The story of a young man named Rehan Staton is a story of not giving up and working hard to make your dreams come true.
When he was just eight years old, Rehan’s mom abandoned him and his brother so his dad was left to raise his boys on his own. He was forced to work three jobs in order to be able to put food on the table.
Speaking to NBC News of that period of his life, Rehan said: “We went through extreme poverty, there were times when we just couldn’t eat.”
NBC News
However, no matter the circumstances and the number of obstacles, Rehan never gave up his dream of graduating high school and attending college. In fact, he worked as a sanitation worker along with his brother to be able to continue with his education.
“When you’re out in the street and you see a dumpster that looks really bad, I’m the guy who’s going to make it look very good,” he told NBC News.
In order for Rehan to be able to study, his brother dropped out of college. “The thing about my brother, he literally picked a profession where people looked down on him so that others could look up to me, and he knew that,” Rehan said.
NBC News
Many times, he was forced to go to classes right after finishing work so he didn’t even have the time to take a shower. “I would have to sit on the side of class and try not to bother anybody with my scent that day.”
Luckily, the hard work paid off and Rehan got accepted into Harvard Law School.
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In his graduation speech, this dedicated young man said: “And as Terps, we are champions because we pick each other up. The only reason that I made it to where I’m at is because people helped me out of the kindness of their heart.”
Rehan is thankful to everyone who believed in him and is planning to pay that kindness forward by offering free tutoring classes to struggling students.
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Congratulations, Rehan. We wish you success in the years to come.
A woman named Tiffany who has finally gathered the courage to leave her abusive partner shares her life story and reminds others of the signs of an unhealthy relationship.
She starts her story by writing how she and her future husband met at an event where her presence was mandatory because of the job she worked back then. One thing led to another and they went on a date. He paid for what he had and she paid her share for the dinner. This was the first sign that the relationship was going nowhere, according to her, but she decided to ignore it.
“Slowly, he started doing things that should have made me run and run fast. But guess what, I stayed. I don’t think I ever questioned the warning signs until I left the relationship. May sound strange to those who haven’t experienced what I have, but it’s true. The way he spoke to me, the way he pushed his way into MY space and made it HIS. The way he made it seem like he wanted to hang out with me alone but really was making sure I had less contact with my family and friends,” the woman wrote.
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The first time he hit her was while he was pregnant with their first child. He was punching her, chocking her, and abused her both physically and emotionally. One time, he even stabbed her in her hand.
Two years after welcoming her son, Tiffany had twin girls with the man who abused her. Taking care of three children wasn’t easy, especially because he was never around and never helped with anything. During those times he was present in his children’s lives, he would hit her over and over again.
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Not wanting her kids to witness the toxic relationship any longer, she finally decided to leave him.
“When people ask me what I did to survive, I really don’t know the answer. I just know three beautiful babies thought I was amazing, and I needed to keep going. I also took time to heal myself. I wanted to heal and start loving myself. If I didn’t love me, no one else would. I wasn’t interested in dating anyone. I wanted to heal so if I ever met anyone, I would be ready and in a good spot emotionally and mentally,” she explained.
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At the time she was trying to start her life over, she worked at a behavioral school and had a crush on one of her coworkers, Brian. She knew that if she tell him the truth, he would probably run away. Anyway, on their first date, she poured her heart out to him and told him everything thinking he would never call her again. But she was wrong.
They got serious and she introduced him to the kids who were 4 and 2 at the time. One day, as she realized he wasn’t going anywhere but was there to stay, she told him that after giving birth to the twins she had her tubes tied. He didn’t have children on his own and she was aware that he could decide to leave her. But he looked her into the eyes and said: “I want you, that’s not changing anything.”
“Brian got me. His love was so sincere and, most of all, he made us feel safe. During the beginning year of our relationship, my abuser stopped seeing the kids. This was a very tough time, and I couldn’t understand how someone could do that to their children. So, Brian was thrown into parenthood very quickly. That didn’t stop him from loving us,” Tiffany wrote.
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Tiffany and Brian married in March, 2018, and he wanted to adopt the kids officially. The adoption took place in January 2019. Finally, everything felt complete.
“The court made the day super special for the kids. The judge thanked Brian for what he was doing. He thanked him for the decision he has made to step up and give this love to the kids and that is when I lost it. I started thanking God for blessing me with this love. To this day, it still feels surreal it all happened. The love I found in Brian and the love that the kids found in him also. I could not hold back my tears because this story is literally so rare and amazing. When I was in my abusive relationship with their biological father, he would tell me I would never find anyone who would love me and three children. As I sat in court I thought how foolish I was to actually believe that.”
Tiffany’s son, Noah, looked Brian in the eyes and said to him: “I like you around my mommy. You love her and make her smile, and you do not yell and scream at her.”
Instagram/@tiff_uhnay
“Brian has been amazing. He never once thought this was way too hard and gave up. He never made me feel like I came with too much baggage. He looks at me like I’m an angel here on earth. He doesn’t know he is truly an angel. Brian is everything I ever dreamed of. He laughs at my jokes, we laugh so much together, he cries with me when we talk about important moments in our lives, the list can go on. What’s most important is when I have terrible dreams about my abuse, he wakes up with me and talks me through them. He is never annoyed. That’s so important,” Tiffany wrote.
This woman wanted everyone to know that it is possible to experience happiness after going through trauma.
Instagram/@tiff_uhnay
She concluded her post writing: “To anyone struggling with domestic violence, you’re not alone. Leaving is the hardest thing to do, but you can get through it. I know how scary that move is, and it’s not easy. But you’re not alone! I wish someone would have told me that while I was going through my battles. I am so glad fairy tales aren’t just for the movies; I’m living it, in a small town in Antioch, IL. Open your heart and heal. There is light at the end of the tunnel.”
For some couples, pregnancy occurs easily, others on the other hand experience parenthood the harder way. Miranda and Josh, who both work as nurses, have always dreamed of having many children. But that didn’t happen the way they expected. Miranda was told she couldn’t conceive naturally and that she had to undergo IVF treatments if she wanted to become a mother. And so she did.
Luckily, the first treatment was a success and the couple welcomed their first child into the world.
Some time later, they believed it was the time for them to try and have another child, so Miranda went through another IVF treatment. This treatment, just like their first, went well and the couple were told they were having twins this time. Both Miranda and Josh were over the moon as it looked like their wish of a huge family was about to become a reality. However, what they didn’t know was that they would get more than what they hoped for.
Six weeks into pregnancy, Miranda got some unexpected news, she did carry twins, but two sets of them, each identical. This kind of pregnancy is considered a miracle, to say the least, because it is very rare.
“Embryo splitting occurs approximately in one out of 100 embryo transfers. The chance of this outcome is approximately one in 10,000. This could also occur in a natural conception, but the chance of that is much rarer,” Dr. James Grifo said.
With the excitement came a dose of fear. Miranda worried whether the pregnancy would be without any problems. But as it turned out, she didn’t have to worry because her babies, Mia, Madison, Jackson and James, were delivered six weeks premature but they were all perfectly healthy.
