked back and my shoes came off, I tripped and fell, the dog was on top of me before I know it… And I knew that I had to keep his mouth away from me,” said Grant Brown speaking of the incident.
What Grant did for the little boy is truly heroic. Not everyone would provide help in situation like that where their life is in danger.
“I just want to give the guy a hug. There’s nothing I could do but just say thank you,” Jillian said.
Needless to say, Grant’s mom is proud of her son.
What we should all have in mind, however, is that there are no bad dogs, just bad owners who don’t spend enough time training their canines. This neighbor was fined for his dog’s action.
As for Grant, we should all learn from him and always be there for our neighbors.
7-year-old boy’s mouth was taped shut by his teacher for talking during lesson time. The boy suffered from respiratory problems and asthma and was left traumatized by the event to the extent that he refuses to go to school again. According to The Sun, he has already missed two weeks of lessons as well as the Christmas concert at Colwill School in West Auckland, New Zealand, he attends.
The boy’s mom was left horrified after her daughter, who goes at the same school, told her what happened. The boy only confessed what the teacher did after the parents asked him whether the incident really took place or not. The poor boy was afraid to speak to his mom and dad because he thought he would be in trouble.
Representational Image (Source: Getty Images | Photo by Peter Dazeley)
In fact, the teacher put plastic labels on the mouth of a group of boys. However, after the mother brought up the issue, the school principal, Rob Taylor, wrote her a letter saying the rest of the kids enjoyed having their mouths taped.
Stuff obtained the principal’s letter which said: “Even though you chose not to follow the school’s complaint process, this did not stop me from dealing with this concern as if you had.”
“A careful and thorough investigation was finally able to be completed yesterday with the last of the parents of these children being interviewed. These things do take time, based on the availability of key people needing to be free to meet with us.”
“All children involved and their parents, excluding [student], have now been interviewed appropriately by the school’s Social Worker who informs me that [staff member’s] perspective that this was game [sic] that the children appeared to enjoy and wished to play with her was by all accounts the correct version of this event.”
Representational Image (Source: Getty Images | Photo by vitapix)
Neither the boy nor his family was ever offered an apology by the teacher. “I asked my 7-year-old what he thought about all this, and he said: ‘When we do something wrong in class we have to say sorry and that we won’t do it again, why can’t the teacher?’” the mother said.
All the school and the Ministry of Education offered, instead of trying to deal with the issue thoroughly, was counseling for the boy to help him with the trauma he was forced to go through.
The family, of course, wasn’t satisfied with the outcome of the incident and the boy’s mom is trying to take matters in her own hands by standing in front of the school and the building of the Ministry of Education handing flyers to the parents whose kids attend her son’s school.
Further, a representative of the Ministry, Katrina Casey, encouraged the mother to to take up the formal complaints process with the board and to “contact our local office for further advice.”
What do you think of this? How would you react if a teacher taped your kid’s mouth during lesson time?
During her rich and long career of over six decades, Elinor Donahue played many roles, but it seems like portraying Betty Anderson, the eldest child of Jim and Margaret Anderson on the 1950s American sitcom “Father Knows Best” is what she’s best remembered for. The show lasted for six years and aired on the radio. It was very popular and reached the top ten most watched American shows.
But Elinor didn’t stop at this show. In fact, while filming it, she also took part in “Crossroads” and in the “George Burns and Gracie Allen Show.” She was so busy playing in three shows that she said how she never really had the time to watch them.
“By the time we’d get home at night and have our dinner, we’d be getting ready to learn our lines, go to sleep to get up and do it again. So, I never saw the show,” she told Closer.
Elinor’s career in the film industry seemed a bright one, and her mother even sacrificed her job in order to accompany her then minor daughter on set.
After “Father Knows Best” Elinor took roles in “The Andy Griffith Show”, “Dr Kildare”, “Star Trek” and “Mork & Mindy.” This now 83-year-old iconic actress played different roles in over 70 TV Shows and many movies like Winter Wonderland and Pretty Woman.
When it comes to her private life, Elinor first married at the age of 19. According to her, tying the knot with the first person to propose to her and have a child with them would help her grow up as she felt 13 when she was 19. “I’d never had a chance to grow into a real person so I was not mature at all. I’d had no high school friends…I had this idea if I ran away and got married and had a baby I’d be a grown up.”
She recalls how her first husband, the sound man on “Father Knows Best” Richard Smith, proposed. “We had gone to see a movie and after he whispered in my ear ‘I love you and I’d like to marry you’ and I said ‘Okay,” Elinor said laughing. They had one son together and divorces six years later.
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A year later, Elinor married TV producer Harry Ackerman. They had three sons together and a very happy marriage and life. Then, after being married for almost 30 years, Ackerman died in 1991. The following year, the actress married for the third time in her life and is still together with her current husband Lou Genevrino.
Watch Elinor speak of her marriage and children in the video below.
Not everyone enjoys playing in the snow, especially if the temperatures are way below the zero and it’s freezing outside.
One woman though it would be great if her two horses get out of the barn and into the snow. She was certain they would have lots of fun running around and she even put some warm coats on them.
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At first, the horses were eager to get outside and enjoy the weather, but just a couple of seconds later they changed their minds. Was it too cold for them to handle? We guess so.
Take a look at the hilarious moment these stunningly elegant animals realize running in the snow wasn’t really the best idea.
