Jeanne Covey from “My 600-lb Life”

By
Monica Pop
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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.

arty

Prince Harry won’t let his children visit family in the UK if they are denied more police protection

By
Monica Pop
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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.”

arty

Teenager has massive stockpiles of tampons, mom explains the girl’s secret

By
Kelly White
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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.

YouTube/CSB Chicago

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!

YouTube/CSB Chicago

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”

YouTube/CSB Chicago

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!

arty

Dick Hoyt, the man who pushed his wheelchair-bound son Rick in 32 marathons, dies aged 80

By
Monica Pop
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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 the University 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.”

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.”

Rest in peace, Dick Hoyt.

arty

5-year-old boy walks to neighbor’s daily while military dad’s away with adorable request

By
Monica Pop
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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.

arty

3-year-old promises to marry his childhood sweetheart – 20 years later he pops the question

By
Monica Pop
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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.”

Matt and Laura are so happy to have found each other. How many couples can say they have known each other their entire life?

arty

Fred Trump hid his German origin after building New York empire, and Donald did the same for a long time

By
Monica Pop
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The American dream became a reality for the Trump family when the grandfather of former president Donald Trump, Frederic, placed foot on the U.S. soil back in 1885 from Kallstadt, Germany to join the Alaska gold rush. Over time, he became a restaurant owner and married his neighbor from Germany, Elizabeth Christ.

In 1905, Fred Trump, the father of Donald Trump was born. From very early age, Fred showed interest in creating things from wood and cement, and he used that in order to start a business in the building industry.

Youtube/ABC

In a 1973 interview with The New York Times, mogul Fred Trump said: “When I was a lad I discovered that I was agile with my hands, that I could take pieces of wood and nail them together, and that it was a lot of fun. When I was 16, I built a garage for a neighbor, probably not the greatest garage ever put up, but the experience reinforced my hope of doing something creative with wood and bricks and cement.” And, as we all know it, constructing things would become this incredible man’s calling.

Twitter/DonaldTrump

The famous Trump empire started taking form when Fred was still in high school. He graduated from Richmond Hill High School in 1923 and took classes in building construction at the Young Men’s Christian Association. In 1924, young Fred built his first home. In the following years, more houses arouse in Queens, and Fred, along with his mother, started the company E. Trump & Son.

Fred, being the oldest of the siblings and losing his father at the age of 11, took care of his brothers and sent them to college. But they, however, weren’t into the business as Fred was. At the time, the houses were sold for around $4,000 dollars. So, Fred was helping the middle class and was doing a lot for the community while getting extremely wealthy at the same time.

Business was booming, but then the World War II happened, and Fred was afraid he would lose clients, a lot of which Jews, so he hid the fact that he was of German origin. Instead, he claimed his father came to the U.S. from Sweden. During the war, Fred’s company was building apartments for the Navy and later homes for the veterans. He was well respected and helped improve the lives of those belonging to the middle class a great deal.

Donald Trump claimed his grandfather was Swedish for long, but then, during the annual German-American Steuben Parade in New York City in 1999, the former president said: “We passed Trump Tower, 69 stories. I looked up and I said, ‘This is a long way from Kallstadt’, I’m a proud German-American.”

Donald Trump and his siblings were all looking up to their father Fred who was a very successful, yet an extremely humble man who taught his children how life works the hard way. “My father was my inspiration,” Trump said in 1999.

Donald was the sibling who would take over the family business and Fred was quoted saying: “I gave Donald free rein. He has great vision, and everything he touches seems to turn to gold,” after he allowed his son enter the real estate and construction market in Manhattan despite the huge risk.

Youtube/ABC

Fred Trump passed away in 1995, after his health declined due to Alzheimer’s. It was Donald who recognized his dad’s condition when they were driving down 5th Avenue in New York City, and Donald said he’d bought the land underneath the Empire State Building. Fred’s response was: “That’s a tall building, isn’t it? How many apartments are in that building?”

May he rest in peace.

arty

Céline Dion’s sons are all grown up and make her a proud mother

By
Monica Pop
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Céline Dion‘s voice has been dubbed nothing less than angelic by many of her fans. From the moment she started her singing career, she captured the sympathy of many and remains until this day one of the most beautiful and most powerful female vocals ever.

Her hits ”My Heart Will Go On”, ”All By Myself” and ”Because You Loved Me” are simply iconic.

One person in the singer’s life believed in her talent more than anyone else. Her manager, and later husband, René Angélil. In order to help her finance her first record, René remortgaged his house.

The two first met when Dion was just a girl of 12 years, and they got engaged in 1991, when the singer was 23 years old. The famous couple tied the knot in 1994. René was 26 years her senior.

Wikimedia / Georges Biard

Sadly, he passed away in 2014 after battling throat cancer. Dion stayed by her husband’s side until the end of his life and their love story was a true inspiration. Both showed their affection for one another every single day and were considered one of the best celeb couples.

Dion was devastated, but she found the courage to stay strong for her children. ”Knowing that now he’s in peace and is resting and is always within me. I see him every day through the eyes of my children. He gave me so much strength,” she told Hello Magazine.  ”To be honest, I think I’m at the best of my life right now and I want to enjoy and embrace every moment of it and really enjoy it. It’s like I’m having a second wind, like I’m having the wind beneath my wings. I’m having a good time.”

Instagram/celinedion

Dion and her husband of 21 years had three sons together.

They welcomed their first boy, René-Charles Angélil, in 2001. Years after that, they both wanted to give him a sibling, and turned to IVF. The couple spoke openly about the process of trying and finally, in 2010, they told the world that after seven miscarriages, Dion was pregnant with twins.

The boys were named Eddy, after Dion’s favorite French songwriter, Eddy Marnay, and Nelson, after former South African President Nelson Mandela. They are now all grown up and love being around their mom’s side.

Dion is a proud mother and now takes care of her boys all by herself. She said that losing their dad was hard for her kids, but they all managed to move on. She often shares photo of them and speaks of the love she has for each of them and how they make her life complete.

arty
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