“I wasn’t sure if I was going to have a miscarriage, and I was always thinking that I could go into preterm labor at any moment,” Miranda says.
At one point, they were even asked whether they wanted to abort one set of twins, but they never considered that as an option regardless of the risks of carrying quadruplets.
Today, the twins and their big sister Joslyn are all grown up and love playing together. What a big and happy family.
You can check the whole story in the video below. Don’t forget to share it with your friends.
Actress Joan Van Ark has had a long and very successful career in Hollywood but it is her role of Valene Ewing on the primetime soap opera Knots Landing that helped her made a name for herself and cement her place in the film industry.
Born on June 16, 1943, in New York City, New York, to parents who were not in any way related to television, Joan always knew she belonged in Hollywood. She started performing when she was still very young and during a performance in Denver she met the person who would influence her life and career a great deal, actress Julie Harris. It was Harris who persuaded Joan to attend the well-respected Yale Drama School. She even helped her get a scholarship, making Joan the second woman to enroll into the school at the time.
“She [Harris] wrote to the dean and asked him to meet me. Long story short, my parents drove me to New Haven, Connecticut, to meet the dean, who gave me a scholarship,” Joan recalled.” It was meant to be.”
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After being part of the theater for some years, Joan turned to television. She appeared on television series including Temperature’s Rising, Spider-Woman, and Days of Our Lives and even in one episode of Bonanza. Then, in 1978, she made several appearances as Valene Ewing on Dallas, which later turned into the most significant role she has ever played. As Dallas became a huge hit, the network decided to film its spin-off Knots Landing in which Joan reprised her role of Valene Ewing. In fact, Knots Landing was written before Dallas, but as producers needed to decided which show to work on they chose Dallas because they wanted a “big rich family” show.
Joan was a leading character for 13 seasons in Knots Landing and it was her husband who persuaded her to accept the role. At the time she was offered to be part of the series, Joan was already working on two other projects.
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At one point, when the character of Valene Ewing’s mother was about to be introduced to the show, Joan could never imagine the role of her TV mother would be given to the person who meant the world to her; none other than Julie Harris.
“When the producers told me they had finally last someone to play my mother, I held my breath,” she recalled in a 1984 interview with Florida Today.
“I thought, ‘Oh my God, are they going to say Phyllis Diller or Zsa Zsa Gabor, or who?’ Then they said it was Julie Harris, and I went right through the roof. I couldn’t believe they had picked her to be my mother. They didn’t even know we were friends.”
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After 13 seasons and 327 episodes, Joan left Knots Landing and the show was canceled a season later. Joan was aware she was the one to be blamed for the cancellation, but she though she needed to try on new challenges.
“I have loved more than life the 13 years I’ve had on that show,” she said. “[Knots Landing creator] David Jacobs is a great influence on my life, has taught me so much about so many things. Ted [Shackelford] is the other half of every breath I take on the show, and personally, he’s a large part of my heart. The people are my family–we have shared marriages, deaths, divorces. It’s far more difficult to leave than I thought.”
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Joan appeared in a number of others series, including The Young and The Restless in which she portrayed the role of Gloria Fisher.
Unlike many celebs, who marry other famous people, Joan married her high-school sweetheart John Marshall with whom she has daughter Vanessa Marshall who is also part of the entertainment business.
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Joan is 78 years old but looks as stunningly beautiful as ever. She has a net worth of around $10 million.
Betty White was adored by millions of people. She wasn’t only an incredible actress and host, but a huge animal lover, too. Over the course of her life, White spent a great portion of her fortune for a number of causes involving animals’ well-being.
From the moment she first appeared on TV, people got enchanted by both her beauty and talent. In 1951, White was nominated for her first Emmy for Best Actress. This nomination was groundbreaking since it was the first-ever category to recognize the achievements of women at the Emmy Awards.
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White was married three times. Her third husband, Allen Ludden, was the great love of her life. The two first met in 1960, on the game show Password, but it wasn’t until 1963 that they tied the knot. He proposed even before that, but White hesitated because she didn’t want to leave California where she resided at the time and move to New York. Later, however, she said that the biggest regret in her life was not saying ‘yes’ to Ludden the first time he asked her to marry him.
“I spent a whole year, wasted a whole year that Allen and I could have had together, saying, ‘No, I wouldn’t marry him. No, I won’t, No, I won’t leave California. No, I won’t move to New York,’” White recalled in an interview with Oprah. “I wasted a whole year we could have had together.”
Sadly, Ludden passed away in 1981 and White never remarried.
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Best known for her roles in the Hollywood classics The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Golden Girls, among the rest, White had a remarkable career. Just weeks before what was supposed to be her milestone birthday, White said she was looking forward to her birthday party. Unfortunately, she passed away only weeks short of her 100th birthday. On December 31, 2021, Hollywood lost a legend.
Betty was considered a fun person who was loved by millions, and her co-star in Hot in Cleveland, actress Valerie Bertinelli, confirmed that.
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Bertinelli had the honor to work alongside White for six seasons. In 2011, the show and its cast were nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series. It looked like the actresses had as much fun filming the series as we had watching it.
When White died, Bertinelli took to social media to express her sadness over the loss of such a bright star as Betty White. “Rest in peace, sweet Betty. My God, how bright heaven must be right now,” Bertinelli wrote on Instagram.
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In an interview with The Rachel Ray Show, Bertinelli shared how important White was for her. “To be able to experience five years of working with Betty White…who gets that lucky?! Beyond her talent and how impeccable she was with timing and watching her work ethic, she was just one of those super ridiculously kind people,” the actress said. “It just oozed out of her. I tell people that this woman glowed because she did. She walked into a room – not making an entrance at all, she just walked into a room – and you knew she was there. There was just a light around her because she was so kind and grateful for her life. And it was a huge lesson to be able to watch that and watch her just live in gratitude.”
In her memoir, Enough Already, Bertinelli wrote that Betty White was “exactly the way people imagine – funny and quick-witted, with an outlook that inspired me every day I was around her.”
Dogs are the most special creatures that have ever walked into humans’ lives. For one, they are friendly and loyal, and what’s most, they are great around children. In fact, the relationship between canines and kids is the purest and most beautiful one there is.
Bonnie Michalek and her husband have a bullmastiff named Brutus whom they love unconditionally. They adore their four-legged pet so much that they refer to him as of their “first baby.”
When Bonnie got pregnant, Brutus knew that before anybody else. All of a sudden, he became overly protective and wouldn’t leave her side. “Brutus knew I was pregnant before I did — he definitely sensed it before I knew,” Bonnie shared with The Dodo.
Both she and her husband were 100% positive that Brutus would be an awesome brother to their baby because he would always get excited whenever he would hear children playing outside.
When she gave birth to baby Kayden, everyone was eager to see Brutus’ reaction of meeting the newest member of the family. When the dog first saw his human brother, he approached near and licked the baby’s face as though he was trying to say ‘hello.’
