Getting married is a big responsibility, it’s sometimes a little daunting, but when the person your marrying has children too, then there are also, even more, responsibilities that come. Through good times and bad, you’re committing to being there for each other!Katie Hild and her fiancée Jeremy had some plans to make that would consider their commitment to each other and their children, Landon the son of Jeremy and his son’s stepfather and mother, called Tyler and Casey. The family was going to be all brought together one way or another!Facebook/Love What MattersSo taking the bull by the horns, so to speak, Katie boldly asked Tyler and Casey to come to the wedding and wrote vows to let them hear how much she appreciated their love and support, how amazing, what a really lovely thing to do!Parenting in these circumstances can be very challenging, to say the least, however, they all look to keep Landon’s best interests to heart. Katie was going to be around and part of the family and that responsibility was taken seriously.Facebook/Love What MattersKatie firstly read her own vows to Jeremy, but after that, she then looked to Tyler and Casey to continue with another set of touching vows, to the children she would be parenting along with Tyler and Casey. Katie was bath forward thinking and selfless, with a strong sense of responsibility without even giving it a second thought.
The most important day of her life and Katie happily moves attention beyond herself and included Tyler and Casey, then to Landon!Facebook/Love What MattersKatie gets down on the floor and vowed to Landon to love him for the rest of her life, she promised him that she would also be his best friend for many years to come, decades! Even that she would be a good parent to him, especially when he didn’t like it. She took the responsibility seriously…
Such was the deep feeling of the whole situation that as Katie finished her vows the guests wept with tears of joy. It really does look like this one big family are going to have a very long and happy future together.The adults here really did set an amazing example for their children, the best example you could have ever thought they could achieve.
Facebook/Love What MattersHave a listen for yourself to the vows:
A real surprise happened in Paul’s Family Restaurant, a group of soldiers cal to the restaurant for their lunch, many of the customers noticed, what happened shows the community feeling towards the soldiers, but the surprise was what the soldiers did when they left!Paul’s Diner isn’t famous, as such, doesn’t tend to appear on TV shows, but the diners do have a small dedicated crew of staff there and you can get a very decent assortment of fried food on a single plate!
Just your average American Diner, Paul’s Diner really shines because of its clientèle of average, but decent American diners. The customers in the Diner are exactly, in fact, what makes our community so great!It was lunchtime and four members of the US Army came to Paul’s for a late lunch together, dressed in their camouflage combats, they quietly took their seats. Everyone noticed them arrive after all camouflage in a civilian restaurant sticks out like a sore thumb.A customer wrote on their Facebook Page:
“A family of six that came in right behind them pulled their waitress aside and said they wanted to buy them their lunch. Moments later another lady came to pick up an order to go and wanted to do the same. She said her son just started boot camp at Fort Benning [in Georgia] this week and she misses him so much she really wanted to buy them lunch as well. Since they hadn’t even ordered yet I suggested that they each put $20 towards their bill and Paul’s would pick up the difference. In the meantime, TWO MORE groups asked to pick up their check!”
Everyone worked, stealthily, with the serving staff to buy these troops their lunch, another guy as he left the restaurant out $50 on their table and thanking them for everything they do.By the time they were ready to leave the restaurant, they had their bill paid off and made money, thanks to all the kind diners!
When they left the owner stopped them, he too wanted to thank them and ask if they left a tip for their server. They hadn’t got to pay anything at all for their meal and the owner covered the servers tip for them too!They told the owner that they “left something” on the tables, having a little smile to themselves. The owner wished them a great day and went to the table to clear up. He was really shocked at what he found there!!!The troops had left on the table the $50 bill for the server, instead of keeping it for next time they came, as was the offer when it was given to them. The Army forces team, like most veterans, never sought this attention, but still appreciated the generosity of their fellow diners immensely, they chose to pay it forward, how awesome!At Paul’s Family Restaurant, there’s more than just awesome tasty food – there’s also a lot of love!
They’re asking for heartbreakingly simple things, amongst the parties and celebrations with food the children at Christmas are the important ones, it’s the season! The non-profit ‘Things of My Very Own Inc.’ TOMVO based in New York give gifts. One young boy asks for snacks at school so he is not the only one in the class with nothing to eat!This touching request he made brings our lives back into perspective I believe, TOMVO based in New York have a simple and clear mission at Christmas, besides their gift donation program they also help keep families together too and keep children out of the foster care system, especially when the sole problem is not enough money to buy the essential things needed to live!This ten year old boy with such a simple wish holds this one simple thing as absolutely crucial, because of how it makes him feel to be the only one without snacks! He feels this every day that crushing feeling of being the odd one out when you just want to fit in, and have a few pokémoon cards too because, after all, he is still 10….
