What began as an awful tragedy very soon after became one of the most incredible stories I have ever heard! Ryan from Oklahoma and Jessica from Michigan had both lost the other halves, their spouses, to brain cancer in August of 2010, they hadn’t a clue what to do or where to turn to, they felt completely lost. Their spouses had passed only four days apart, both of them had also been keeping a blog of their difficulties, somewhere though, somebody had been reading both their blogs! That person contacted Jessica, they said:

“There’s this man in Oklahoma who lost his wife four days after you lost your husband and I just think you could be encouraging to him.”

She left him a message on his own blog, she offered to talk on email or phone, if he wanted to. However, she didn’t know was that one of Ryan’s children came home and was asking about a “new mom”. It really caught him off guard, it had, after all only been two months since she had passed away. That night, he prayed with his children, and he said:

“God, if that’s what I’m supposed to do, give me a sign, show me something… just prepare my heart for something like that.”

The very following morning he got Jessica’s message: After that the rest really seems history, they chatted each other’s socks down, hours at a time, then in December, they decided to meet. They chose Savannah to meet, in Georgia, after all, it was “neutral ground,”. It was a place both had always intended to visit, but never quite made it there, they certainly didn’t anticipate they would make it there under these circumstances! In all the phone calls and emails they had really made such a great connection with each other, it really helped them figure out what they wanted, no kids involved, just the two of them communicating. Ryan said:

“Both of us had really good marriages and thought, ‘I want to do this again.’ I knew very quickly, even in the conversations, that I wanted her to be my wife and spend time with her for the rest of my life”

Everything was really great between them, and so it was that they got married in April 2011, the only thing next was to decide who would move in with who! Jessica’s son was disabled, Lucas, and he went to a lovely school already, it was logical that Ryan moves his three kids to Grand Rapids, Michigan, which he did, with Jessica and of course her four children she already had. Wow, seven kids, half of them not your own, well they are really strong and they absolutely made it work. Ryan said:

“The kids all just meshed as if they were brothers and sisters from day one. It’s just amazing how they just took to each other immediately”

Just to put the icing on the cake, they are a family of ten, having had another child of their own in 2015. In 2013 they upped and moved to Tennessee, they now have 30 acres and a big country style house they all live in! This huge happy family really is a great example of how to fight for love and live your life with determination and zest! Please SHARE with friends and family and let’s inspire others to have the same zest for life!

Celebrating at a restaurant is a wonderful way to celebrate, that is unless you are called Makenzie and Steven Schultz, their celebration quickly turned into a complete disaster, the worse they have ever had! For the first glass of water it took around 20 whole minutes, then another 40 minutes for them to get their appetizer and another hour for the entree! Many people might well have complained about this kind of behavior, some probably even have walked away without a second thought, but not wanting this to happen in their special night the Schultz’s’ reaction was a true surprise for sure! To be true to the facts people all around the Schultz’s were poking fun of the restaurant and how unbelievably bad the service actually was. But after all that they didn’t leave an awful review of the restaurant, they didn’t even speak to the manager, they empathized with the waiting staff and left a note to them, what awesome people!!

Makenzie explained:

“So here’s the deal. Our service tonight sucked …Yeah, it was pretty terrible. But, it was very obvious that the issue was being short staffed, not the server.”

“He was running around like crazy and never acted annoyed with any table. At one point we counted he had 12 tables plus the bar. More than any one person could handle!”

The Schultz’s sat waiting and watching the server run back and to, between too many tables, all the time saying how sorry she was, never once losing her cool… Makenzie realized and turned to Steven and said:

“Wow, this used to be us. Waiting tables. I don’t miss it at all and I never loved that job. I did it for the tips.”

They both agreed that the server wouldn’t be getting any tips, just because of how slow the food was coming out, even though it really was not her fault, at all. The Schultz’s decision was to be really kind about it, in fact, they did the opposite of what most people would do and they left a tip of $100 on top of the $66 dollar meal, and a note to explain. In the note they said:

“We’ve both been in your shoes. Paying it forward =)”

They quickly left before the server had a chance to read the note, they didn’t want a fuss, it was simply a kind gesture. Later on, Makenzie decided they this story could be a real inspiration to others too and decided to share it! She says that a bit of thoughtfulness can often really change a situation for the better, especially when its a situation outside of the person’s control. Makenzie wrote: “I’m just sharing this as a friendly reminder to think of the entire situation before you judge …And always always always remember where you came from.”

What an awesome story, if you too are inspired then please SHARE this story with your friends and family.