Brutus understood his new role was to take care of the baby and make sure the little one stays safe and sound and he showed that when he offered his favorite toy to Kayden when he started crying.
Bonnie says that none of Brutus’ toys last more than five minutes, except for the yellow plush toy that he loves the most. He never lets anyone touch it but he’s more than happy to give it to Kayden. “Every time Kayden cries, Brutus finds his fluff ball and tries to bring it to [him],” Bonnie wrote on Instagram. “So cute.”
When the staff at North Shore Animal League America got a call about a stray pit bull mix, they decided to step in. However, as the dog whom they named Maggie was way too young to be put up for adoption, the workers at the organization decided to place her at a foster home.
One thing led to another, and soon after, Maggie found herself in the home of the Duncan family from Louisiana.
Maggie loved her new place and everyone in the house, especially the family’s six-year-old son Roman. The two bonded instantly and spent every minute of every day together. Roman’s mom and dad knew that their son could get overly attached to the dog so they made sure he understood she was there only temporarily, or until the organization found her a forever home.
North Shore Animal League America
Roman taught Maggie a bunch of things. She got potty trained and learned how to play fetch. She also enjoyed the walks to the park and the attention this family showered her with.
Some time passed by and the workers at NSALA contacted the Duncan family and told them how they were taking Maggie back to New York and to her new home.
Saying goodbye to her was tough for Roman who made sure Maggie’s forever family knew just how special she was. He sneaked a few handwritten letters in which he praised Maggie’s beautiful personality, calling her the “best dog you could ever ask for.” He also wrote about the things Maggie loved doing, like playing and being around other dogs.
North Shore Animal League America
When the managers at NSALA saw the letters, they were touched to the core. “I was so touched,” Karla Agostinello, rescue team manager with NSALA, told Today. “It’s hard (for fosters) to put the animals on the truck. So I do get a lot of letters from adults — but children, not many. So this is why it touched my heart so much.”
Maggie is doing great with her forever family all thanks to spending months with her foster family who showed her love and taught her a lot of things.
North Shore Animal League America
“Her time with this family was very beneficial to her,” she said. “Foster families are so important because they’re the pet’s first stop … they’re instilling a foundation of love and care.”
Agostinello hopes that this beautiful story would raise awareness about the importance of foster families and would encourage more people to apply to become one.
Little House on the Prairie was a series which marked an important period of Hollywood history. A huge number of people were in anticipation to see each new episode which portrayed the life of the Ingalls family. The series was an adaptation of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s best-selling series of Little House books and explored many different themes including frequently portrayed ones of adoption, alcoholism, faith, poverty, blindness, and prejudice.
Michael Landon, who directed the plot and a large number of the episodes, played the role of Charles Ingalls. He was the heart and soul of Little House, and together with the rest of the actors, they made the perfect crew. Honestly, we can never imagine other actors portraying the roles of Laura Ingalls, Caroline Ingalls, and Mary Ingalls, among the rest, other than Melissa Gilbert, Karen Grassle, and Melissa Sue Anderson.
Karen Grassle played Caroline Ingalls, who is until this day remembered as one of the best mother roles there are.
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How Grassle got the role is story of serendipity. She was about to travel to LA and act in an independent movie, but there were no airplane tickets available when she went to the airport. “I’d sublet my apartment, and my boyfriend was [with me], so I wrote a bad check to get one. But when I got to LA, the movie fell through,” Grassle recalled. Her agent then called her with a proposition to audition for another project, Little House on the Prairie, along Michael Landon. As she wasn’t a huge TV watcher, she knew Landon as “that guy from Bonanza.“
“They’d seen everyone in Hollywood who was right for the part. They were down to the wire because they cast everyone else. After I read my second scene with Mike, he leaped up like a jack-in-the-box and said, ‘Bring her to wardrobe!’ But NBC had to approve me, so he interviewed for executives on closed-circuit TV,” the actress said.
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Filming the series, which became a huge hit, was fun and fulfilling for Grassle. She formed a strong bond with the rest of the crew, especially the actors who played her children. She got along with Landon as well until a point when the two had an argument over Grassle’s request to receive bigger paycheck. The two stopped talking to each other, but later in life, shortly before Landon’s passing, the two started talking and became close again.
“I didn’t speak up publicly at the time,” she said. “Unless the fact that I continued to negotiate meant that Mike might have said things about me that could have been detrimental,” she explained in the past.
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Once the series was over, Grassle moved on to other significant projects. She became the co-founder and artistic director of Santa Fe’s Resource Theater Company. “Being in TV in Los Angeles made it hard to have a family life, while Santa Fe allowed time to study, live, work and play,” she told The Santa Fe Reporter.
“It’s very tough here professionally,” she said about running her theater company in 1992. “Part of what I’ve been dedicated to is to raise the standard of theatrical experiences for the local actor, to put them on a more professional basis. A lot of them were working for zero dollars.”
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Grassle was married three times and is a mother of two adopted children, as well as a stepmother of her second husband’s three children. She married her first husband Leon Russom in 1966 but the two divorced three years later.
In 1982, she tied the knot with James Radford with whom she adopted two children, daughter Lily and son Zach. She also had a great relationship with Radford’s biological children from his previous marriage.
Speaking of the decision not to have biological children, Grassle said it had to do with the tragedies her mother suffered before having her. “I finally decided that maybe a baby is never going to happen to me,” Grassle said. “My mother lost five before she had me. She had about given up when I was born. When I married Allen, I kept thinking, pretty soon, we’d have a baby together. We couldn’t get on a list for adoption because we’re too old.”
Luckily, they were able to adopt Lily when she was born. Grassle was present during Lily’s birth and she even got to cut the umbilical cord.
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“We wanted to have a child, and we’d been having some difficulties. We were on the verge of beginning fertility treatment and started contacting people we knew about adoption,” she said about how Zach came into their family.
“A friend said, ‘You have to call this woman.’ She referred me to her [adoption] attorney [who knew of] a young woman looking for a couple to adopt her child. It really felt like destiny.”
Grassle married her third husband, Dr. Scott Stutherland in 1991 and divorced him six years later. Today, the 80-year-old actress is single and she loves it.
Cher’s singing career started back in the day, but she still remains one of the most popular female singers that have ever walked this Earth.
Considered the “Goddess of Pop” by the media, this incredibly versatile woman has had her fair share in a number of different areas of entertainment. She has adopted a variety of styles and appearances throughout her six-decade-long career and stunned her fans over and over again.
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Cher’s private life and her numerous romances with celebrities is as impressive as her professional life.
At the age of just 16, she married her first husband, Sonny Bono, with whom she stayed together for six years before calling their marriage quits. Cher welcomed daughter Chasity Bono who transitioned into a man later in life.
Just four days after she officially divorce Sonny, Cher married her second husband, Gregg Allman, with whom she has son Elijah Blue Allman, professionally known as P. Exeter Blue, the lead vocalist, guitarist and lyricist of the industrial metal band Deadsy.