One doesn’t need to be rich in order to make a difference in the lives of those who are less fortunate or in need of help and some love. On the contrary, all one needs in order to impact others is to have a heart of gold.
So, what’s a better time for spreading kindness and positivity if not the most beautiful period of the year, Christmas time?
Jim Annis of Sanford, North Carolina is the real life Santa for a great number of kids. This 80-year-old man has been making toys for children for over 50 years and his age won’t stand on his way of putting smiles on so many tiny faces.
Facebook / Jim Annis
His creations are unique as he puts a lot of love in handcrafting each and every one of them.
Believe it or not, Jim sends over 300 toys a year to his local Salvation Army. This incredible man, who is also a veteran, says, “When the Salvation Army gives out the food and clothes to people in this area, I give out my toys. It feels like you’re sort of forgotten about at Christmas time.”
He makes the toys from wooden scraps he collects from his neighbors and spends about $1,000 himself on the wheels and the paint.
Facebook / Jim Annis
“My dad worked but didn’t make a lot of money. It’s hard to have a big Christmas with five kids. I love it when people ask me how much do I get paid for making these toys. I tell them my pay is when I see the smile on kids’ faces. I hope to be able to do this until my toes curl up,” Jim says.
We need more people like this man in the world, who remind us what Christmas is all about, and that’s love and sharing.
Take a look at the video below to learn more of Jim’s project.
The old but gold TV shows not only remind us of what life was like back in the day, but also bring a feeling of nostalgia for the good old times.
Among the shows that marked the ’60s was definitely the CBS sitcom Gilligan’s Island. Created and produced by Sherwood Schwartz, the show followed the adventures of seven castaways who tried to survive on an island on which they had been shipwrecked. It ran for three seasons and people loved it.
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As most of the cast members were already famous names when the show aired, one in particular was looking for a breakthrough in the film industry and found it with this show. It was beautiful Dawn Wells who played the role of Mary Ann Summers, a character perceived by the fans as the girl next door.
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In fact, Wells’ role was supposed to be a minor one, but people loved her so much that she became one of the most beloved actresses on the show.
Wells got into acting while at college in the small town of Columbia, Missouri, when she first discovered the drama division and was part of a couple of plays. After university, she headed to the Mecca of film, Hollywood. As any other new actor, this beautiful and talented young lady who won several beauty pageants, including Miss Nevada, Wells started with small roles.
“I went to work right away,” she recalled. “I was trained, I studied for it, but I was lucky. There was a lot of stuff being filmed and quite a bit going on in the 60s in television. I probably had two or three auditions a day. I did a couple of movies, but you’d get guest spots on all these TV shows. You’d work right away.”
After making a name for herself with Gillian’s Island, Wells recalled the days that preceded getting that role. “I went in and tested with I don’t know how many girls. There were quite a few. It was the people, we all grew up together. All the ingénues were auditioning, and I got it. But you would go on so many auditions, and you never knew what you were going to get.”
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“I had an image in my mind of what she should be, wearing denim and a ponytail,” she continued. “I knew who she should be, and I think when you do stage a lot, you can do that. You lock in what and who the character is. They didn’t give you a description. I don’t even remember how many people auditioned for the role. You would do it for two or three days in a row, and they would either call you back or not.”
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The cast members all became really good friends.
Wells spoke of the relationship between them and told Forbes: “Gilligan you don’t think of as a romantic partner. Alan [Hale, the Skipper] was more like a father. But the professor had everything: good looks, a sense of humor, was very intelligent. Bob [Denver] and I were really close friends. So was Alan [Hale]. He could pick up Tina [Louise] in one arm, me in the other at the same time, he was so strong. Ms. Howell and I also became really good friends.”
Fans, however, somehow always chose between the character of Wells and that of co-star Tina Louise who played the glamorous movie star Ginger Grant.
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Wells has only married once and her marriage lasted for eight years. “Well, I don’t believe in just living together. I think you either commit to it or you don’t,” she said, referring to her busy life which consisted of being on the road all the time.
The actress was also part of a number of spin-offs of Gilligan’s Island, but turned to the stage instead of focusing on film.
Wells is 82 years old and looks incredible. She is definitely one of those celebrities who defy age. On top of that, she’s still really active and not even the pandemic can stop her from doing what she loves best; acting.
When there’s a will, there’s a way, they say, and I guess the life story of the homeless teen Tupac Mosley proves this to be very accurate.
The life of this 17-year-old boy from Memphis, Tennessee, was a rough one. After his father died, his family struggled to make ends meet and they eventually ended up homeless. They were spending their days moving houses, but couldn’t afford to cover the rent.
Being in a situation like this is hard for everyone, but it’s especially challenging for people Tupac’s age. Most teens who would find themselves facing such obstacles would probably fail behind their grades and show poor school performance. But Tupac was determined not to let that happen to him. He knew that working hard and never stopping pursuing his dreams would get him out of the unpleasant situation.
At the end of his senior year, Tupac maintained a GPA of 4.3 and became his class’ valedictorian. He received numerous acceptance letters from various universities and more than $3 million in scholarship money. Fascinating, indeed.
“Never let your current situation, whatever circumstances you’re going through, be a mountain that you can’t climb,” Mosley said in his valedictorian speech.
He decided to continue his education at the Tennessee State University in Nashville where he will major in electrical engineering.
Tupac is an example that hard work and dedication can take you anywhere you want. We wish him success and all the luck in life.