When you’re homeless your kind of stuck in a rut, between a rock and a hard place, but to suddenly find out there is something amazing waiting for you, something you completely forgot about, it will change your life, it’s truly amazing… Jon Helsinki is 62 years old and has been living in a cardboard box for the last three years next to a bus stop in Tampa, Florida! He slept often under the shelter there and the bus stop benches there, most people didn’t even notice that he was there, he felt completely invisible to everyone. His identification documents had been stolen from him and it was almost impossible to get new ID’s for him as he was from Poland originally and is now all alone in the world! He had tried to apply for temporary housing at the Florida Community Housing Solutions Center, but again, it was a dead-end because he had no way to prove his identity, so he was refused. He was really stuck in a rut, a vicious cycle of events that kept going around and around and then back to where he started again. Charles Inman, a caseworker heard his story and he wanted to help him out. Charles was working with the community health provider DACCO and stepped in to try to do something for him. Officer Daniel McDonald also helped them, from the Tampa Police Department, they made a good team and were determined to help the guy break the terrible cycle he was stuck in. Inman said after meeting Helinski for the first time:

“This situation looked really difficult, and I wasn’t sure how it was going to end up”

“If it failed, it meant we’d put a 62-year-old man on the street, and Officer McDonald and I were not OK with that”

“John was born in Poland, so it made it even more difficult for him to get new ID …I helped him out and said, that we will figure this out and get him a bed”

The two men worked with Helinski and got all the identification papers he needed finally… McDonald said:

“First, I drove him personally to the local tax collector’s office, where he was able to get a temporary State of Florida ID card”

With the ID papers, he could finally get his birth record from the US State Consular Affairs department. Then the pieces started to fall into place, they could get him an appointment with social security and find out about his benefits he used to have. The big shock was that Helinski had never stopped receiving benefits, they are still getting deposited in his bank! They then went to the bank and the men saw he had a bank account he had forgotten about, with the social security checks and more! With his forgotten accounts he was able to move into his very own home, he is now living in the community homes that Inman work for, but all of a sudden his future is a lot happier and assured! McDonald says:

“He has the money now to move into his own home …He deserves it. He’s a very good, sweet and genuine man.”

A huge thanks to these two men who made it all possible for this once homeless guy, they turned his life around and now he has a bright future again! Please SHARE this wonderful story with your friends and family!

To voluntarily have your daughter’s leg amputated is an incredibly difficult decision to make. This truly awesome story of facing facts and overcoming anything that has in store for you… Born with deformed legs and hands, little Jemma Kelly was very special, he mom Tamara was shocked when she first saw her little girl. She said:

“She only had three fingers on each hand and there wasn’t an ankle on her bottom right leg so it had formed in a hook shape”

As Jemma grew a little older she couldn’t walk or play as normal children could. She said:

“I want my daughter to lead a normal life, she’s an amazing little person and I will not let her life be changed by her disability”

Doctors said that there are a few options to try to help her daughter, her parents made the heartbreaking decision to have Jemma’s leg amputated above the knee-joint!

Kelly said:

“We were given options to extend her leg with screws, metals, and rods, but we decided that if she had it amputated she could live a better life without countless surgeries”

At just 9 months old they did the surgery on her, then just before her first birthday she was fitted with a prosthetic leg, so she could adapt to it and move around like other toddlers. They encouraged her to move around and to help her adapt to her new limb as much as possible!

Her new prosthetic leg actually has a knee-joint, it allows Jemma much more movement and flexibility. Tamara said:

“She does cheerleading, plays tee-ball, rides a bike, bounces on trampolines—if you covered her prosthetic leg you’d never know the difference between her and any other child… Now she can bend down to grab things like in tee-ball and so she’s just getting used to being able to kneel rather than throw her leg out”

Tamara went on to say:

“When she was younger she used to stand at the couch and balance like a flamingo but now she’s walking, running and always on the move”

“When she learned to walk it was such a massive achievement…”

“We’ve had to undergo a lot of therapy and I’ve researched different ways to teach her how to move but now she’s just incredible.”

“We’re all incredibly proud of everything she’s done so far, she’s an amazing little girl”

Jemma and all her family really take the positives in life, they focus on what she can do in her life, which is nearly everything!