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Once her second marriage ended in 1979, Cher was romantically involved with other people, among which actor Tom Cruise. She first spoke of her relationship with the Mission Impossible star back in 2013. Then, in 2018, she opened up about Cruise once again when she revealed in an interview with Daily Mail that he was “just the most adorable man you can imagine.”
Apparently, the two first met at Madonna and Sean Penn’s wedding in 1985 and bonded over their mutual learning disorder, dyslexia. “It was pretty hot and heavy for a little minute,” she told Watch What Happens Live.
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After their first encounter they met again at the White House. “Then, a bunch of people who were dyslexic were invited to the White House, and Tom and I are both dyslexic. We didn’t go out ’til way later, but there definitely was a connection there.”
Cher was obviously enchanted with Cruise and even put him of the list of her all-time top five lovers. Other celebs who got on that list were Warren Beatty, Richie Sambora, Gene Simmons and Val Kilmer.
She added that at the time they dated, Cruise wasn’t involved with Scientology.
However, as she felt comfortable sharing details of their romance, Cruise wasn’t happy she spoke about him publicly. According to Mirror, a source said about the actor: ”Everyone knows he was not happy – it seemed to be a sensitive topic.”
The holiday cheer turned into tragedy in Waukesha after an SUV plowed through a crowd during the Christmas Parade. Five people died at the scene, and the sixth victim, 8-year-old Jackson Spark, died at hospital due to the severity of the injuries he sustained. Four of the people who lost their lives were members of the amateur dance group “Milwaukee Dancing Grannies.”
It has been reported that the number of people who were injured is around 60. Thirteen of them are children, and six remain in critical condition.
The person charged for this utterly tragic incident is registered sex offender Darrell Brooks, 39, who was released from jail November 11 on $1,000 bail shortly before the Waukesha tragedy took place. The motive remains a mystery.
A 6th person has died in the #Waukesha massacre. 8-year-old Jackson Sparks died in hospital. Nearly 50 others were injured when Darrell Brooks, a registered sex offender out on bail on other offenses, allegedly rammed his car through the Christmas parade. https://t.co/FzSxZr7HpH
And as the entire country mourns the loss of those who were mercilessly killed, one special man is stepping in for the grieving families.
J.J. Watt, defensive end for the Arizona Cardinals, offered to cover all the costs related to the funerals.
“J.J. Watt is covering the funeral costs for everyone that lost their life in the Waukesha Christmas Parade,” journalist Cory Jennerjohn wrote on Twitter. “That is an amazing gesture. He has such a huge heart.”
J.J. Watt is covering the funeral costs for everyone that lost their life in the Waukesha Christmas Parade. That is an amazing gesture. He has such a huge heart.
This, however, is not the first time for Watt to offer his kindness to someone in need. He’s known for his heart of gold and his selfless nature. In 2017, he managed to raise $37 million for those affected by the Hurricane Harvey. With his 32 years, he’s doing all in his power to be the change he wants to see in the world.
“Everything that you do on the field [pales] in comparison to what you do off the field,” he said. “And at the end of my life, if I’m remembered as a football player, and a good football player, and that’s all I’m remembered for, then I did a poor job in my life.”
Just now seeing what happened at the holiday parade back home in Waukesha tonight.
Horrific images.
Truly hoping everyone is going to be ok and those not involved are now safe.
Thankful to everyone who rushed to action and helped the wounded.
After the Waukesha tragedy, Watt took to Twitter to express his sorrow and offer condolences.
“Just now seeing what happened at the holiday parade back home in Waukesha tonight,” he wrote. “Horrific images. Truly hoping everyone is going to be ok and those not involved are now safe. Thankful to everyone who rushed to action and helped the wounded.”
Thank you Watt for everything you do. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families. We pray for the injured to recover as soon as possible.
Hollywood is the place where dreams are made, and being part of it truly is a dream come true. A huge number of people yearn for a place under its sky, but not everyone is lucky enough to make it big in the industry.
Matthew McConaughey is one of those people who were fortunate enough to make a name for themselves in the showbiz. Over the years, he became a much loved face and gathered millions of fans. McConaughey has landed a number of iconic roles, but that in Dazed and Confused is considered by many to be his breakthrough role.
This American sweetheart is not only a famous actor, but a loving husband and a proud father of three. His love story with wife Camila Alves resembles that of a fairy-tale, and if you believed he executes roles of a romantic guy perfectly, wait until you see how charming he is around his lady.
The couple first laid eyes on one another in 2006 and tied the knot in 2012.
McConaughey never misses a chance to speak of his affection for his wife. Even years after they first met, he’s still smitten with her and he’s not afraid to confess that.
When it comes to showing his love, he doesn’t do it by buying expensive gifts, but maintains his romance in a different way.
“I don’t have a certain thing I buy her. An earnest handwritten note, that she knows I sat down and took some time and has some poetry to it, that’s worth more than whatever retail I paid for something,” McConaughey told TODAY.
He says Camila posses qualities he admires and describes her as graceful, beautiful, and having strong sense of identity. When it comes to loyalty, he says that he’s faithful to her to a point that is selfish, as reported by Playboy Magazine. He, however, adds that he loves that and wants that to stay that way.
Speaking to People, Camila said she wasn’t a typical girl, the one who dreams of getting married, but meeting McConaughey changed all that.
Besides having tight work schedules, they both make sure they spend much time with their children, and that includes movie night, trips, and a lot more. Fridays are always pretty special in their home because on those days, the kids are allowed to have pizza and everything else they please. They are even allowed to sleep in their parents’ bedroom after the festivities which often turn into dance nights.
When it comes to their parenting, the actor says he and his wife blend different styles of parenting, he’s more laid-back, but they both share similar moral values. At the end of the day, the moral traits of each person are inherited and their sense of morality would always be in their core, as per McConaughey.
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We love McConaughey so very much and we are extremely happy for him. What a beautiful love story these two share.
During our lifetime we witness injustice being done and generosity is slowly becoming something we hear less of.
However, people who do kind deeds are still among us and because of their hearts of gold our faith in humanity is restored.
While they were growing up, twin brothers Henry and Harrison would go into the woods with their father Shane McDaniel where they would help him harvest firewood. This activity never bothered this hardworking family. On the contrary, they see it as a great way to bond and help the community at the same time.
There was a heavy storm in the place of Lake Stevens, Washington which caused lots of trees to fall down.
“I had a lot of wood I had to cut because of storm damage and trees that were taken down. It just kept piling up and piling up. Once it got to be such an amount of wood we decided we could do something better with it,” Shane said.
This father and his sons came up with the most incredible idea possible. Namely, they decided to combine their hard work and their generosity by offering firewood to those in need of some.
Speaking to PEOPLE Magazine, they said: “The Pacific Northwest is a pretty rugged area, it’s cold and wet. Once I started, I saw the need and my eyes were opened up. So many people were stopping and asking to buy it and we just started giving it away.”
In the period of seven months, starting from March through October 2018, Shane, Henry and Harrison managed to chop firewood enough to fill 80 trucks.
