Author: Darby Jones

In May 2021, Eden Jackson’s 6-year-old sister, Violet, was diagnosed with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Violet is undergoing treatment at Omaha’s Children’s Hospital, where she has received pints of blood and platelets through two life-saving transfusions. “I was thankful the blood was available for Violet when she needed it,” Wendy Jackson, their mother, told CBS. “And I wanted to pay that gift forward, so I scheduled my blood donation.” This inspired big sister, Eden, too. She organized a community blood drive with the American Red Cross. Blood donation is especially important right now as the country faces a shortage due to the pandemic.  With 16-year-old Eden’s efforts, the blood drive hit capacity quickly. “It was great to see it all fill up so fast and know that we brought awareness to the need for blood and that it can help people,” said Eden.

On Aug. 14, 1945, Japan surrendered to end World War II. As the news reached Louisville, Kentucky, the university cancelled classes, factories blew their whistles and the sale of booze was permitted across the state. The revelers got quite rowdy, some even firing guns into the air. Sailors kissed “every girl they could get their hands on,” according to the following day’s newspaper, and two police officers were suspended for abandoning their duties to get drunk. Amongst the chaos, Tess and Paul Silverman found each other and never separated for the next seven decades. Tess had been waiting for a streetcar that never came, and Paul said he could give her a ride. “In those days,” Tess said, “you wouldn’t think twice about taking a ride from a handsome stranger.” Tess went away for college, but Paul visited often. They were married on Tess’ parents’ anniversary for good luck. The couple had three children together and made New Jersey their home before retiring to Sun City Center, a senior living facility in Florida. They have traveled all over the world with each other. Israel, Peru, South Africa and Japan are just some of the countries visited. They celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary in June 2021. According to the Silvermans, the key to a good marriage is communication about what you really want. They had a clear plan for their lives and always made decisions as a couple. The Silvermans are very grateful to have shared their lives together. “When you get to this stage, we think about that a lot — a lot,” Tess said. “How lucky we are to have each other.”

For busy parents, it can be challenging to find time to connect with your children. Chris Yandle lost his high-profile public relations job in college athletics after moving his family from city to city for his career opportunities, and he felt guilty for not being more present for his then 9-year-old daughter, Addison. “I felt like I had let my family down, specifically my kids,” Yandle told Today. One morning, Yandle quickly wrote a note to Addison on a Ziploc bag while packing her lunch for school. “And the rest is history,” he said. He began writing Addison lunch notes every day to support her through the tween years as she was starting her fourth school in just five years. Yandle recalls moving around often for his father’s job when he was a child, too. “I never really had a place that I could call home,” he said. “I didn’t want to do that to my kids, but I ended up doing that to them anyway.” Yandle and his wife, Ashleigh, realized Addison was facing some bullying at school, picking up on signs through her body language and slipping grades. He switched the tone of the notes to help Addison get through it. Yandle does not believe in the stereotype that fathers do not know how to interact emotionally with their kids. So, he decided to publish a book of his lunch notes to Addison in 2018, "Lucky Enough: A Year of Dad's Daily Notes of Encouragement and Life Lessons to His Daughter." Now up to 600 notes, he is still writing notes to Addison daily, even as she completes seventh grade from home due to the pandemic.

One of the world’s largest diamonds has been discovered in Botswana. It weighs in at 1,098 carats and is believed to be the world’s third-largest “gem-quality” diamond ever found. The diamond was discovered at the Jwaneng mine by Botswanan diamond firm, Debswana, about 75 miles from the country’s capital, Gaborone. Debswana is a joint venture between Anglo American’s De Beers and the Botswanan government, which receives up to 80% of the income from diamond sales. The next-biggest diamonds are the 3,106-carat Cullinan found in South Africa in 1905 and the 1,109-carat Lesedi La Rona discovered in Botswana in 2015. Botswana is Africa’s largest producer of the prized gem. The previous record for a gem-quality diamond found at this particular mine was 446 carats in 1993, according to CBS News. Botswana’s official government Twitter account wrote that “proceeds from the diamond will be used to advance national development in the country.” The minerals minister in Botswana, Lefoko Moagi, said the discovery of the stone could not have come at a better time, following a challenging year when diamond sales were severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.  “Debswana will work with the Government of the Republic of Botswana and De Beers to value and sell the diamond to ensure it returns maximum benefit for the people of Botswana,” the company said in a statement. “And (we) will communicate further plans to bring this unique treasure to market in due course.”

