One of the things humans did right is the many connections they managed to establish with different kids of animals. As we are used to keeping dogs and cats as pets, other animals, such as horses and donkeys, can make awesome friends too.
Donkeys for example are very special creatures. One thing that characterizes their nature, according to Donkey Sanctuary, is their ability to make long-time friends with those of their kind, although it’s not unusual for them to bond with horses and mules, too. However, in case they lose the friend they made strong connection with, it can be damaging for them. As per the Donkey Sanctuary if they get separated from their companions, it can easily cause stress which can lead to the dangerous condition of hyperlipaemia, characterized by an excess of fat in the bloodstream.
Source: YouTube
Donkeys are easy to train because they are fast learners. They also do great around humans if they are approached the right way.
The donkey from this story has been raised by the family of a girl who liked the animal very much. After not having seen each other for quite some time, the girl and the donkey reunited again, and it was a very emotional moment; one which left many stunned.
As the girl gets closer to the gate, the donkey realizes he’s looking at a familiar face. He then let out a sound filled with emotions. The girl grabbed him by the sides of his face and gave him a gentle kiss on the nose. The donkey continued braying as though he was trying to tell her he is happy to see her again. At the end of the footage which shows the emotional reunion, the donkey appears to be smiling.
Source: YouTube
When it was first uploaded on YouTube some 3 years ago, the video got over 4.1 million views. This year, it reemerged again and has been seen over 6.4 views on Twitter.
This shows that humans and animals are capable of forming strong bonds that can last a lifetime.
Fitness guru Richard Simmons spent a great portion of his life under the spotlight, but that all changed in 2014 when he decided not to appear in public any longer and even closed his gym. His fans couldn’t help but wonder what happened to the man who helped millions of people lose millions of pounds and who never took the grin off of his face. His sudden disappearance triggered a number of rumors, each crazier than the other.
Richard Simmons was born Milton Teagle Simmons on July 12, 1948, but he eventually changed his name into Richard. Speaking of it, he told Tampa Bay Times in 2008, ”Well, you know, in the French Quarter (of New Orleans), they call me Dickie, so that was my name. Then, when I went to high school, it went to Richard. But I was named after a rich uncle … and he promised that if I had his name, I’d have a college education. And he did.”
Living in New Orleans, the place known for its delicious street food made Richard gain a lot of weight during his young years.
At one point of his life he weighted 270 pounds.
Richard Simmons poses for a portrait in 1992 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry Langdon/Getty Images)
After trying a number of diets and supplements, he realized that the only way to lose weight was to turn to healthy food and fitness and that’s when he founded his famous health club, “Simmons.”
Over the years, he hosted a number of shows which gathered the attention of millions. No one was immune to Simmons’ smile, energy, and charm. It didn’t take long before he became a household name loved by many.
During the 80’s and 90’s, he was a regular guest on The Howard Stern Show, and he often showed up on David Letterman’s talk shows.
“I receive 25,000 to 30,000 letters a day, and the reason I travel a lot is to meet these people, who are part of my family. I do not think of myself as a celebrity. I basically relate to people like myself,” Richard told People in 1981.
Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
His eccentric look and distinctive hair only added to his uniqueness.
When it came to his hair, Richard confessed in an interview with The Pantagraph in 2008 that it was a result of three “horribly painful” hair transplants. As it turned out, all the diets he experimented with when he was younger led to bаldness.
”When I was 19, I starved for two and a half months and I lost 116 pounds and I almost died. And at that point in my life I had to have a rebirth. What does Richard Simmons want and how can he get healthy and continue to do two things: make people laugh and help people? Because that’s all I ever wanted to do in my life,” he told NPR about that period of his life.
Rodrigo Vaz/Getty Images
Richard was an influential figure in the world of fitness and became an advocate, thus spoke up before a hearing in Congress and demanded the House Education and Labor Committee to expand physical education in public schools.
“Everyone is not a jock. Everyone cannot play sports. Everyone cannot run. But everyone can be fit. When you’re feeling great about yourself, when you have self-esteem and self-respect for yourself, there isn’t nothing you can’t do,” he said.
Scott J. Ferrell/Congressional Quarterly/Getty Images
What we know of Richard’s private life is that he never married and doesn’t have any children. In an interview with The Pantagraph in 2008, he revealed that he lived in the Hollywood Hills with his dalmatians.
In 1997, actress Kathy Kinney appeared on the Rosie O’Donnell Show and claimed Richard was gay. O’Donnell didn’t ask any further questions but asked for commercials instead. Later, she explained, ”When Kathy Kinney came on my show and outed Richard Simmons, I didn’t try to “in” Richard Simmons. The gay community accused me of in-ing Richard Simmons, like I was trying to make people think that he was straight. I will tell you this: If Richard Simmons ever wants to discuss his private life with me on national TV, he’s welcome to do so. It is not anyone else’s right to do that before he decides it’s time. That’s the reason I said to Kathy Kinney, “We’ll be right back with a commercial.” I’m simply saying that that right belongs to him. [Loudly] And no matter what community you feel he’s a part of or what he represents to you, it is not as relevant as his own truth.” Richard, on the other hand, didn’t give any comments.
Maury Phillips/WireImage
When he suddenly disappeared from the public eye, and shut his fitness studio down, people started speculating about the reasons he wasn’t on TV any longer. Some claimed that he had been locked by his housekeeper, which turned out not to be true after the police got involved in an attempt to research those claims.
Richard released a statement regarding closing his gym which read, “In 1974, I opened Slimmons as a way to help people make positive changes in their lives by having fun while exercising. It was a place to make friends, listen to and learn from others, lose weight and gain confidence. These were all the reasons I went to Slimmons too!”
Richard’s brother, Lenny, said in 2017 that Richard wasn’t missing, he just wanted to live more quieter life. He was forced to explain what was going on after Richard shared a photo of him writing he was doing just fine. However, fans noticed the photo was taken some years before and that only added fuel to the fire.
Tommy Estey, Richard’s spokesman, said in a statement, “He’s helped millions of people lose millions of pounds. And for 40 years, he took care of everyone but himself.”
Ron Eisenberg/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
However, with the start of the pandemic, Richard decided to post his old training videos on his YouTube channel in an attempt to help people stay in shape during the lockdowns.
“I am very excited that my groundbreaking fitness series of Sweatin’ to the Oldies still is so relevant and popular and I hope many new fans will discover these timeless classics,” he told People.
Richard has inspired many to turn to healthier lifestyle, and we are all very thankful for that.
Stories about kindness offered to complete strangers always restore our faith in humanity.
Travel blogger Johnny Jet has been documenting his exciting travel experiences for more than 23 years. As he has been to almost every part of the world, he knows a lot about different cultures and accepted social behavior, and that includes proper airplane etiquette.
One day, as he was on a plane, he overheard the flight-attendant saying there was a soldier on board. Having had deep respect for the servicemen and servicewomen who do a lot for the safety of our country and put their lives on the line every single day, he decided to give up his first class seat to the soldier.
“I heard the flight attendant say something about a soldier, and I looked up and I saw his uniform and I was like, ‘Oh my God,’” Johnny recalled.
At that moment, Johnny asked the flight attendant whether he could proceed with his attention. As they told him he could, he approached the soldier and told him to take his seat.
The soldier said thank you and shook Johnny’s hand, and that was it.
Johnny completely forgot about his kind deed, but then, around six years later, he got a note on his blog that left him completely surprised. It was from the soldier, and it read:
“I was the solider you gave your seat to,” the note read. “The story of your unbelievable generosity I have shared with my friends and family many times. It was something that I will never forget and although some may say it was just a seat or you may have felt it wasn’t much, for me it was symbolic.