After offering the firewood to those who needed it the most, they still had a lot left so they took to Facebook to spread the word and ask from people to sign up if they were looking forward to a hot and cozy home during the winter time.
People who stumbled upon the post were surprised by the act of kindness which soon went a long way. Many wanted to be part of what the McDaniels were doing so they volunteered to help distribute the firewood.
“It’s a pretty wonderful thing to see. You can just see this feeling of pride and sharing that I don’t think they had before,” Shane said.
“When you do good things for people, they don’t forget. I love helping people.”
If only more people were as noble as this family, this world would be a much better place.
Please share this story with your family and friends. It may inspire someone to do a kind deed.
If you’ve ever been a babysitter or even taken responsibility for someone else’s children then you will know the burden or responsibility that rests with you when you look after the children that are not your own.
There are many babysitters that take this responsibility and the job very seriously and most certainly go above and beyond what their parents ask for, without a doubt!
Kiersten Miles had been caring for George and Farra Rosko’s three children for some weeks, however when one of the children’s lives was in jeopardy, kiersten had to make a scary life changing decision.
The Roskos will be forever thankful for the decision she made!
Facebook
A 22 year old student from New Jersey, Kiersten Miles, needed to work to support her studies, she contacted the Rosko family through a friend and started working for them straight away.
Kiersten quickly formed a powerful bond with the couple’s three children, most of all their youngest daughter, called Talia.
Some sad news came and the doctor said that Talia needed a new liver, she had a very rare and life threatening liver disease, Kiersten was right there without even a second thought to offer if part of her liver could help.
George and Farra and Rosko were unsure at first and explained to Kiersten how much a of serious thing it was that she was offering. Donating a part of your liver is not at all like giving blood, invasive surgery is involved for one and then there are many risks too.
Kiersten stuck by her decision and applied straight away to be a donor for Talia, when she got the test results, Kiersten was a perfect match for Talia!
Talia’s parents were ecstatic and more that thankful to Kiersten for her selfless act, however, they made sure that they didn’t push Kiersten at all to make the decision, they didn’t want her to regret it later.
Kiersten certainly had no regrets at all, and on the 11th January 2017, she and Talia took the journey to hospital to undertake the 14 hour surgery together.
Over the last few years, Law enforcement officers had had hard times, and things are only getting harder. Many Officers have been singled out and attacked as well as some people assuming that all cops are bad cops, or corrupt in some way.
Well, one restaurant decided they would make a difference, a place over at Gallipolis, Ohio decided to show the men and women in uniform that they are valued and appreciated. The sign in the window is really causing a stir!!
To absolutely prove to all the men and women in uniform that they have the city’s wholehearted appreciation for their work everyday, each time they put their own well being on the line to keep us all safe.
A delicious hot meal is no better way to fuel up before, during, or after a hard day and maybe even keep the streets even safer, how wonderful!
Ever since the sign has been pinned in the KFC window, things have gone crazy, it’s gone completely viral getting well over 5,000 shares and 10,000 likes on Facebook.
The store’s employees have even been joining in and commenting on the Facebook post, they absolutely do server all the uniformed police officers, completely FREE all day, every day!
You might expect the most people will be supportive and super happy about it, especially the men and women of the police force, but, there are also plenty of people that are not happy at all!
Some people really didn’t like what the store owners had done and said that they believed that all first response services should be included, not just the police, even the administer of the Ohio Going Blue, an officer of the law, too said he couldn’t agree more.
He said:
“This is a positive post, but some of you can’t see the bigger picture. As an officer, I do not go into any establishment expecting [or] wanting anything to be free or…. even a discount, whether I’m in uniform or not, and I can tell you other officers feel the same way. We don’t like ‘special treatment.’ The fact is that KFC is acknowledging law enforcement, which is why this was posted. To those who stated that other first responders should also be acknowledged. My answer? ABSOLUTELY.”
The fine officers of the law lay their well being on the line for us every day, and do their very best to keep us safe but have nothing in return, so to give them a free meal and keep them fueled up for their long day is reasonable….
Why do you think of the KFC sign in the window? Do you support it?
Cupid, an incredibly loving and loyal dog from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, was left behind. His family moved places and didn’t take him with them. The poor dog couldn’t understand what happened and why his humans wouldn’t open the door to the house for him, not knowing the place he considered home was now completely empty.
Cupid was left without any food or water, and whenever he would go around trying to find something to eat he would always get back to his house’s front porch.
Source: Facebook/ Speranza Animal Rescue
Thankfully, Cupid’s state of confusion and desperation came to an end after Janine Guido, the founder of Speranza Animal Rescue, learned of his sad fate.
However, getting near Cupid wasn’t an easy task. She approached him a couple of times, but he always ran away towards the porch and tried getting inside, looking for his humans to save him from Janine. But what Cupid didn’t know at that point was that Janine was in fact his savior.
Source: Facebook/ Speranza Animal Rescue
Janine never quit trying earning Cupid’s trust, and once they became friends, she could finally help him.
She was left heartbroken. How could some pet owners be so cruel as to abandon their dog who loved them unconditionally?
Janine shared her disappointment through a Facebook post she shared.
“This is what your dog does, When you move out and leave him behind….”
“I got a call this afternoon regarding your dog. That has been roaming around Harrisburg since you moved out. And more often than not he was seen lying on your porch.
“When i got there your dog was eating out of a dumpster. And when i tried to approach your dog he took off to his ‘safe place.’
“When I approached your doorstep , your dog frantically jumped up and scratched at the door – begging for you to let him in.
“Your dog then bolted once again, and ran down alleys. Away from me – the stranger trying to help him.
“The next time I approached your dog on the porch he sat there. He wasn’t interested in my food. He wasnt interested in me. He wanted back inside your house. He once again clawed at your door, but no one was there to let him in.
“I spoke to your dog and he would bark at me and yet again took off down the street.
“The next time he came back to your porch i spoke to him and told him I’m here to help. Help to get him off the streets.
“At that moment it was like your dog understood. He didnt bolt. He walked up to me and sat down. Allowing me to leash him.
“I cried as i put your dog into my car. And even though I probably sounded crazy I explained to your dog what was going on the whole ride home.
“‘I’m so sorry you were let down. But i hope you realize we are here to help. And you will never be left alone again.
“Welcome to the Family, Cupid.’”
The staff at Speranza Animal Rescue fell in love with Cupid the moment they laid their eyes on him.
Sweet Cupid treats them with licks and kisses as a thank you for keeping him safe and loved.
“He has been nothing but the sweetest gentleman since coming to the rescue,” Janine said speaking to The Dodo “You can tell he’s still really confused. But he is happy to meet everyone with a wagging tail.”
Cupid’s story touched the hearts of many. As for now, more than 50 families are interested in adopting him but he’s not ready to leave the shelter yet. He should get neutered and get over the trauma of being left behind.
The staff believes he can get along with little kids and other pets, including cats, as he was sharing some food with a stray cat at the time of his rescue.