Great luck To Jemma for the bright future she has ahead of her, you will achieve whatever you want in your life! See more of Jemma in the awesome clip below, and please SHARE with friends and family:

At a young age we teach our children to give respect to their elders, thankfully, this is something that many of those children then carry on doing as adults too. Seniors now live much longer and we have and know more about medicine and life and so they need a little more help to get along sometimes too. Thank goodness there are more people out there who will see opportunities to call in on an elderly person in need and help them out, one of those great people is Chris Carter…

He was on an outing with his family recently and Chris saw the perfect opportunity to help a senior guy who was hunched over and pushing a lawn mower, a large one at that! Chris instead of just passing by, he turned and looked at his wife, then decided that he would do something fantastic. Tara shared what he did with the Facebook page ‘Love What Matters’, She was completely taken back by her husband’s reaction at first, but she knew that what he did was really in his caring nature. Tara said:

“This is one of the many reasons I love my husband. As we are driving home with Kylie and Gage, Chris suddenly turns the jeep around and says, ‘Take the food home and come back and get me.’ I didn’t know what he had seen but said okay.”

His wife was a little worried at first but then she saw what her hubby did next and it touched her, it was so warm and kindhearted. Chris’ lovely nature and thoughtfulness, he pulled over and parked the car up. He jumped out of his car and walked over to the senior guy, he was finding the work with the lawn mower difficult. Tara went on to say:

“We pull up and Chris takes the push mower from this elderly gentleman. I pray that my son learns from this and randomly helps people do things like his father does.”

How Chris reacted to this situation is a really good example of what we all should do as much as we can, respect and honor our elders, help them when they need help, he really showed the youth of today how to act by his example. Chris’ compassionate act wasn’t done for attention, or to get noticed or any other selfish reason, he did it to help someone else because he cared and he is a good guy, such a selfless act.

It is after all times like these that Senior need a little help sometimes, I know if it was me that needed help like this I would really appreciate it, what a true gent! The elderly guy was really grateful for Chris’ help, it’s the smallest gestures that can mean the most sometimes!

Have you eve done something like this to help someone? Is yes, then tell us about what you did in the comments; Your story too could inspire people to do the same!

This nine-year-old boy managed to beat the odds in his battle against cancer, just long enough to get to see his newborn sister and pick her name before he sadly passed away, his parents describe his heartbreaking story… The doctors discovered cancer in Bailey’s body quite late, so, unfortunately, they could only say that he had just days or weeks to live. The young boy was completely set in his mind that he would fight cancer, held on to his life for a hard and challenging fifteen months, he had round after round of treatment… It was Christmas Eve when Bailey passed away, he was with his parents Lee and Rachel Cooper, they were at his side, but not before he got to see his newborn sister, he named her Millie.   Bailey’s troubles started in the summer of 2016 when he was taken ill and got medical attention. The Doctors thought he might have had some kind of virus, but when it didn’t get better they gave him antibiotics for a chest infection. His condition just continued to get worse… His blood test results were completely devastating, has was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, it was cancer, it affects the vessels of the glands in the body. He was started on chemotherapy and steroid medication and in February of 2017 cancer went into remission, it seemed like there was a glimmer of hope and he might recover. The bay’s father said:

“They thought there were no more signs of cancer …He started back at Stoke Lodge school and from then we were home.”

“He had to go in for regular check-ups and routine MRIs every three months, but things were looking up.”

It came to easter time, the doctors called his parents, there had been a relapse and he had to return to hospital again. Bailey was reassessed, the doctors said that he had a seventy percent chance of survival now. He father said:

“He went into chemo again …The doctors threw the book at it, and told us even if he survived it, the long-term effects will last for the rest of his life. He had a stem cell transplant.”

Bailed bravely battled the disease and towards the end of July, he had recovered enough that he could leave the hospital again and spend some time with his family. Baily’s mom said:

“We had six weeks at home with him that summer. It was amazing”

Towards the end of August again there was a relapse. But this time around the cancer had returned even more aggressively than previous times. The consultant Doctor said:

“It’s at stage four, and it’s even worse. It’s very aggressive.”

There were sizable lumps in his chest, inside his lungs, his liver and his stomach, it was extensive! His father said:

“She told us there wasn’t very long left—it was only days or weeks”

Bailey was determined and he battled as hard as he could, he was determined to meet his little sister, she was due in November. His mother said:

“Those three months were absolutely horrendous. We knew he didn’t have very long, and we tried to enjoy whatever time he had left”

Bailey’s situation deteriorated and he had to go on pain medication. His mom said:

“We didn’t think he would last that long, but he was determined to meet Millie. It got to the end of November, and Millie was born.”

“He hugged her and did everything an older brother would do—change her, wash her, sing to her”

“But week by week, he got dramatically worse. He would be down and sleeping on the sofa a lot, and sometimes in bed unresponsive. It was difficult.”

His father said the doctors predicted that he wouldn’t last until his sister would be born but Baile had a different idea about that! His father said:

“Doctors said he was going to go before Millie was born. He didn’t. He fought, and on the way to hospital, he said we should call her Millie”

“But the moment after he met her, he began to taper off quickly. He was slipping away.”