“To this day it remains the only time I ever flew 1st class and I cherish the memory of the time a stranger who loved his service men and women so much that without regard to onlookers reminded me why I was going over to fight for the next year and a half.”
Johnny was touched by the message. He had no idea his deed could have such an impact on that soldier. His reply was: “Wow. Thank you for your service and the kindest email I have ever received.”
Back in 2005, the nation was shocked by the case of the “Caged Kids.” It was reported that many of the 11 children adopted by Sharen and Michael Gravelle from Norfolk, Ohio were forced to sleep in cages. It was later discovered that the children, aged 1 to 14 years old, were also beaten and suffered numerous tortures such as having their heads flushed in a toilet.
This could have been going on if it wasn’t for one man who discovered and reported the mistreatment of the poor children.
NBC
A year later, the couple lost custody of the children and were convicted of child endangerment and abuse. Both served two-years in prison for what they did. The kids were given combined $3.2 million settlement from the counties they lived in before being adopted by the evil parents.
Now, 10 years after they were saved, two of the kids, Abba and Simon, were about to meet the person who helped in their rescue.
drphil.com
The two spoke of their ordeal at Dr.Phil’s show and shared details of everything they had to go through under the care of the Gravelles.
“If he was here right now, I would gladly give him the biggest hug ever. He saved my life, he saved her life,” said 18-year-old Simon, pointing to his sister, Abba, “because who (knows) what they could’ve done to her.”
drphil.com
“Well, he told us the same thing,” Dr. Phil replied. “He said if he ever got to meet the two of you, he would give you a big hug, too. So let’s let that happen. Carlyle, come on out!”
It was one of those reunions that make everyone shed tears. Emotional to the core.
drphil.com
Carlyle Smith recalled visiting the family’s home back in 2003 for a job interview to help take care of the 11 kids with special needs. It was then when he learned the boys and the girls were sleeping locked in cages. The couple even warned him that if he gets the job he should be careful because they were able to escape those cages every now and then. When one of the children soiled himself, they didn’t changed him but punished him by locking him inside in front of Carlyle’s eyes.
NPR
“(If not) for doing what you did, one or both of these young people might not be here today. How’s it feel to see these two young people now?” Dr. Phil asked.
“Amazing. It’s absolutely amazing,” Smith said. “I’m so proud of you guys.”
drphil.com
You can take a look at the touching reunion in the video below. You might need your tissues for this one.
What most teenagers dream of is to go to college, travel the world, and have many friends. 12-year-old Taylor Smith, of Johnson City, Tennessee, was no different. This girl spent her days around her family and friends and loved watching a lot of Doctor Who.
Smith outlined these plans in a letter she wrote to her future self in April 2013. The letter was placed inside a box in her room with the instruction “To be opened by Taylor Smith on April 12, 2023 only (unless said otherwise).”
Taylor Smith
Unfortunately, she didn’t live long enough to see whether those dreams would be accomplished. Just months after she wrote that letter, Taylor died of complications from a sudden onset of pneumonia.
Her parents, Tim and Mary Ellen Smith, were heartbroken. They couldn’t believe their girl was forever gone.
One day, as they were sorting through her possessions, they found the letter. As it touched them deeply, they decided to share it online and give others some solace.
Taylor Smith
As she shared her daughter’s letter, Marry Ellen wrote: “I can’t physically resurrect her, I can’t bring her back, but
I’m so grateful people have been inspired by her story.”
Taylor Smith
Below is Taylor’s letter and the words she wrote to herself.
Taylor Smith
Dear Taylor,
How’s life? Life is pretty simple right now (10 years in your past). I know I’m late for you, but as I’m writing, this is early, so; congratulations on graduating high school! If you didn’t, go back and keep trying. Get that degree! Are you (we) in college? If not, I understand. We do have pretty good reasoning, after all.
Don’t forget, it’s Allana’s 11th birthday today! Sheesh, 11 already? In my time, she just turned 1! I didn’t get to go to that party though, because I was in Cranks, Kentucky for my first mission trip. I’ve only been back for 6 days!
Speaking of, how’s your relationship with GOD? Have you prayed, worshipped, read the bible, or gone to serve the lord recently? If not, get up and do so NOW! I don’t care what point in our life we’re in right now, do it! He was mocked, beaten, tortured, and crucified for you! A sinless man, who never did you or any other person any wrong!
Now, have you gone on any more mission trips? Have you been out of the country yet? How about on a plane?
Is Doctor Who still on the air? If not, what regeneration did they end it with? You should go watch some Doctor Who! Later though, you gotta finish reading your own words of wisdom!
Do you have your own place yet? If we’re in college, what are we majoring in? Right now, I wanna be a lawyer.
Have you been to Dollywood recently? Right now, their newest attraction is the Wild Eagle. It’s so fun!
Also I think I’m going to sell my iPad and buy an iPad mini, Don’t forget to tell your kids that we’re older than the tablet! Attached I also have a drawing of an iPad, so you can show them.
Well, I think that’s all. But remember, it’s been 10 years since I wrote this. Stuff has happened, good and bad. That’s just how life works, and you have to go with it.
Sincerely, Taylor Smith
Beautiful words from an angel who was taken away from her family too soon!
If you were touched by Taylor’s words as much as we were, please share this story in her memory.
Over the years, humans became so distant that it is not unusual for most of us to turn a blind eye when we see someone is in trouble. Not involving in other people’s business is a good thing, but this doesn’t apply when we see someone struggling and needs help.
Thankfully, there are also people like Lisa Lemming who restore our faith in humanity.
As this woman, who is a caretaker at a senior home center in Georgia, was doing her shopping, she noticed an elderly man standing next to one of the aisles. She smiled at him, but her intuition could tell her something was wrong, he had a tormented look in his eyes. In order to be sure the man was okay, she decided to approach and check on him.
When she asked him if he everything was fine, the senior teared up. Lisa later shared the story and started her post writing: “Just spent 2 hours with an elderly man at Kroger. It started with me just smiling at him, making eye contact. As I walked past him he looked like he needed something.”
Lisa Lemming Jackson/Facebook
“I went back and asked him if I could help him. Tears welled up in his eyes and he said, ‘I have colon cancer and I have had a really bad accident, if I get up out of this cart everyone will know. What should I do?’”
Lisa assured him that everything was going to be just fine and spoke to one of the employees, explaining what was going on. The workers stepped in without hesitating even a bit and helped him clean himself up. They even gave him dry clothes to put on in order to be able to leave the store and go home.
Lisa Lemming Jackson/Facebook
“The look of his dignity lost left me with a lump in my throat. From that moment on, Kroger staff quickly fetched us wipes, undergarments and discreetly took him to their employer bathroom Area where he was given clothes. He cried and apologized. He said he had to hurry his wife was at home alone,” Lisa wrote.
As it turned out, the man was a veteran who served in the Vietnam and the Korean war. Over the years, he started feeling that the country has failed him, but what Lisa did restored his faith in humanity.
Lisa Lemming Jackson/Facebook
The encounter ended up with some tears of joy and words of advice.
“We both cried and I shared with him my own struggles and fears… He gave me words of wisdom and encouraged me that maybe after all, humanity still does care about one another,” Lisa wrote. “Today proved it. Thank you Elmer, thank you Kroger and thank you God for the lesson and reminder I received today.”
This story is the perfect proof that even the smallest acts of kindness can make a huge difference.
One thing single mom Krystal Preston should be extremely proud of is her parenting.