Have in mind that even though Cupid is not ready to be adopted yet, there are plenty of other animals at the shelter who are.
“We know he’s super cute and he has a sad story, but so do many others,” Guido stated. “We have so many amazing dogs that are available for adoption, please consider one of them.”
If you wish to see what Cupid’s days look like at the animal rescue go to the video below.
When baby Theodore “Teddy” Nelson was born, doctors told his parents that their little bundle of joy had a congenital heart defect called hypoplastic left heart syndrome. Since this condition affects normal blood flow through the heart, sweet Teddy was forced to undergo an open-heart surgery just 15 minutes after he was welcomed into the world.
It was devastating news for his mom and dad, but they never lost hope and prayed for the surgery to go as planned. Shortly after, Teddy underwent another surgery.
“Around the second open heart surgery he suffered a stroke,” mom Alexandria Nelson told “Good Morning America.”
Source: Facebook
Neither she nor her husband were certain about the future of their beautiful son. They knew the little one could experience more health issues and didn’t know whether or not he would be able to smile. However, after 185 days, he treated his parents with the cutest smile and melted their hearts.
“We weren’t sure the connections were there in the brain to allow a smile to show on his face. It really gave a huge glimmer of hope for the future that he’s able to overcome these obstacles,” the proud mom said. “That’s what the smile meant to us.”
The best thing of all was that they were able to capture Teddy’s enchanting smile on video which they later shared on social media. Teddy’s first major milestone, his ability to smile, has been seen by thousands of people from all over the world.
“His sister was in the room; [Teddy] loves to hear her voice and my husband, he has the special touch,” Alexandria explained.
Of course, more surgeries would follow in the future, but for now, Teddy is doing great and spreads happiness and joy.
“They call him feisty and we love it,” the mom said. “Half the time we don’t give him enough credit … he [has] so much determination and fight.
“I always say, ‘Theodore’s half a heart produces twice the love.’”
We truly hope baby Teddy would reach more milestones and would be able to lead a normal life.
The devastating tornado which hit Iowa on Saturday claimed the lives of seven people, four of which were part of a same family.
Among those who lost their lives were Michael Bolger, 37, his two young children, 5-year-old Kinlee Bolger and 2-year-old Owen Bolger, and his mother-in-law, 63-year-old Melissa Bazley whom the Bolger family was visiting at the time the tragedy struck.
Michael’s wife, Kuri Bolger, and their eldest child, 8-year-old Brysen, survived. The boy has already been discharged from hospital while Kuri is still being treated for her severe injuries.
Twitter/The Weather Channel
According to reports, late Bazley didn’t have a basement in her home which was located near rural Winterset, just outside the capital Des Moines so some of the family members didn’t stand a chance when the tornado hit.
One of Bolger family’s long time friend, Kayla, set up a GoFundMe page to help Brysen and his mom with the medical expenses. A huge number of people who got deeply touched by this tragedy donated money and so far around $540,000 has been raised.
Michael’s mother, Lynn Larson, told NPR News that the entire family is devastated. Her heart is filled with grief and she can’t believe that her son and two of her grandchildren are forever gone. “I just can’t describe how wonderful Mike was. Everybody loved him,” she said. “It just rips your heart out. My grandchildren were wonderful. They were just the light of my life,” the heartbroken mother said.
Source: GoFundMe
Two of Bazley’s neighbors, Rodney Clark, 64, and Cecilia Lloyd, 72 also lost their lives. The seventh person who died when the tornado struck was from Lucas County, located around 54 miles southeast of the capital Des Moines. A number of people have been injured as well.
We are deeply saddened by this tragedy. Our hearts go out to the grieving families who lost their loved ones.
One devastated mother who lost her son in a tragic manner is warning everyone of the dangers of opoid abuse.
In a touching Facebook post, Sherri Kent explained that her 22-year-old son Michael overdosed on prescription painkillers. He took a fatal dose of the drug fentanyl, which is around 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine.
“I just want everyone to know that my son Michael overdosed on fentanyl,” this heartbroken mother wrote. “My son was not an addict he made a mistake that cost him his life.”
Facebook
Along with the warning, Sherri shared a photo of Michael in his hospital bed, intubated and probably unconscious, while she is holding him in her arms.
Facebook
Michael Kent passed away on March 21.
According to his mom, Michael and his sister were running errands when they stumbled upon an unknown man who offered them drugs, as per CBC. This happened a day before the tragedy struck. Michael sister told him not to take the pills, but he met with the man the following day. He bought the drugs and took them inside the store’s bathroom, where he overdosed.
“By the time the ambulance got there he was in cardiac arrest,” Sherri told CBC.
Michael was rushed to the hospital where he later died.
“Believe me, it was the worst days of my life,” Sherri said.
According to the Huffington Post, “deaths due to opioid overdoses have risen sharply in the past few years, partly due to a particularly potent drug called fentanyl. Fentanyl is between 50 and 100 times more powerful than another opioid, morphine, and its use seems to be on the rise in the U.S.”
Fentanyl overdoses in Canada, particularly in the area where Michael resided, are also on the rise, CBC reports.
“I just want to make everyone aware of the epidemic that’s goin (sic) on right now that’s killing 5-7 people a day in every city in Canada,” Sherri wrote. “It’s out of control and there is no way to protect our children from this other than to warn them of the dangers of drug use today.”
Facebook
“They made me a spot on the bed where I could lay with my son and talk to him,” the mother said. “This is where I told him I was still proud of him.”
Sherri’s touching and heartbreaking post went viral. People offered their condolences and prayers, and she is glad it reached to thousands of people because it means she helped raise awareness.
We are very sorry for this mother’s loss and we thank her for sharing her son’s story because it can prevent at least a few overdoses of this dangerous drug.
Elderly people are a valuable members of every society. Their contributions in providing wisdom and advice to younger generations should always be acknowledged. We need to treat these people with respect and appreciate their presence in our lives.
Mr. Alfred Rogers fought in the World War II and has had quite a life. In February 2022, he reached an important milestone when he turned 100 years old. His family organized a lovely birthday party for him and he was astounded by the beautiful gesture.
“There are not many times in my life I have been speechless, but this may be as close as I’ll ever get,” Rogers said, as per 11 Alive News. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this. This is something I’ll never forget.”
Source: YouTube
Speaking of everything he achieved during the course of his long and fulfilling life, Mr. Rogers said one of the best things he has ever experienced is getting to hold his great-granddaughter in his arms. “I got to hold my first great-grand baby,” the proud great-grandfather revealed. “She’s a 3-month-old little girl.”
Mr. Rogers’ daughter, Betsy Rogers, says she can’t believe her father turned 100 years old.
“It doesn’t feel like 100 years because he does so well. He still lives independently, he still drives,” she said. “He’s tough, he’s loving and highly intelligent.”
Source: YouTube
As for Mr. Rogers, he says he can’t wait to travel with his camper to a new destination, which is something he loves doing.
If you want to learn more of this lovely man check out the video below.