A small snack seems like such a small thing in most peoples eye, but put yourself back at school, under the watchful eyes of all your peers, judged my everything you do and say and have, and while yes its important to accept where you are and ignore the naysayers, at only 10 this is not how our youngsters minds work yet….
TOMVO gives out gift tags to local businesses and people select then buy the items written in the tag that they have and take them to the organization wrapped and ready to give to a child.Getting tags with Thomas the tank engine, blankets, a night-light, clothes, across everything you could imagine there is a request for something important to each child’s heart.At six years old this boy wants food and an army man, let’s just consider that for a moment, he’s six and he is asking for food? Does that make you want to cry?I know It makes me want to!Asking for blankets and a coat and she likes the color blue and felt fabric then she wants to desperately tell the gift buyers she is ‘a nice person’, can you feel your heart reaching out and feeling for these children, I know that my own kids don’t have a clue about real hardship!Here, on the other hand, these children are wishing for the simplest of things that so many other children don’t consider because they have all these things in abundance! In what world, we must ask ourselves, does a child have to wish for things to keep her warm!Amongst all these heartbreaking requests, thankfully we are reminded that these are still kids and still innocent enough to consider that their biggest concerns are things like ‘their brother is stealing their Batman toys’…
TOMVO, it’s fair to say probably isn’t unique, but that doesn’t make it any less special. There are no doubt many places that do similar things, at least we hope so! Let’s all support our own communities and children in these magical times of the year that we can make all children feel special!
As a parent, we try to think of other peoples children too, make donations to charities that do actually help children at Christmas time, give food, toys, money, just what you can afford to give to help other kids at this magical time of the year! If you cant give things, then maybe you could give your time to help a worthy charity, to help others, every little bit helps!!!
For the little boy who simply wished for snacks at school, $10 or even $5 could get him set-up for a whole month, just imagine how he would feel and grow in confidence, just to fit in at school and not to worry about this simple thing that is so important to him.In 2017 I sometimes think that the world grows meaner every year, but then again, in other ways some of us just grow kinder and do help the world to become a better place!So let’s be the good ones and make our world a better place.If you’d like to donate to Things of My Very Own, Inc. directly, you can do that on their website. Other organizations that help kids during the holidays are Toys for Tots, Operation Christmas Child, and Make A Wish, just to mention a few!
Shearing is CARING, please share and let’s really send this message out far an wide, thank YOU!
To get that fateful news, that you never expect to hear, to know that you have a diagnosis of cancer is most of our nightmares come true. Straight away floods of questions come to mind, how bad is it? Can I fight it? Where do I go to get treated? There is no doubt at all that to fight something like this, support is absolutely key!That support can often come from places you wouldn’t imagine and for Nicola Hitchen that support came from an ex-husbands new wife!FacebookFrom Chester, in the UK, this 41 year old mother of two children was experiencing pain since last spring. The Doctors thought that is was because of an infection from a past operation, but just a little time after this assumption, Niki was taken to a hospital and into intensive care.The Doctors found that she had an abscess on her cervix, it was sadly stage 2 cervical cancer…The bad news didn’t stop there, after around seven weeks of care in the hospital, the cancer progressed fast, stage 4 followed, then doctors told Nikki they wouldn’t be able to operate as the cancer was in a very advanced stage, she only had months to live now!FacebookNikki is a fighter and she didn’t give up, she went to Northumberland, then many more trips to Istanbul, Turkey to treat the ‘inoperable’ tumor there. After spending £80,000 at the facilities which high higher success rates for treating stage 4 cancer, the main part of the tumor in her abdomen had shrunk considerably.
Each trip to Turkey cost about £10,000 and Nikki was running out of money fast, her family was going to have to face some very tough decisions.The shock was that Niki’s ex-husband’s new wife, Clare Hitchen came to her rescue and really helped!FacebookClare dug deep and set up a crowdfunding page, to help raise money for Nikki’s cancer treatments, they have gathered more than £21,000 in donations to help her.
Clare says:(The boys)… “need their Mum and she deserves the chance to watch them grow into men and have their own families.”Facebook“Niki is my husband’s ex-wife and amazing Mum to Joe and Jake”“Niki continues to put them first throughout all of her treatment. Joe and Jake are also amazing big brothers to our 3 year old daughter and she adores them as they do her. We can do this!!”Facebook
The amazing and heartfelt response Nikki had has been really amazing!