This woman has a hard time making ends meet because she raises her three children on her own, with no support from her former partner. Unfortunately, no matter how hard she tries to hide from her kids how exhausted and desperate she is because of the hard times she’s going through, they still know she’s sad at times.
Source: YouTube/ Inside Edition
In order to change things for his mom, her eldest child, son William, who is just 13 years old, did the most incredible thing a kid his age could do.
Knowing just how much his mom needed a car, and after watching YouTube videos of kids surprising their mothers, he decided to do the same. There was this 1999 Chevrolet Metro for sale near him and the price was relatively cheap, so he put his mind to getting it.
Source: YouTube/ Inside Edition
However, saving enough money didn’t go as smooth as planned. William did minor jobs such as mowing people’s lawns and helping neighbors, but he still needed more. Then, all of a sudden he got an idea to sell his Xbox, the one thing he loves the most.
He spends time playing on it and that makes him happy, but seeing his mom happy means more to this loving child.
One day, William took all his money and the Xbox and offered it to the car’s owner, who was hesitant about accepting Williams offer at first. However, once she learned why he needed the car, she was happy to be paid with the console.
Source: YouTube/ Inside Edition
The idea of a 13-year-old buying a car is unbelievable, so imagine how it sounded to Krystal.
“I said ‘Mom, I got you a car‘, and she said ‘….No you didn’t,” William shared.
“I lost it. I bawled so bad. I was just like “There’s no way.” What 13-year old do you know buys their mom a car? I don’t know any,” Krystal said.
Source: YouTube/ Inside Edition
The video of William surprising his mom has been seen over 1.2 million times, and everyone agrees that this boy is very special for stepping in for his mom the way he did.
Actor Ron Howard made his screen debut at the age of just four and soon became a much loved face. Thanks to his charm and talent, he stole the hearts of many and became a fun favorite child actor. Playing the role of little Opie Taylor on The Andy Griffith Show opened the doors to the world of showbiz for Howard and we are happy he hasn’t left Hollywood ever since. Howard had already had a successful career when he landed the role of Richie Cunningham on Happy Days, and was given a prominent part in the coming-of-age film American Graffiti. However, after these successful movies, he realized his place was behind the camera.
Source: YouTube
Today, Howard is a prominent director, producer, and screenwriter with numerous awards under his belt.
He is the recipient of two Academy Awards, for A Beautiful Mind and Apollo 13, four Emmys, a Grammy,and two Golden Globes among the rest. Howard has been nominated for seven BAFTA Awards and received the National Medal of Arts in 2001. His contribution to the television and motion picture industries has been rewarded with two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Source: Shutterstock
Besides having a remarkable career, Howard is also a husband and a father. He met his wife Cheryl Howard over five decades ago and they have been together ever since.
We are glad this successful man decided to share his love story with us, because one thing is certain, the story of such everlasting and passionate love is so worth sharing.
The couple first met at John Burroughs High School in Burbank, California. “I met her, and there was never anybody else,” the filmmaker said in an interview. Their love only grew stronger over the years and they are a few years away from their 50th wedding anniversary.
Richard Nairin/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Howard recalled their first date and said they went to see Stanley Kramer’s It’s a Mad Mad Mad World, then had pizza at the now-defunct Barnone’s in Toluca Lake. To mark the 50th anniversary of their first date, he picked up Cheryl in the identical ’70 VW Bug and they had pizza together. “It works flawlessly. We feel the same way,” Howard said.
They have 4 kids together, Bryce Dallas Howard, 40, twins Paige and Jocelyn Howard, 36, and son Reed Howard, 34, as well as five grandchildren.
As every other couple out there, they had their ups and downs but managed to overcome every obstacle because of their love and respect for each other. He says Cheryl has always been very supportive and helped him build his career.
He never misses a chance to remind her how much she means to him. For their 46th wedding anniversary, he snapped a photo with two balloons spelling “46” in the background. They celebrated in Gold Coast, Australia, where he was taking a break from filming the next feature Thirteen Lives.
Source: Shutterstock
They are one of the lucky few celeb couples who managed to stay together for so long. So what’s their secret?
“People ask, ‘How did you do it?’ There is no method. There is no strategy other than communication. You must learn to communicate and have unpleasant talks in productive ways,” Howard says. “Aside from that, there’s an element of luck since individuals either develop together or they don’t, and I don’t believe you can force it.”
They make a beautiful couple together. We wish them only the best life can bring.
Few music duos have managed to reach the fame of the legendary The Righteous Brothers.
Bill Medley, who is still active in the music scene at the age of 81, always had music in him. He just knew he would accomplish great things in life and never gave up trying. Eventually, his hard work paid off and he’s until this very day one of the most famous names in the music industry.
He “invented” multi-track recording in his own living room, long before it was a thing, and knocked on doors to sell his songs to more established music groups.
Getty Images
Medley sang together with a number of other singers, but his life changed forever when he met his singing partner, Bobby Hatfield. The two teamed up to create some of the most iconic pieces of music, such as “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin'” which is considered their signature record. Over the course of their career, they had for a time their own solo careers, but they got together again in 1981 and duetted together until Hatfield’s passing in 2003.
“The Righteous Brothers started out in Orange County, California. It was about the whitest place in the country, but the black marines from the nearby base heard there were two guys singing rhythm and blues, so they came down to hear us. At the end of our songs they’d yell out, ‘That’s righteous, brother!’ and that’s how we got our name,” Medley told Daily Mail of the duo’s beginnings.
“Bobby and I were singing rock ‘n’ roll and rhythm & blues. Phil Spector wanted to produce us and asked Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil to write us a song, and they wrote ‘You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’.’ And I’ve told Barry Mann and Cynthia several times that you didn’t write a hit record, you wrote us a life. They wrote us a career. You just never know what’s around the corner. You have to take it as it comes, and know that it’s a blessing, and keep on keeping on,” he shared with Hollywood Soapbox.
Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield of The Righteous Brothers and singer Aretha Franklin / Getty Images
At the same time as his career took off, Medley met his first wife and the great love of his life, Karen O’Grady, later Klaas.
“I first noticed her at church, and then, when Bobby Hatfield and I unveiled our first single, Little Latin Lupe Lu, at the Rendezvous Ballroom in Newport Beach, California in 1963, I saw her in the middle of a thousand beautiful young girls. When we got off stage, I got her phone number and we started dating,” Medley told Daily Mail in 2014.
Bill Medley and wife Karen in 1969 (Getty Images)
The two tied the knot, and despite they were very much in love with one another, he couldn’t spend as much time as he wanted with her because he was touring most of the time. She suffered a miscarriage at one point, but he wasn’t able to be by her side because he was on a tour with TheBeatles.
Then, in 1965, they welcomed son Darrin, but the couple divorced some five years later. They both moved on with their lives, but remained very close friends until Karen’s death in 1976.
Although he dated many women, it was when Karen decided to marry her second husband that Medley wanted her back. Sadly, he was too late.
Bill Medley and Karen with their newborn son Darrin Medley / Getty Images
On the morning of January 30, 1976, Karen was brutally murdered in her home. She was planning on having breakfast with some of her closest friends, and they saw her entering the house. They waited for her to get out, but as that didn’t happen after some time, they knew something was wrong.
Her friends entered the house only to see Karen’s body on the floor. She was barely alive and died four days later at the hospital. She was left without oxygen for around 15 minutes and her brain got severely damaged. Doctors took her off life support.
“She was one of my best friends,” Medley told People.
“I was a wreck. It was a big-time out-of-body experience — ‘I can’t believe I am here looking at caskets for Karen.’ It just didn’t make sense. She was beautiful and alive and a wonderful lady.