Having a sibling means having a friend for life. Brothers and sisters are those special individuals we can always rely on when things get hard and the first people to share our happiness with.
Bridger Walker and his four-year-old sister were at a friend’s backyard having fun when a German Shepherd tried to attack the girl. Without thinking twice, then 6-year-old Bridger jumped in front of her and acted as a shield. The girl wasn’t hurt in any way, but Bridger got severely bitten on the face. He was left with multiple scars and needed 90 stitches for the open wound to be repaired.
Source: Facebook
Today, a year and a half after the vicious attack, Bridger says he’s proud of his scar because it shows that he did what every brother needs to do and that is to protect his younger siblings. “If someone had to die, I thought it should be me,” the brave boy was reported saying at the time.
Speaking of his son’s selfless act and the scar he has on his face, Bridger’s father, Robert Walker, told People:
“My wife and I asked him, ‘Do you want it to go away?’ And he said, ‘I don’t want it to go all the way away.’
“Bridger views his scar as something to be proud of, but he also doesn’t see it as being representative of his brave act. He just perceives it as, ‘I was a brother and that’s what brothers do.’ It’s a reminder that his sister didn’t get hurt, and that she is okay.”
The story of Bridger’s bravery came to light after his aunt Nikki shared it online. “My nephew is a hero who saved his little sister from an attacking dog,” she wrote.
“He, himself, took on the attack so that the dog wouldn’t get his sister. He later said, ‘If someone was going to die, I thought it should be me.’ He got home from the hospital last night. I know it’s a long shot, but I’m reaching out to the Avengers and other heroes so that they can learn about this latest addition to their ranks.”
To her and Bridger’s surprise, Robert Downey Jr. who played Iron Man and Chris Evans who portrays the role of Captain America both responded with videos in which they praised Bridger’s act.
The boy, however, although happy with the superheroes’ videos, said what he did wasn’t heroic, he just acted the way every older brother should act during such a terrifying situation.
“It almost bothers him sometimes when he’s called a hero, because he [thinks], ‘Maybe I could have done more to shield her,’” the boy’s dad said.
“Chris Evans, his video was amazing and he sent the shield. Bridger couldn’t have been more delighted,” the dad added. “When he talked to Tom Holland, he was probably the most starstruck because that was a live call so that one certainly left an impression… His emotional recovery was really a worldwide effort and that was so special to us.”
Although Bridger’s face now looks better after all the surgeries, he needs to undergo more in the future.
“We still have a little bit more work to do on the superficial, redness part of it, but structurally everything looks so much better,” said Dr. Dhaval Bhanusali who offered to fly Bridger to his office in New York and provide treatment for free. “I always told Robert, ‘When Bridger’s in junior high or high school, I want this to be a story he tells, not a memory he has to relive every day.’ And I think we will have that situation,” the kind doctor added.
Other celebs who reached to Bridger, among the rest, are Mark Ruffalo and Anne Hathaway.
For more on this heroic boy’s story go to the video below. What an awesome young man.
Angela ”Big Ang” Raiola became a huge star when she first appeared on the reality show Mob Wives which captivated the attention of a huge audience.
All of the women who were part of the show were somehow related to the families which controlled the mafia in New York City. Big Ang was the niece of the late Salvatore ”Sally Dogs” Lombardi, one of the “capos” of the notorious Genovese crime family. Besides being famous for her larger-than-life personality and brash demeanor, Big Ang was also known for her plastic surgeries and her distinctive looks; her huge boobs and lips among the rest.
Chance Yeh/Getty Images
In 2001, Big Ang was arrested in Brooklyn when she tried to sell drugs to undercover cops. She was 41 at the time and was actively involved in the work of the mafia. Her role was distributing drugs on ”street-level.”
As the leader who Big Ang worked for was sentenced to 13 years in prison, she was sentenced to three years’ probation in 2003.
”People ask me why I did it. I was a single mom, supporting my family, paying $3,000 in rent. I did it for the money. I wouldn’t do it again and haven’t since. I learned my lesson,” Big Ang explained back in the day.
She had a hard time spending four months in house arrest because she was a kind of person who wanted to be in the center of attention and loved partying. Because she couldn’t go out, she decided to bring the party to her and organized sleepovers and parties.
”My girlfriends and family came by every day. That also made me feel less claustrophobic. But for someone like me who needs to be where the action is and loves to go out, being confined to one place was torture,” she explained.
She even released a book in which she gave her readers tips on how to kill boredom among the rest.
Mob Wives was praised by critics and reached huge popularity. Ken Tucker, a TV critic on Entertainment Weekly, wrote: ”As someone who’s watched at least a few episodes of every version of the Real Housewives franchise and feels a bit nauseous about it, I didn’t come to Mob Wives with high hopes. But this floridly funny, vicariously vicious reality series exerts a vulgar charm.”
Big Ang stole the hearts of millions of people and was offered spin-offs during which she revealed a lot about her life.
Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic
She always spoke openly of the many plastic surgeries she had had during her life. She first went under the knife after giving birth to her first child. “After I had the baby my boobs were dead. They just were prunes down to my waist. After my first surgery, I had them redone in 1995. They took the sponges out and put in saline implants. I had a double 36 double D when I was only 14-years-old, so I have always had a big chest,” she told Radar Online.
Big Ang was diagnosed with cancer when doctors discovered a lemon-size tumor in her throat after she complained of neck pain in 2015. She had undergone a surgery but was later diagnosed with stage four breast and lung cancer. ”First I thought I was cancer free. I was going to have a big party. Then a month later I was stage 4,” Angela explained towards the end of her life.
The last time she appeared on TV was for the reunion of Mob Wives when she spent two hours on set but was forced to drag herself there.
When it came to her private life, Big Ang was married to Neil Murphy but their relationship wasn’t a picture-perfect one. She had two daughters and six grandchildren.
Shortly before her passing, Big Ang appeared on Dr. Oz and opened up about her life. ”I felt like he never stepped up to the plate, so I was done with it,” she said of her husband. “Now, it’s too late. I would rather be by myself. I would rather be alone.”
Mike Pont/FilmMagic
Dr. Oz himself tried to share Big Ang’s story.
“By the time she came on the show, she really had wanted to get things off her chest, to say things she knew she needed to say before the end, because she had weeks to months, not months to years left,” he said.
”The most important emotion I heard from Big Ang outside the show was fear — she was scared. I think she knew the end was grasping at her, that she was looking over the abyss of death, a darkness down there that we all fear, and she knew that it was close.”
He claimed that what affected Big Ang’s health was her habit of smoking 40 cigarettes a day. “She started young, like so many, but like so many, by the time she realized she didn’t want to smoke anymore, it was too late to stop — at least she felt that way. And she joked on the show about how she got the diagnosis of throat cancer, and as she walked out of the hospital, she took the pack of cigarettes and tossed them in the trash. And she quit cold turkey, but it was a little late,” Dr. Oz explained.
Big Ang, who lived an opulent lifestyle, died peacefully in February 2016 surrounded by her friends and family.