She said:“I’m completely overwhelmed – everyone, especially Clare, has been amazing”“I didn’t think people liked me that much … It’s brought us all even closer together. The support I’ve been given has been phenomenal, not just from my family but from complete strangers too.”Please share this story and show people about devotion and love and kindness to others.
This mom, Amy Beth Gardner, has done what can only be described as a beautiful post on Facebook about raising her two young girls. We have heard from this mom before so another viral post is no surprise!
Amy Beth, whether depicting the power of words with toothpaste or showing her daughters the magic of Disney we are always learning, and it’s always awesome to have lessons from Amy Beth.
Being a mom isn’t an easy thing, no wonder she is able to draw on passion in her experiences after all her own personal journey has forced her to develop that inner strength. She struggled with infertility before she began fostering children in need!
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Months after her decision to foster, close to midnight, the caseworkers landed on her doorstep with two young girls, 5 years and 9 years old. Now moving on, 509 days on to be precise that Amy Beth and her husband have been parents to Breona and Bridgett.
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Even in their joyful lives, Breona and Bridgett still have little moments where samll things can make them recall a bad memory from the past. Amy Beth recently shared a powerful story about Halloween and how it caused one of her daughters to have one of those moments, Amy beth gives us the most beautiful pictures of redemption.
See her story below:
“My youngest daughter was five years old when she came to us via foster care.”
“As we approached our first Halloween together, I noticed that she and her nine year old sister froze in fear each time I mentioned the upcoming holiday. I finally asked the girls if they had ever experienced Halloween before coming to live with us and was horrified by their answer.”
“They took turns telling me about how they had once been given candy for Halloween only to have an adult take the candy and eat it in front of them while making them watch. When the girls began to cry, the adult handed them the brown paper wrappers that had been holding the chocolate peanut butter cups and forced them to eat the empty wrappers, a cruel way to give the girls a literal taste of what they were missing out on that Halloween evening.”
“With this story in mind, I knew that I needed to approach our first Halloween with them cautiously. My instincts were confirmed when I noticed that the girls were discreetly counting the pieces of candy they received as they walked from house to house in their adorable costumes.”
“When we got home, I pulled out two plastic bags and a black marker and explained to the girls that I wanted them to count their pieces of candy as they put it into the bags. When they finished counting, I helped them label their bags with the precise number of pieces of candy inside and, each time they would eat a piece of candy, I helped them relabel their bags.”
“For weeks after Halloween, despite our assurances that we would not eat their candy, the girls asked if they could recount the pieces before going to bed. I would sit and count their candy with them night after night, earning their trust one lollipop at a time.”
“That was fall of 2014. They are now adopted and thriving in our home but each October the story of the one Halloween that they were forced to eat empty candy wrappers resurfaces in their young minds.”
“Last night, as I was cleaning up our kitchen after dinner, I noticed my youngest daughter rooting around in the pantry. As I finished wiping down our counter-tops, she approached me with a bag of candy she had collected while at a recent Halloween event.”
“She had wrapped the bag in a piece of paper and it was clear she was presenting it to me as a gift. As I pulled the piece of paper off the bag, I saw these words scrawled in her sweet third grade handwriting:”
“Mom, I want to give you a taste of how much love I have for you by giving you my candy.”
“Let that sink in for a moment. This child, who was once forced to eat empty candy wrappers, went through her bag of Halloween candy to select pieces she thought I would enjoy and then gave them to me as a gift.”
“She didn’t choose her least favorite candies or only pick out one or two pieces to give. She filled a bag full of her very favorite pieces and gave them to me with so much earnest pride on her face that I could cry just typing these words.”
“You have gifts to offer, too. But, like my daughter and her candy, I’m almost certain that your most valuable gift is connected to deeply rooted pain in your life. You and I have the opportunity daily to make the choice to take the terrible things that have happened to us and turn them into gifts to offer to this hurting world.”
“My daughter’s gift of candy was priceless because of what it cost her. She chose to give despite what had been done to her. What if you and I show that same kind of courage today as we take inventory of our own pain — and allow the bitter to become sweet?”
Wow! What a completely amazing story, it really shows that a child’s capacity for love is enormous, even in the memory of such a painful event from her past!
If you felt touched like we did, then share this story!
Do you think you have found your soul-mate? You hope that your feelings will last forever, but then looking at the many couples in the world who have separated and you wonder why this is the case…One of the biggest reasons for people breaking up and separating is that falling out of love. Such a situation can be common a partner can actually fall out of love, lose his or her feelings over the years. So how can you know if your partner loves you?