“I took some time off to get Darrin’s life back together,” he said. “I took six years off to get him on his feet.”
Getty Images
Karen’s murder remained a mystery for over 41 years, and then, thanks to the newest technology, familial DNA testing through which they created a DNA profile, her killer was finally identified. In 2017, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department announced they solved the case. That meant Medley, her children, and the rest of her family could finally get the closure they were looking for.
Karen’s killer was a man named Kenneth Troyer, who was 29 at the time, a well-known criminal. It was also revealed that the man in question was killed in a shoot-out with police in 1982.
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department
“I couldn’t be more blown away with the technology. I want to give hope to other families that this kind of technology can be utilized to identify criminals. It’s extremely important,” Darrin Medley, Karen’s eldest son, told ABQ Journal.
Bill Medley felt relieved the case was finally solved. ”There’s been a voice in the back of my head, probably Karen, telling me since about 20 years ago, ‘Drop it. Let it go. This guy is either dead or he’s in prison,’” he said. “It’s just nice to close the book on this,” he told The Washington Post in 2017.
The way we treat the elderly people speaks a lot of us as humans. Recently, one senior found himself in a very embarrassing situation while shopping at Kroger. Luckily, one very kind and considerate woman was there to lend him a helping hand and spare him from experiencing humiliation.
Source: Pixabay – Siggy Nowak
As Lisa Lemming Jackson, a caretaker at a senior home center in Georgia, was doing her shopping, she noticed an elderly man standing next to one of the aisles. She smiled at him, but her intuition could tell her something was wrong. In order to be sure the man was okay, she decided to approach and check on him.
As she asked him if he everything was fine, the senior teared up. Lisa later shared the story and started her post writing: “Just spent 2 hours with an elderly man at Kroger. It started with me just smiling at him, making eye contact. As I walked past him he looked like he needed something.”
“I went back and asked him if I could help him. Tears welled up in his eyes and he said, ‘I have colon cancer and I have had a really bad accident, if I get up out of this cart everyone will know. What should I do?’”
Lisa assured him that everything was going to be just fine and spoke to one of the employees, explaining what was going on. The workers stepped in without hesitating even a bit and helped him clean himself up. They even gave him dry clothes to put on in order to be able to leave the store and go home.
“The look of his dignity lost left me with a lump in my throat. From that moment on, Kroger staff quickly fetched us wipes, undergarments and discreetly took him to their employer bathroom Area where he was given clothes. He cried and apologized. He said he had to hurry his wife was at home alone,” Lisa wrote.
As it turned out, the man was a veteran who served in the Vietnam and the Korean war. Over the years, he started feeling that the country has failed him, but what Lisa did restored his faith in humanity.
The encounter ended up with some tears of joy and words of advice.
“We both cried and I shared with him my own struggles and fears… He gave me words of wisdom and encouraged me that maybe after all, humanity still does care about one another,” Lisa wrote. “Today proved it. Thank you Elmer, thank you Kroger and thank you God for the lesson and reminder I received today.”
Needless to say, the story gathered the attention of millions of people. Thank you, Lisa, for stepping in for a veteran in need.
No pain is greater than that of losing a child. Unfortunately, parents whose children are part of the military and are deployed to far and foreign countries fear for their safety each and every day.
Joseph Villasenor was a United States Air Force Staff Sergeant whose love for the country was greater than any other. Unfortunately, after serving for 16 years, this brave man was killed at the age of 36. His parents, Raymond and Rachel Villasenor, were heartbroken. They couldn’t believe their son was gone. Coping with the pain was a real struggle. They shared the story of their son’s unfortunate passing and the mysterious event that happened shorty after.
Facebook/LoveWhatMatters
One day, as they visited Joseph’s grave at the Garden Park Cemetery in Arlington, Texas, they noticed something unusual – their son’s grave was covered with a trail of beautiful, green grass while nearly all of the other graves were covered with dead grass and dirt.
They couldn’t possibly know the reason behind it.
Facebook/LoveWhatMatters
However, what they were unaware of was a chance-encounter between their daughter and an old man named Jake Reissig a few months earlier.
It turned out that Jake was bringing flowers to his late wife’s resting place when he saw Joseph’s sister crying over his grave. He couldn’t help but approach and ask her why she was crying. She explained that her brother died recently and the entire family was heartbroken and grieving. Jake couldn’t comfort her, but he could do something to show them that he cared.
Credit: Associated Press
He decided to bring flowers to Joseph’s grave. He also watered the grass every day.
Facebook/LoveWhatMatters
One day when Rachel and her husband Raymond visited their son’s grave, they noticed their son’s grave was all covered in beautiful flowers. The sight made them feel better. However, they didn’t know who to thank for the lovely deed.
Eventually, they learned it was Jake who was taking care of the tombstone.
Jake Reissig also watering his wife’s grave
Jake’s kind deed moved them to tears. Words couldn’t describe how grateful they were to this elderly man.
Villasenor Family with Jake Reissig
It is during the tough times we experience in life that we need someone to show us they care. Thank you, Jake, people like you make this world a better place.
The moment Susan Boyle took the stage of “Britain’s Got Talent” some ten years ago, no one believed this housewife would in any form impress them. They took her for granted and the moment she opened her mouth and started singing ““I Dreamed a Dream” from Les Misérables, people felt ashamed for misjudging her. This woman silenced whole Britain and everyone watching the show with her stunning vocals and taught us that we should always follow our dreams now matter how distant and unreachable they seem to be.
Fast forward, Susan is today a successful singer whose album “I Dreamed a Dream” has been sold in over 19 million copies. She spoke of the time she had been bullied as a child, but that life is long over and now her name resembles hope and success.
Recently, Susan has been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. Doctors warned her that this condition could affect her singing career in a long term and advised her to lose some weight. As performing live is her thing, Susan decided to take things in her own hands and go on a mission to transform herself.
The first thing she did was cut the sugar out of her diet and turn to a healthier lifestyle. Speaking to The Mirror, she said, “I need to stop eating sweeties and cakes. It’s the bane of my life.”
Susan’s dedication resulted in her losing 28lbs recently and she now looks like a completely new person. Well, it’s not that she didn’t look awesome before, but now, she’s not only transformed, but way healthier.
“I’m feeling a lot better now. I had moments where I needed help, and I reached out and I got the help I needed,” she told U.K. TV presenter Lorraine Kelly.
Last year, Susan took part in “America’s Got Talent: The Champions.” People were glad to see her standing where it all started. Turning to her viewers and fans, Susan said, “(I’m) a champion for those who don’t have the confidence to do things and don’t have a voice; the ones people tend to ignore. I feel like I’m a champion for them.”
For some, Susan is just another talented singer, but for many, she’s a true inspiration. Her life story is as remarkable as her singing and her self-believe makes her a role model for many.
Being TV host requires excellent verbal communication skills, flexibility, to be able to work under pressure, and a lot more. But no matter what it takes, one of the greatest TV hosts there are, Jay Leno, seems to have it all, if not more.
Leno has always seen himself as a comedian, something that remains huge part of his life even today. He was extremely good at making jokes and even doing pranks while at school, and instead of being scolded for that by his teachers, they actually encouraged him to develop that talent of his even further, something he’s always grateful for.
“If Jay spent as much time studying as he does try to be a comedian, he’d be a big star,” Leno recalled one of his teachers once wrote on his report card.
“I had wonderful teachers, I would not be in show business without them,” Leno recalled.