Dying boy, 9, kept fighting long enough to meet newborn sister and pick her name https://t.co/SfjeplgCpP pic.twitter.com/fMTH0XOZ6Z

— Daily Mirror (@DailyMirror) January 12, 2018

Bailey was taken to the hospital on Friday, Dec. 22. His mother recounted:

“We sat there hour by hour, watching him slip away. We read him stories, and listened to his favorite music”

“By 11:45 a.m. on Christmas Eve, we were by his bedside. We knew it was not going to be long. We told him ‘it’s time to go, Bailey, stop’.”

“The moment we said ‘stop’, he took his last breath and had just the one tear come out of his eye. It was peaceful.”

Baliey’s parents managed to share their final moments with their son, they said that in those final moments he said something extraordinarily touching about his little sister, just before he was taken to the hospital. Bailey said:

“I want to stay but it’s my time to go to become her guardian angel.”

  Rest in peace little man we wish you peaceful happy days in heaven, you were so brave, our thoughts rest with you.

This boy, only ten years old came to the coffee shop and took a seat at one of the tables there, the waitress who was working in that section was really annoyed. He was just a child and he wasn’t really going to spend a lot of money! She thought he was wasting her time… It was her job, after all, to serve customers, paying customers of course, but no matter how little they ordered they are still paying and valued customers, right? She went to the table an put a glass in front of his face… He said to her, innocently:

“Miss, how much is an ice cream sundae?”

She said:

“Fifty cents”

He was quiet like he was thinking a little and looked down then he asked her the cost of a regular ice cream. The waitress at this stage was growing impatient with the little boy. There was a line building up over at the door and she wanted to get on and seat all the people building up waiting for seats. She replied to him, quite impatiently:

“A plain cup of ice cream is 35 cents”

The little boy decided to order the regular ice cream, he gave her his menu with a smile. Just a few minutes after she returned with the ice cream and the bill then walked off without saying anything. The little boy politely sat there, he ate his ice cream and, paid for it and left! The waitress soon saw that the table was empty and was sighed relief that the child had not taken up too much of her time, she went straight over to the table and cleared up, quickly preparing it for the next customers. Just at that moment, she was clearing up the table she was something at the table that really deeply touched her and made her feel so incredibly sad! It was a tip the little boy had left her a 15 cent tip, he had given her the rest of the money he had, how amazingly kind and sweet! She was stunned and stood there, paused for a moment thinking about what the little boy had done. The only reason he couldn’t afford an ice cream sundae was that he included her tip in his costs The waitress was overcome with guilt, how could she have been so cold towards him and selfish? The tears welled up in her eyes the more she thought about it and her conversation with the little boy, he gave up his sundae to give her a tip! Maybe if we do actually think of other more, before ourselves then the world would actually be a better place, SHARE this with your friends and family, make the world a better place.

Every family is unique and certainly, there are not many families in America like Madeleine’s family! Her parents were only teenagers when she was born, young and unprepared for family life they still refused to give up on their baby girl and each other! With all odds against them, Madeleine’s family managed to rise above it all. She posted this picture online when graduating high school and it truly shows their perseverance!

Madeleine shared her family’s amazing story with the Love What Matters Facebook page. “We made it TOGETHER. My mom was 15 while pregnant with me, she had me at 16. My dad was 17. The original picture is from June 2000. My parents were judged a lot during this time but stayed strong together. They both lived with their parents but were raising me together. They were determined to make it and provide me with a future. My dad worked full time in construction and my mom was still playing soccer. Today, they have a strong, loving marriage. They purchased a beautiful home. My mom is a stay-at-home mom and my dad has a great career as a longshoreman. I have two little sisters that are following in my footsteps.”

“The original photo has always been an inspiration to me. I wanted to recreate this photo since the beginning of my senior year but especially after I accepted my offer to college. I also wanted it to be a reflection to show them how far we’ve come together as a family. My parents have always been my motivation to be successful in high school and now strive to do well in college. I couldn’t ask for a more loving, supportive family than the one God gave me. Yeah, that’s right, we made it TOGETHER.” Madeleine’s family has overcome so many obstacles, laughing in the face of life’s challenges. This picture is the perfect representation of Madeleine’s wonderful childhood and her supportive family.

Life has its ups and downs, but Madeleine is lucky, she knows her parents will always be by her side, no matter what! This picture shows how happy and proud they are of their little girl graduating high school! They’re also very proud that she’s off to college and bettering herself. We wish Madeleine and her family all the best!