In a moment your relationship looks rosy, just like always, but from time to time you have worrying thoughts. Analyze your relationship for a moment, psychologists found that there are ten measurable things that show if your partner still loves you or not.
#1 – Demonstration Of Feelings
Your partner doesn’t demonstrate his feelings towards you, doesn’t show you any love, no flowers, no gestures, or even worse, they show feelings for someone else.
#2 – Listening And Concentration
Your partner is very distracted all the time and doesn’t listen to you, thinking about other things constantly.
#3 – Share Life Experiences
Your partner has lost interest in your life and you, you find it difficult to have common interests between you anymore.
#4 – Always Taking The Blame
Every little situation or problem and it’s suddenly your fault…. !
#5 – Lack Of Support
Your partner doesn’t support you and finds reasons why he can’t…
#6 – Leave Of Absence
Your partner takes every opportunity to be away from home and with friends instead of you.
#7 – Future Plans
Your partner makes plans for the future and you are not in those plans.
#8 – Doesn’t See The Good
Your partner remembers just all the bad parts of your relationship and absolutely forgotten the great times you had together.
#9 – I’ll Do What I Want
Your partner refuses to explain his behavior, even, if you ask him directly.
#10 – Bad Bad Bad
Your partner is constantly looking to make you feel bad and hurt you, lying and insincere.
We hope that everyone really does experience true love, and remember just one of these on its own, or even just a few could mean you need to work harder at your relationship. But if you have all of them or nearly all of them, then its maybe time to move on to someone who deserves you!Lets spread the love and share this story with the people that it can really help!
Family bonds are really the strongest that exist between us humans, especially the bond of a parent, and in this case the bond of a father and daughter. So father to father when we can really relate to this bond that exists, that’s exactly what happened one day between two fathers in Orem, Utah.Appearing a the courthouse for a traffic ticket he got one day, Jose Moncayo, had desperately looked for a babysitter for his two year old little daughter, Abi. He wasn’t having any luck at all that day, in fact, he couldn’t get a babysitter for love nor money, …or could he?
Well actually in this case, not for money but for love! As he had no choice but to bring his daughter to the courthouse, the two of them waited to appear in the court. When the time came to go into the courtroom Jose had the realization that he would need help.
Source: YouTube ScreenshotAs Jose waited for his turn in the courtroom Abo explored the hall where they were waiting, as much as she could anyway. She just couldn’t sit still beside her father and the whole building seemed like it was her play area! As she explored it as far as she was allowed.The time came and Jose was to appear in front of the judge, he was really in a tight spot, he wasn’t allowed to take Abi into the courtrooms with him. On the other hand, he couldn’t leave her there either, he didn’t know what he was going to do, until a hero stepped in.
The Officers of the police department saved him. He said he would watch Abi while Jose was in court, the officer who stepped in went by the name of Officer Norris and previous to him stepping in he had been watching the father and daughter while he waited to give hos testimony.
The Officer, seeing the situation Jose was in, he was very happy to help!
Source: YouTube ScreenshotOfficer Norris said:
“I’ve got kids myself”
“I know what it is to have rambunctious kids, and it’s hard to take them anywhere.”
The Officer held the girls hand, exhibiting some really great parenting skills, he showed her around th building to keep her occupied, lade sure she drank water, stayed hydrated, and she even got treats from the deputes of the court!
What was going to be a serious problem turned into a great day for Abi!The young girl did eventually feel a little low on energy, Officer Norris sat with her and looked at some cartoons together on hos phone, she sat on his lap, clearly the Officer was in the little girls trust.Source: YouTube Screenshot
By the time Jose calm out of the courtroom his little Abo was asleep on the Officer, what a really great example of how these Officers really do care about the people around them.
Officer Norris said:
“We’re not just officers who are out there to arrest people”
“We’re out there to make our community a better place.”
This officer really did make a positive difference by helping a fellow father who needed a helping hand.
This man certainly made a difference by stepping in and helping a fellow father in his real time of need. It is really lovely to see genuine people helping each other out like this, such great community spirit.Please SHARE this with all your friends….
Once in a while, you get to know about a customer writing something on a receipt that is downright rude, it’s hard to believe it! There is a great sense of shock, its pretty unbelievable but it happens and it’s so inconsiderate for the person that is severing them.Thankfully most people out there are really not like that, not in the least bit. They really do want to share the love that most of us have for life and make everyone’s day a little happier and brighter.
At the Tacoma in Washington, a restaurant that is part of the chain called ‘Buffalo Wild Wings’ there was a case just like this, not they were not being rude though it was the opposite!