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“I remember Mrs. Hawke, my English teacher, who said to me, ‘You know, you’re always telling jokes in the hall, why don’t you write some of those stories down and maybe you can tell them to the class?’ It would have never occurred to me to do that because that just seemed like homework. And for the first time in my life, homework was actually enjoyable.
“I’d write something down, and then cross it out, saying now that doesn’t sound right and then write it again,” he added. “And then she’d have me stand up in front of the class and have me read these stories and I realize now that they weren’t very good, but at the time I got a few laughs and she said, ‘Maybe you could be a comedy writer or something like that.’
“It was an eye-opener. It was something I’ve always been grateful for.”
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After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in speech therapy from the Emerson College in Boston in 1973, Leno traveled from Boston to New York where he auditioned as a comedian.
Eventually, he landed gigs in Boston before moving to the West Coast to write for the television series Good Times.
Once he established himself as a prominent comedian, Leno appeared in a number of shows, including Late Night. Then, in 1987 he became the host of The Tonight Show after Johnny Carson retired.
Speaking of his beginnings as a host, Leno told Parade, “When I first began hosting The Tonight Show, the audience didn’t exactly love me.
“I used to pack up my things every night and take them home – I didn’t know if the show would be mine the next day. I worked hard, I put my nose to the grindstone, and it was fun when we were able to turn the show around. When I finished, we were No. 1.”
NBC’s former Vice President, Rick Ludwin, spoke of the decision to chose Leno over David Letterman for the spot.
“Jay Leno had just signed a new deal that guaranteed Jay The Tonight Show, whenever Johnny [Carson] stepped down,” he told People.
“Dealing with Dave had become bothersome and draining, and he could be unnecessarily rude to network people — not just me. So did that factor into my decision as to go with Jay Leno over Dave Letterman? You bet it did.”
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Leno’s determination to succeed brought him to the top. Over the years, he made a net worth of $540 million, as per Celebrity Net Worth, before he decided to retire and focus on his private life.
Today, Leno is doing comedy again and is running charities. He has strong passion for cars and motorcycles, which led to his series Jay Leno’s Garage.
When it comes to his private life, it’s far from turbulent. Leno has been together with his wife Mavis Leno for over 40 years, and they are still going strong.
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Speaking of the time the two first met, Mavis shared with Los Angeles Times, “I don’t remember the day. But at the time I thought, ”Holy s–t! That comedian is gorgeous.’
“I had gone to the Comedy Store with my girlfriend because I was writing comedy with some partners. Friends kept saying, ‘You have to hang out at the Comedy Store and The Improv you’ll meet people who can give you jobs. The first time I went, they sat us front row center that means you’re this far from the comic. And there was Jay.”
Mavis is involved with several charities.
“I always tell people that you should marry the person you wish you could have been. That’s a pretty good goal,” Leno said about his wife in a Wall Street Journal Q&A. “The secret to a long marriage is realizing there’s nothing really worth fighting about.”
Speaking to Today, the host added, “I’m in show business, which is a selfish profession, so I married a woman that works very hard for women’s rights and other issues like that and it balances out.”
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Jay Leno doesn’t have any children, and it looks like he made this decision because he chose to prioritize his relationship with his wife, who didn’t want to have children, over having any.
Mavis spoke to The Washington Post and explained that the show The Honeymooners had a lot to do with her perception of her future.
“I would see a young woman who was very attractive and a thousand times smarter, and she’s living in this little tenement hovel with her husband, Ralph, and then this Ed Norton, who has an even hotter wife,” she said.
“These men spend all their time talking about what a drag the wives are and asking how can they get away from them. It’s perfectly obvious the women are the ones trapped.”
We are glad that Jay Leno and his wife are able to find mutual understanding when it comes to making major life decisions. They are very much in love and enjoy each others’ company every single day.
Liam Deane, 22, killed his newborn daughter in a horrific manner.
Deane’s wife went to sleep and he was left to take care of the baby girl who wouldn’t stop crying. He then turned aggressive and punched his daughter in the face. And as what he did wasn’t cruel enough, he started shaking and squeezing the 2-day-old without control.
Baby Luna was then rushed to the hospital, but doctors said she suffered “catastrophic brain injuries.” At first, Deane denied hurting his daughter, but as police questioned him, he broke down and admitted what he had done.
The killer father was then sent to prison where he was killed by the man he shared the cell with, 28-year-old John Westland, who was reportedly flanked by police officers before being presented in front of the court.
A similar incident happened some few years later, in 2020, when a 26-year-old man, Shane Goldsby, found out that the man he shared the cell with was his under aged sister’s rapist. Goldsby begged to be transferred to another cell, but his requests were denied over and over again.
This young man was serving a sentence after stealing a Kelso police patrol car and directing the state highway patrol on a lengthy chase which ended up injuring a trooper. His stay at the prison, sadly, made him a murderer.
Goldsby claimed that convicted rapist Robert Munger bragged about the girls he raped, which Goldsby couldn’t stand. “He kept … giving me details about what happened and what he did. About the photos and videos of him doing this stuff, and it was building up,” Goldsby explained.
In one of the videos which Munger shared with the inmates was Goldsby’s sister. “I was like, ‘What the f—?’… This stuff doesn’t happen. You’re talking the same institution, the same unit, the same pod in the same cell as this dude. That’s like hitting the jackpot in the casino seven times,” Goldsby shared.
Man gets 25 years for killing his underage sister’s rapist in prison https://t.co/CfqqLVNRIN
As the prison wouldn’t transfer him to another cell, Goldsby went mad and killed Munger by punching him 14 times and then stomping his head. Munger, who was 70 years old, died due to the injuries he sustained.
Goldsby was given 25 years in prison for killing his sister’s rapist. When he was taken to court, he apologized to Munger’s family. “I cannot imagine what it would be like to lose a loved one in this kind of way. To his wife and his whole family, I apologize. I am so sorry and I hope you are able to heal from what I caused,” he said.
The Clearwater County Sheriff’s Office received a call reporting drowning at the Clearwater River. They responded to the call together with the fire department and the ambulance, but nothing could be done as 18-year-old Raina Lynn Neeland from Bagley, Minnesota, was in the water for around 10 minutes. Before help arrived, bystanders performed CPR on her, but she was dead already.
Why Raina went into the water in the first place was to save her young siblings and cousins from drowning. According to the Clearwater County Sheriff, Darin Halverson, children love playing at the dam from which water flows over right into the river. “They use it as a big waterslide,” he told Star Tribune. “Kids like to do that…They use tubes or whatever. Lots of times they go over on their own.”
Source: GoFundMe
Unfortunately, they weren’t aware that due to the recent rains, the water was considerably higher that day. The moment they went swimming in the river, they got trapped by the turbulent water coming from the dam.
Without hesitating, the teen jumped in to save the young children. Witnesses say she managed to pull three children out of the water. One of her brothers was there to catch them. Unfortunately, she couldn’t save herself. The children she rescued were aged 10, 8, and 6.
The 8-year-old girl was unresponsive, but some of the bystanders performed CPR and managed to resuscitate her.
Raina Lynn Neeland, 18, rescued children from treacherous river waters below a dam in northwestern Minnesota only to lose her own life after being pulled under. https://t.co/pYNKL1eCD6
Raina’s grandmother, Lenny Neeland, said of her granddaughter: “She always wanted to help people and protect people, and that’s exactly what she did. I thank God for Raina, that she saved my other grandkids, because this could have been worse than it is now.
“I think there were a bunch of angels at that dam helping them get out of the water,” Lenny added.
The tragic incident took place last year, and this year, Raina was Posthumously Recognized by Congressional Medal of Honor Society. Her family says they are honored and thankful for all the love for their daughter.