The best things in life usually come in the most unexpected manner.
A couple from Italy, Martina Russo and Fil, were on the road and driving through Spain’s countryside when they saw a tiny dog running after their vehicle. They found it fun at first because they thought the sweet canine was playing but they soon realized that the reason behind the running was in fact a heartbreaking one.
As the dog was trying to get to the couple, they decided to pull over. They took the dog in their arms and believed it was lost, but as no one was around and there weren’t any houses nearby, they assumed it was either lost or someone abandoned it.
“We… took her to the nearest village to ask if someone had lost her, but no one had ever seen her before,” Martina wrote on Instagram. “We are in the middle of nowhere, no houses or other human life in a long range.
“On the way back we put her back where we found her, thinking she might know to walk back, but she followed us again until we got to the van.”
Martina posted photos of the dog on social media asking if someone was looking for her. A few weeks passed by and no one came forward so they decided to adopt her.
“We took her to the vet the next day, and turns out she was not chipped, not spayed, female, about one-year-old, fur very overgrown and full of gunk around the eyes,” Martina told SWNS.
They named her Moxie and gave her a loving home.
“She’s very sweet and funny, very playful, loves our cats — to be fair, she loves everything and everyone!” Martina said. “We love taking her on adventures, and she makes us laugh every day.
It looks like Moxie was great at choosing which car to chase down. Is it possible that she new those people could become her owners? Well, who knows. The most important thing is that she now has a home.
No matter how old your children are, you never stop worrying for their safety and well-being. This is especially true when they are still young and don’t really know how to take care of themselves.
However, there comes a time, such as when they start school, when they are left in the hands of their teachers and the bus drivers who make sure they get safely to and from school.
And if you are lucky enough, your kid’s school bus driver would be someone as courageous and as loving as this lady named Renita Smith. She loves her job and the kids so much that she refers to them as her babies. Actually there’s nothing this single mother of two wouldn’t do for her passengers’ safety, even if that means getting into a burning bus.
That day was like any other and Renita had no idea it will turn into an ordeal she will never forget. As she was dropping off the students home after classes, she suddenly noticed how the brake light on the bus came on. It did raise concern but she believed she could make it to the fourth stop before she pulled over and made a further examination. But it turned out the problem was way more serious than she assumed as they all smelled smoke.
Renita said: “By the time I picked up the mic to call transportation, my bus was on fire.”
Thanks to her quick thinking and her readiness to act in such situations, Renita managed to get the kids off the bus. Some of the neighbors who witnessed the accident helped get the children to safety. Renita, however, wanted to make sure no one was left behind and then did something truly amazing. She got back into the bus that was all in flames just to make sure no kid was still inside.
Smith says, “Then I ran back into the bus because I needed to make sure that all of my babies were accounted for.”
This lady was ready to put her life on the line as long as her babies were safe and sound. The story of her bravery spread among people from all over the country. Everyone praised Renita for her action, but the one person who was truly fascinated by this woman’s fearlessness was Ellen DeGeneres. The comedian and a host show learned how Renita didn’t have an easy life as she struggled to make ends meet so she invited her over at the show and this single mom got the surprise of her life.
Take a look at what Ellen had up her sleeve for Renita in the video below.
Please share to inspire others to show their appreciation for those who risk their lives every day to keep us safe.
Naomi Judd, one of the best and most prominent country music singers looks as beautiful as always as the age of 76. Although she has stayed out of the spotlight in recent years, Naomi’s career influenced the world of country music a great deal and she was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2021 as a member of The Judds alongside her daughter Wynonna.
Naomi gave birth to her daughter Wynonna a week before she was supposed to graduate from high school. Being a mother at 18 wasn’t easy, let alone a single mom. Her boyfriend left Naomi because he wasn’t ready to be a father so she was forced to raise her daughter all by herself. Some time after welcoming Wynonna into her life, Naomi met Michael Ciminiella whom she married in 1964. Four years after tying the knot, Naomi gave birth to her second daughter, renown actress Ashley Judd. Unfortunately, Naomi’s union with Ciminiella didn’t last long and she was once again left to take care of her children alone.
Ebet Roberts/Redferns
Raising two girls wasn’t easy. The family struggled to make ends meet and lived in a cottage in Kentucky where they didn’t have telephone or television. As the place often lacked electricity as well, Wynonna spent most of her time learning how to play the guitar. Over time, she became very good at it and became obsessed with music.
As life in rural Kentucky was a difficult one, Naomi and her girls moved to California where she enrolled a nursing school. She did all in her power to provide a decent life for her daughters and worked as a waitress while attending school.
“There were times when I didn’t know how we were gonna eat, or how I was even gonna pay the small rent that I paid… It still amazes me how I did it,” Naomi said of that tough period of her life.
Once she received her diploma, Naomi and her daughters found a place to stay in Nashville where she found a job as a head nurse in an ICU.
Shutterstock/Featureflash Photo Agency
One day while on the job, Naomi met someone who helped change her life forever.
A patient at the hospital happened to be a man whose father was a record producer who arranged for Naomi and Wynonna to get to a live audition at the music label RCA in Nashville in 1983 and that was the start of something huge.
Speaking of that audition and singing in front of the producers, Wynonna revealed later on:
“It felt very much like going to the principal’s office,” Wynonna Judd recalled. “I was used to singing; I wasn’t used to being in a boardroom full of men. Joe remembers me taking my guitar out of its case just like it was a gun in a holster.
“I could sing in front of 10,000 people, as long as I had my guitar. I was like ‘Xena’ with a guitar. It was my protection, it was my weapon. It was my best friend, it was my purpose for anything and anybody.”
Naomi and Wynonna signed their first record and released their first album Wynonna & Naomi, as The Judds. The world became fascinated with the mother-daughter duo. They released number one hits and sold records for more than $20 million.
Wynonna was tough as a teenager and her relationship with her mother wasn’t always a smooth one. They weren’t great at communicating with one another through words, but music was a different thing. It helped them bond on a different level.
“It happened because of country music, because of the fans. There was never any great epiphany for us to say, ‘Okay, I get it, I understand your reality—you weren’t trying to destroy my life,’” Naomi Judd recalled in an interview with Ability Magazine. “It was just a gradual evolution, and when you share a dressing room, a stage, a hotel room, and you sleep six feet away from each other on the Silver Eagle Bus, you will either work it out, or you’ll kill each other.”
“A very interesting thing began to change when we’d be on stage. I would look out at the sea of smiling faces and sense that they were scrutinizing Wy and me, and that put us on our best behavior,” she added. “There was a real symbiotic relationship taking place at that time. Fans would come to us for advice.”
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At the age of 44, Naomi was diagnosed with Hepatitis C and doctors said she had 3 years to live at most so she and Wynonna had what they believed would be their last tour together. However, Naomi became a medically documented miracle. She was cured and decided to share her incredible life story with people from all over the country by becoming a motivational speaker.
Today, she’s living a quiet life with her husband of 32 years, Larry Strickland.