The restaurant serves American-style dishes, and has a great selection of hot spicy wings that everybody who tries, loves! It’s the kind of establishment where people can just go in, sit back, and get really tasty food to eat. The relaxed atmosphere that they exude is just awesome!
This one day, a staff member called Brian Avey was on duty, serving customers!
Just like a normal day he approached the woman, sitting alone, to take her order. She was there to have her lunch and ordered a sandwich and two beers, a Corona and a Blue Moon. Brian thought that was a bit odd, as she was on her own…Brian told her politely that he was sorry that he wasn’t able to bring her two beers because it was the restaurant’s policy to serve one beer at a time.The woman told the server exactly, her intentions…She had no intention of drinking two beers, in fact, she ordered the Corona beer for her brother, in his honor because he died in Iraq, fighting for his country. She would not even consider touching the second beer, it was symbolic and just her way to respect her brother.Brian posted to his social media:
“I told her she could only do one beer at a time. She said the Corona was for her brother who died in Iraq. It just sat next [to] her at an empty seat her entire lunch. When I brought her bill, I told her Buffalo Wild Wings will be buying that beer.”
The woman felt deeply touched by Brian’s actions and decided to write him a note.Brian not only waived the policy in the restaurant for the woman, very understandable don’t you think, but in addition, he gave her the beer with compliments, so she wouldn’t have to pay for it, what a great way to also show a sign of respect for her brother!
Before she left she got the receipt and wrote on it how she felt.
The note said:
“Thank you. An act of kindness goes a long way. It means a lot to me. Have a great rest of your day.”
She signed off:– “Grateful Soldiers.”She felt that this kind act really honored all the soldiers that also fought beside her brother too, and had they been there they would have thought so too!When the woman finished, she left and the beer remained on the table still, what would Brain decide to do with the beer….
Dumping it down the sink was really not on, and he felt like he wanted to do something more meaningful, so he put the beer next to the cooler to honor this woman’s fallen brother, the beer was sat ceremonially next to an American flag!
Brian’s boss completely agreed with him, with one little proviso, he said to be sure to change the lime for a fresh piece every day, in remembrance of the soldier. This story just goes to show that a little bit of kindness really does go a long way. It just shows that a little bit of kindness goes much further than you can imagine!Share this awesome story, inspire your friends and pay forward something for someone else!
Paul’s Diner isn’t famous, as such, doesn’t tend to appear on TV shows, but the diners do have a small dedicated crew of staff there and you can get a very decent assortment of fried food on a single plate!
Just your average American Diner, Paul’s Diner really shines because of its clientèle of average, but decent American diners. The customers in the Diner are exactly, in fact, what makes our community so great!
It was lunchtime and four members of the US Army came to Paul’s for a late lunch together, dressed in their camouflage combats, they quietly took their seats. Everyone noticed them arrive after all camouflage in a civilian restaurant sticks out like a sore thumb.
A customer wrote on their Facebook Page:
When they left the owner stopped them, he too wanted to thank them and ask if they left a tip for their server. They hadn’t got to pay anything at all for their meal and the owner covered the servers tip for them too!
They told the owner that they “left something” on the tables, having a little smile to themselves. The owner wished them a great day and went to the table to clear up. He was really shocked at what he found there!!!
The troops had left on the table the $50 bill for the server, instead of keeping it for next time they came, as was the offer when it was given to them. The Army forces team, like most veterans, never sought this attention, but still appreciated the generosity of their fellow diners immensely, they chose to pay it forward, how awesome!
At Paul’s Family Restaurant, there’s more than just awesome tasty food – there’s also a lot of love!
We hope that everyone really does experience true love, and remember just one of these on its own, or even just a few could mean you need to work harder at your relationship. But if you have all of them or nearly all of them, then its maybe time to move on to someone who deserves you!
Lets spread the love and share this story with the people that it can really help!
The woman told the server exactly, her intentions…
She had no intention of drinking two beers, in fact, she ordered the Corona beer for her brother, in his honor because he died in Iraq, fighting for his country. She would not even consider touching the second beer, it was symbolic and just her way to respect her brother.
Brian posted to his social media:
The note said:
Brian’s boss completely agreed with him, with one little proviso, he said to be sure to change the lime for a fresh piece every day, in remembrance of the soldier.
This story just goes to show that a little bit of kindness really does go a long way. It just shows that a little bit of kindness goes much further than you can imagine!
Share this awesome story, inspire your friends and pay forward something for someone else!