When they decide to become parents, most people have no idea what they sign up for, because let’s be honest, parenting isn’t easy, not even a bit. No matter how much one tries to be the perfect parent and sacrifices their own time, energy, and sometimes dreams for the well-being of their kids, there will always be someone there to criticize the way they bring up their little ones.
I guess things get even harder when you are a celebrity and all eyes are on you. And no matter how much we think the life of these people is all about glamour, their kids and their parenting are always under the spotlight, which leaves room for people to judge them, praise them, and comment on the way they deal with their children.
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Nicole Kidman spoke to Vanity Fair recently and she confessed how some of her friends “criticize” her about the way she decided to raise her two beautiful daughters, Sunday Rose and Faith Margaret. To start with, the girls, which are 10 and 12 years old, are not allowed to have Instagram accounts or use any other social media sites, which is quite opposite of what many other parents do.
The Big Little Lies star says she wants to keep her girls grounded and is setting boundaries. But as it turns out, her firends tease her because of that.
She also said that she is raising her daughters to love God. Kidman herself is a devoted Catholic and she and her family go to church on Sundays.
“I had a very Catholic grandmother, and I was raised praying, so that had massive impact,” she said. “I wouldn’t say it’s absolutism, there’s constant questioning—I’m a willful, feisty girl. For me it’s very important that I don’t have judgment. My dad would always say, ‘Tolerance is the most important thing.’”
Kidman once considered becoming a nun, according to an interview she gave in 2018.
“I’m spiritual in that I absolutely believe in God,” she told Allure Magazine “I loved the idea of being a nun. Obviously, I did not choose to go that path, but I was very drawn to it.”
The award-winning actress says she tends to teach her children life lessons, those that aren’t taught at school.
“I was talking to Sunday about there being little girls in different parts of this world who don’t own their bodies. A man owns their body. Her eyes were like ‘What?’ We’re trying to educate about those things. But it’s giving the information gently, and then guiding.”
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We know Nicole and her husband Keith are awesome parents and have an amazing family.
Most parents describe the day they first laid eyes on their bundle of joy as the happiest of their life. The feeling of holding the little one in your arms and watch them grow in front of your eyes is a feeling second to none.
However, not every parent would do all in their power for their child’s well-being. The truth is that a number of moms and dads leave their children behind, and the reasons for that are various. Sometimes, they are simply not capable of taking care of them.
This story starts with a 90-year-old woman named Doña Ignacia who shared her son’s life story. Namely, when her baby was born, she and her husband realized something wasn’t right. The boy, Pablo Acuña, wasn’t developing as expected.
Source: YouTube/ Los Capitanes
Ignacia and her husband brought him to the hospital where they were told that his limbs won’t develop, which meant he would be practically without arms and legs. “He was in the hospital for two or three months, then he [the father] brought him back just like when they left,” she explained.
Despite the horrific diagnosis, Ignacia made sure her son was loved as much as any other child out there. Pablo needed a wheelchair in order to be able to navigate, but he learned to love his life. What’s most, he even became a father himself.
Source: YouTube/ Los Capitanes
Shorty after his second daughter was born, Pablo’s wife left him and the girls for good. Despite his condition, he never let his daughters feel their mother’s absence as he was there for them every step of the way.
One of his daughters, Elida, spoke lovingly of her father and said she is forever grateful to him for raising her and her sister.
“My dad is my world. He is my friend… he is the best dad in the world. That’s why I left my life in Argentina and came to stay,” she said.
“To be able to take care of him because, my grandmother can no longer do it because she is already old.”
Pablo is an amazing dad. His girls are happy to have him in their lives.
Killing innocent animals for fun is the ultimate act of cruelty demonstrated by humans towards the rest of the living creatures inhabiting the planet. Yet, there are a number of trophy hunters who are guilty of bringing many species on the brink of extinction. What’s most, this “sport” is not even illegal in most countries, on the contrary, governments get enormous amounts of money for letting animals like lions, elephants, cheetahs and giraffes killed.
Scott Van Zyl was a trophy hunter who took rich clients on big game hunts. What happened to him during his final hunting trip to Zimbabwe in 2017 was described by many as “karma at its finest.”
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Van Zyl, along with his dogs, went to hunt crocodiles. However, after some time, his tracker dogs returned without him and his friends assumed something turned wrong during the hunting. And their assumptions turned out to be true.
Namely, Van Zyl’s footprints were spotted near a river bank and an investigation was launched. It was later confirmed that Van Zyl was eaten by the crocodiles after remains were identified as his through DNA tests.
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Many argued how this unfortunate man got what he deserved.
One Green Planet were among those who highlighted the risks hunters are exposed to while taking the life of innocent animals. “Let’s be honest, Zyl shouldn’t have been hunting in the first place,” they wrote. “We have to ask ourselves if the ‘thrill of the hunt’ is really worth risking your own life – while deliberately taking others.”
Nowadays, most people are struggling to meet the tight schedules the modern times impose on them, and this is probably one of the reasons why we are becoming distant over time. However, the acts of kindness we do for one another are what have made humanity going strong for so long. And when this compassion comes from young people, we feel delight because we know the next generations won’t fail us.
Dontarius Caldwell is a 15-year-old boy from Cincinnati, Ohio, whose good deed for a woman in need of help have touched the hearts of people from all around the country.
Namely, as he and his sister Diamond were waiting for the school bus, they noticed an elderly lady struggling to press the button at a crosswalk.
Diamond knew something was wrong and assumed the lady could be blind so she asked from Dontarius to go and help her cross the road.
“I told Dontarius that I think she’s blind, you should get up and go help her, and he got up and went to go help her cross the street two times while I waited for the bus to come,” Diamond said.
WLWT News/YouTube
Dontarius approached the woman and asked whether she needed help, to which she answered “yes.”
He then guided her across the street not knowing his kindness had been caught on tape.
Once the video was shared on the social media, everyone praised Dontarious and his sister, saying that many young people should look up to them. The two, however, don’t think they really deserve all that praise as they were only doing the right thing and believe everyone else would do the same.
“I was just trying to help and I really didn’t think I would be on camera,” Dontarius told NBC’s WLWT5 News station.
WLWT News/YouTube
“I was just helping the elderly, giving a helping hand. The key word is helping hand. Everybody gotta get a helping hand,” he said.
“If you be kind, what happens (to them) happens to you,” Dontarius added.
The school Dontarius attends is so very proud of him that they have given him a key to the school as a reward for his kindness.
Stories like these always trigger the right emotions and make us all better people.
Please share this so that more people hear of these siblings’ kindness.
Dirty Dancing, 1987, described as “Smart and funny, touching and unabashedly sensual,” by critic Sheila Benson of Los Angeles Times, remains up until this day a movie one can’t easily forget.
The incredibly touching story along with the dancing choreography which hundreds of people tried to imitate over the years make this movie iconic. The star, Patrick Swayze, who was named Sexiest Man Alive in 1991 by People, took the world by storm.
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Young Patrick fell in love with dancing after he started visiting the Houston Jazz Ballet Company where his mom was a director. It was there where he met his future wife Lisa Niemi. Of course, at the time of their first encounter both Lisa and Patrick were still very young and only started dating later. “If I started putting on a pose or doing my Casanova routine, Lisa would turn away and not say anything,” Swayze told People. “We had a lot of dates in silence.” He added, “I knew she was the smartest chick I’d ever met. [Before Lisa] I had been meeting girls with names like “Mimi” and “Angel”. And for a long time, I didn’t feel like I deserved her.”
The couple married in 1975 and their love was perceived by many as the purest and the deepest there was. Even after Patrick became very famous, nothing changed between him and the love of his life with whom he stayed together until the rest of his life.
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TV host Barbara Walters described what the couple had as something “extraordinary”. “The way he looked at her, the way he held on to her, the way she smiled. I can’t really imagine one without the other,” Walters said.
Patrick was often teased by his friends for his passion for dancing, but at the end, it was this love that land him the iconic role of Johnny Castle.
Before this, Patrick played Prince Charming in Disney on Parade and Danny Zuko in the original Brodway production of Grease. In 1981, the actor landed a role in M*A*S*H and in 1983, he played in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Outsiders.
Dirty Dancing earned him a Golden Globe nomination in the “Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical” category and another one for his role of Sam Wheat in the blockbuster movie Ghost, the highest-grossing movie of 1990, where he starred along Demi Moore and Whoopi Goldberg.
Patrick always knew he was a father material and wanted children badly. “I was born to be a dad,” he said according to Closer magazine. However, he never got to experience that role. His wife was pregnant but suffered miscarriage and the two never had any children. This was a very hard time for the actor. “It broke his heart. He wanted to be a dad more than anything. He had skills, knowledge, kindness, and love – everything a child would want,” Swayze’s long-time friend and bodyguard Frank Whiteley said.
As years gone by, Lisa felt she was getting old for children.
“I had been seeing an acupuncturist for a long time, and then all of a sudden I was too old,” Lisa revealed in the Paramount Network documentary, I Am Patrick Swayze, in August 2019 and continued:
“I probably should have been better informed about to go about it, but anyway I may have wasted some time. But you know I said ‘you know, how would you feel about adopting?’ He got very teary-eyed and he said ‘I want to have children with you.’”
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“Patrick very much wanted to be a father because I think he wanted to be as good a father to his child as his dad had been to him,” his manager, Kate Edwards, later said in the documentary.
Patrick’s brother, Don Swayze, spoke of the star’s desperate desire to have children.
“You could tell he would have been a great dad, Just as an uncle you could see it, you could see the amazing dad he would be,” Don revealed. ” … He would have never wanted Lisa feeling bad for having miscarriages, but it crushed him, so they tried.”
After starring in other movies, Patrick decided to get back to Broadway.
In 2007, Patrick was diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer. His body changed over night and he told Access Online how he “dropped 20 pounds in the blink of an eye.” He was a heavy smoker his whole life and didn’t quit the habit even after the devastating diagnosis but told Barbara Walters, “I’ve seriously cut down. I was one of those dumb ones that started back in the Marlborough Man days whose — you know, it was cool. I’m a cowboy. But I’ll tell you one thing. I will talk so hard core against, against smoking for kids. That’s one reason I’ve never smoked in front of children.”
Sadly, the Ghost star passed away in 2009 at the age of 57 and left the whole world mourning.
He left his wife $40 million and bought his mother a house. However, after his death, Lisa claimed how her late husband was abused by his mother when he was young, allegations the Swayze family rejected as not true. Later, they accused Lisa of selling Patrick’s personal belongings on E-bay, among which his leather jacket from Dirty Dancing. They were very mad at her and Patrick’s niece Danielle said, “These were family heirlooms. It’s a slap in the face that she’s selling these precious memories.”
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In 2014, Lisa re-married. She said her new husband, jeweler Albert DePriscan, knew she was still in love with Patrick when they started dating and tied the knot. “Albert knew I still loved Patrick and would always love him, and told me, ‘and I know you love me, and I love you.’ How could I not marry this man?,” Lisa told People. “As I had time to process the change my life was going to take, my doubts became less and less, and I became more and more sure.”
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On the 11th anniversary of his passing, Lisa wrote an emotional message for the actor. “Celebrating a wonderfully strong, sensitive & special man on the 11th anniversary of his passing. So missed. Can’t help but feel a dark cloud today (and all last week!), but grateful for what we had together. What a journey! Blessed, even with the tears.”
Bullying, in any form, can have lifelong effects on the victim. It affects one’s self-confidence and makes them feel unaccepted and as they don’t belong to the group or the society. This is in issue that is oftentimes overlooked and I honestly believe that we need to work harder in order to put a stop to such violent behavior.
Jeffery Taylor was a 7-year-old boy who had a hard time coping with the way he was treated by his classmates. Being the only black kid in the class, Jeffery was a target of bullies who called him the “N-word,” “Blacky,” “snaggletooth” and ugly, his parents claimed.
Four days before Christmas, Jeffery came home from school and his mother could see the disappointment in his eyes. He was sad and said he didn’t want to get back to school again. His mom then told him he should be happy and looking forward to the winter break, to which the first grader replied: “I should, but I’m not happy. I want to get away from that school. They don’t listen to me. They don’t like me.”
Later that night, Jeffery went to sleep and his parents kissed all of their seven children goodnight. Never in their life would they imagine it would be the last time to see their youngest child alive.
Although the parents were convinced that their kids were unaware of the firearm in the house, it turned out Jeffery knew his mother kept a gun in a bible case under her bed. That night, the boy took the gun and took his own life.
Investigators called the shooting an accident, but once claims of Jeffrey’s alleged bullying came to light, they investigated further.
“It’s been a struggle. I put on this beautiful face, but inside I hurt because I miss my baby,” mom LaKeisha told WTOL. “No matter what I said to him that Friday, the day before, it wasn’t enough because he was already broken.”
At Jeffrey Taylor‘s school white children called him the “N-word,” “Blacky,” “snaggletooth” and ugly. They destroy his belongings and his teacher kept his desk segregated as the only Black child.
He was 7 and bullied to death by racist 1st graders.
The parents spoke of the way Jeffery was treated by his classmates and said they made his time at school a living hell. One time, they even destroyed his shoes and a pair of boots.
“It just seems like he just was being targeted and picked on,” Jermaine said. “He was just that one person that stood out.”
The mother recalled that during a parent/teacher conference, she noticed that her son’s desk was segregated from the rest of the class. The teacher reportedly said that Jeffery might have been having issues with the rest of the kids.
As the parents accepted the responsibility for their son finding the weapon, they claimed the reason for his devastating decision was the excessive bullying.
The school on the other hand expressed condolences but claimed no bullying took place.
“East Central ISD profoundly mourns the loss of Jeffery Taylor. He was a bright and well-liked student and we still, to this day, are in shock and disbelief over this tragedy.
“We are saddened to hear about the allegations as any form of bullying, harassment, or violence is taken seriously and follows required state law, board policy, and District procedures.
“The District completed a thorough investigation with many teachers, staff, and classmates to determine if any bullying occurred. The investigation did not produce information to corroborate the allegations. The findings of the investigation were in a letter sent to the family on January 8, 2020.
“We investigated the allegations further at three levels: Salado Elementary, student services, and the superintendent. All investigations did not support the allegations.
“East Central ISD stands proudly united in our commitment to inclusion and diversity.”
Source: YouTube/ KENS 5: Your San Antonio News Source
The death of Jeffery is surrounded by many unanswered questions. We hope no child ever would be the victim of bullying. One thing is certain, bullying is present everywhere, especially schools, so school districts need to do more about this issue and provide a safe place for students.
It is very common for people who reach certain age to feel the need for a change regarding their appearance. Whether it is wrinkles removal, fillers, or going under the knife, all these procedures are meant to boost one’s self-confidence. But what happens if things go wrong, just as in the case of neurologist Gina Anderson?
When this beautiful and successful woman turned 40, she decided to treat herself with fillers that would lift her cheeks. However, she didn’t explore many options but decided to turn to a colleague of hers who offered to do the procedure for her.
Youtube/E!Entertainment
At first, things looked great and she felt good about herself. Sadly, some four years later, she started experiencing pain under her right eye and it was the start of an exhausting life journey.
“A colleague offered to do fillers for me, and it was like ‘well, I’m in my 40s, I’m going to look a little bit better,’” Gina said on the reality television series Botched. Little did she know her life would turn into hell.
What she believed were quality fillers turned out to be plain silicone which caused severe inflammation and deformed her face completely. She received injections in both her cheeks, but only the right side of her face received the silicone.
Youtube/E!Entertainment
The inflammation caused Gina severe pain. She had a hard time sleeping and was even forced to shut her practice down. The granuloma, or the inflammation Gina had, was in fact the body’s defensive mechanism for preventing a bacteria from spreading. A few weeks after it started growing, it suddenly burst open and left a big hole under Gina’s eye.
She turned to a number of doctors, but it looked like nothing could be done to remove the silicone from her face.
“You can’t sleep, and you’re in constant pain. It’s hard to think on your feet all the time. This isn’t just me looking slightly pretty. I’m in agony, I don’t sleep, my hair started thinning kind of like a hair loss. And I just started feeling kind of weak and fatigued. It’s been a nightmare.”
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Eventually, she turned to Dr. Terry Dubrow and Dr. Paul Nassif, of the reality television series Botched.
“When you get a granuloma, which is a foreign body inflammatory reaction, that typically happens between six months to a year,” Dr. Dubrow explained.
“The fact that Gina didn’t start developing those granulomas until way later indicates it’s a very slow, smoldering inflammatory chronic response that could be potentially very, very difficult if not impossible to treat.”
Gina underwent a number of surgeries. During the first procedure at the Botched clinic, Dr. Paul Nassif said he found something which looked like “a piece of gauze” on her face, probably from the surgeries at the other clinics.
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Luckily, Gina’s pain was no longer present and she could finally sleep after so much time. “I’m just really grateful now that I have a chance to reclaim my life because things were starting to look dismal. This is the best I’ve felt in a long time, so I’m just really crossing my fingers that this is really the end of my personal hell.”
Sadly, shortly after, she felt pain again, and it turned out there were some complications from the procedure, including swelling. She needed to go under the knife again, and this time, everything turned out for the best.
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Today, Gina looks beautiful and is happy with her face.
“My energy level is increasing, and actually, my mood has gotten better,” she said. “My hair loss has stopped, and actually, my hair is starting to grow back. My thought process is actually getting faster. I mean, it’s just a miracle. It’s just life-changing.”
This story should serve as a warning that whenever someone feels the urge to undergo a beautifying procedure, they should always consult an expert.
Loretta Lynn, the legendary country singer who impacted the world of music so profoundly over the years, turned 90 on April 14.
Throughout her life, she experienced a lot of beautiful things, as well as loses and griefs, but she came even stronger each time.
Lynn was a daughter of a coal miner, and that is something that was a big part of her life. Her signature song “Coal Miner’s Daughter” and an Oscar-winning biopic of the same name were inspired by her life story.
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At the age of 15, Lynn met the man who would become her husband. She stayed with him for 48 year, until his passing in 1996. Her marriage to Oliver “Doolittle” Lynn resembled a fairytale, but things weren’t smooth between them, mainly because of his heavy drinking and the many affairs he had with other women over the years.
”I married Doo when I wasn’t but a child, and he was my life from that day on,” Lynn later wrote in her 2002 memoir Still Woman Enough. “But as important as my youth and upbringing was, there’s something else that made me stick to Doo. He thought I was something special, more special than anyone else in the world, and never let me forget it. That belief would be hard to shove out the door. Doo was my security, my safety net.
“Doo was a good man and a hard worker. But he was an alcoholic, and it affected our marriage all the way through.”
He, however, supported her career a great deal and bought her her first guitar. It was in 1960 that Lynn recorded her first record, “I’m a Honky Tonk Girl.” The song led to a contract with Decca Records after which she appeared on the Grand Ole Opry.
From that moment on, she rose to stardom and is until this very day a much loved vocal adored by millions.
She has always been a woman before her time who was never afraid to tackle topics which were considered taboo during the 1960’s. Her song “Dear Uncle Sam,” which was critical of the Vietnam war, and “The Pill,” which tackled the controversial topic of birth control led to her songs to be banned from the radio.
“Loretta Lynn has more banned songs than any other country artist,” the artist’s granddaughter Tayla Lynn recently told NewsNation. “They tried to cancel her before cancel culture was a thing.”
55 years ago today I put this song out and it became a #1 hit. Some advice never gets old and, boys, I recommend you keep this one in mind still today! pic.twitter.com/Jw15F1IUqg
For her music, Lynn has won three Grammy Awards and was inducted to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1988. She is also a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, given to her by former President Barack Obama in 2013.
In 2018, Lynn suffered a stroke and broke her hip, which led to magazines writing about her declining health. “Well, through the years they’ve said I’m broke, homeless, cheating, drinking, gone crazy, terminally ill, and even dead!” she wrote on Facebook. “Poor things can’t ever get it right.”
Before turning 89, Lynn released her milestone 50th studio album and she is still recording music.
“She’s still up over there on that hill, writing music,” granddaughter Tayla said, adding that she’s always been modest about her success.
“She is so humble,” she said. “But she’s also one of the wisest women I’ve ever met. So I think she probably has an inkling that she’s made a move or two in the music business.”
A day which started like any other turned life-changing for one little girl and one police officer. Namely, Kingman Police Department lieutenant Brian Zach was asked to check on a child and what he stumbled upon broke his heart. The little girl he saw there, 4-year-old Kaila, was a subject of child abuse. Her caretaker caused her multiple injuries and it was obvious the girl had been neglected.
While he was waiting for the detectives to come and take the girl, Brian stayed by her side. She felt very comfortable with him and it looked like she had known him forever. Well, he was the person who saved her, and although she was very young, she somehow knew she could trust him.
Speaking to Good Morning America, Brian recalled the five hours he and Kaila spent together that day. They were coloring and watching Wreck-It Ralph, and she was holding his hand.
Once Kaila was taken to the hospital, Brian went home and told his wife and two children about Kaila. Somehow, they all felt that the girl belonged with them.
Later, they learned that social services were unable to find a new home for Kaila at a short notice and they took it as a sign to welcome her in.
Brian recalled that when she arrived in their home, Kaila was wearing clothes that didn’t fir her any more. “Within the second day she was calling my wife ‘mom’ or ‘mommy.’ I was ‘guy’ for a week or two and then when she began preschool, she learned who dad was,” he told Good Morning America.
From someone who didn’t even know how to talk, Kaila turned into a vibrant and chatty little girl within a short period of time. “She’s happy and she’s flourished and when we got her she knew three words basically she grunted like a caveman, she didn’t know how to talk. And now she loves to talk,” Brian shared.
On August 18, 2020, the Zachs adopted Kaila at Mohave County Superior Court in Lake Havasu City. She officially became a part of the family.
Speaking to KTVK, Zach said, “I had a lot of child abuse cases and there’s always kids that I would bond with and I’d love to take them out of bad situations and just bring them home.”
Arizona police officer adopts girl he consoled while working on her case https://t.co/i8EzKEWaYt
Brian and his wife Cierra are now planning on renewing their fostering license because they know there are a lot of other children like Kaila out there who need someone to love them and care for them. “I would definitely encourage people to do it because there’s so many kids who need guys even if it’s just for a small amount of time you can make such an impact,” Brian said, as reported by the Daily Mail.
For more on this lovely story check out the video below.