On March 23, 202, Delta Pilot Chris Dennis left behind a note in the aircraft he was parking in a storage lot in California. Dennis assumed that the note would be found after a two-week quarantine, but after being discovered 435 days later, the note is being referred to as a “time capsule.” Dennis said he parked the plane among dozens of other planes that represented hundreds of jobs. He described the scene as “chilling, apocalyptic, surreal” in a Facebook post. The note he wrote said, “Hey pilots -- It's March 23rd and we just arrived from MSP (Minneapolis-St. Paul). Very chilling to see so much of our fleet here in the desert. If you are here to pick it up then the light must be at the end of the tunnel. Amazing how fast it changed. Have a safe flight bringing it out of storage!" The pilot assigned to “wake up” the aircraft and get it out of storage, First Officer Nick Perez, found the note on June 1, 2021. He said the note instantly took him back to the beginning of the pandemic. Last March, Delta announced flight cuts due to the pandemic, and in October the airline reported a $5.4 billion quarterly loss. Perez said many employees assumed they would lose their jobs. “I kept thinking about my mindset now compared to his when he left this note,” Perez said. “We were getting good at landing empty airplanes; now we’re going in the right direction. I’m in good spirits. I’m very optimistic.” Image source: Insider

A college student named Ker posted a TikTok video of a heartwarming voicemail she received from the owner of Taco Tom’s Lonchera in Vancouver, Washington. “Thinking about the time the taco truck man hadn’t seen me in eight months and called me to see if I was still alive,” she captioned the video. Thomas, the taco truck owner, says in the voicemail, ‘this is Thomas, from the taco truck, it’s a long time since I seen you, and I’m worried about you. How are you? I hope you’re good. Ok take care, bye bye.” Ker explained that the voicemail is from 2018, when she was having some health issues. She had been visiting the taco truck regularly for 12 years and did not visit for several months while she was ill. They have each other’s phone number so that she can find out where he is when she wants to stop by. Ker is still a regular visitor at the taco truck, and she made another video as she stopped by one day. TikTok users were so touched by the videos that they sent in donations to support Thomas’ truck. Ker handed him the $351 and praised him for being “humble” and “kind.” “If you are local go by his family truck and support his business,” she continued. After receiving the kind donations, Thomas said, “I just want to say thank you to everybody. I know it’s from your heart.”

Sisu, a large male stray dog, repeatedly tried stealing the same stuffed unicorn from a Dollar General in Kenansville, North Carolina. The business called animal control after the fifth incident. "The store called and said they had a stray dog in the parking lot that kept coming into the store," Joe Newburn, department head for Duplin County Animal Services, told The News & Observer. "He'd walk in, go to that unicorn and try to get it. He did it four or five times before they locked the door and called us to come get him. Maybe he had a stuffed animal like that in his original home. I don't know, but he wanted that purple unicorn bad." Sisu eventually got his beloved stuffed animal, but not by theft. Animal control officer Samantha Lane arrived to the 1-year-old dog still standing in the parking lot. Lane went inside and bought the unicorn for Sisu and put it in the front seat of the truck. The dog hopped in willingly. The shelter posted the story to its Facebook page. “This is what happens when you break into Dollar General consistently to steal the purple unicorn … but then get Animal Control called to lock you up for your B&E and larceny,” the shelter wrote. The post has over 11,000 reactions and 22,000 shares. The shelter later announced that Sisu has “an adopter and a rescue.” The transition to his forever home will happen once Sisu spends time at Lab Rescue LRCP to receive training to address trouble interacting with other dogs, People magazine reports. Dollar General has made multiple donations to the shelter in Sisu’s name, including large bags of pet food, according to a Facebook post made by the shelter.

Pamela Willis was scrolling through her Facebook feed in 2019 when she stumbled upon a news story that tugged at her heart strings and forever changed her life. Seven siblings were in need of a permanent home. “I really felt at that moment that those were supposed to be my children,” Pam told FOX. “It’s hard to explain, but I just have this really deep feeling like that.” The siblings, ranging in age from 1 to 12, had been in foster care for over a year after losing their parents in a devastating car crash. Pam, 50, and her husband, Gary Willis, 53, had fostered children for several years and have five adult biologial children of their own, but had never considered adoption. Pam tagged her husband on Facebook so he would see the article. “I thought Gary was going to tell me I was wacko - we were getting ready to retire,” Pam told TODAY. Thankfully, Pam’s husband felt the same as she did once he saw the children. “It was what God wanted us to do,” Pam said. Later that evening, the Willis’ called the number listed and were told they had already received thousands of calls. Two months later, Pam and Gary were matched with Adelino, 15, Ruby, 13, Aleecia, 9, Anthony, 8, Aubriella, 7, Leo, 5, and Xander, 4. The children had experienced past trauma, including homelessness and their late parents’ struggle with addiction. Pam said that it was much easier to connect with the younger children than the older ones. “I think they didn’t quite trust that we were real. Like maybe we were going to go away,” Pam said. “I think it’s so hard to trust when so much has been taken from your life. Ruby didn't know how to be a kid. She had to be a mother figure at a very young age." While the adoption process was very long, they officially became a family in August 2020 and currently live in Menifee, California. From the day we met them, they were ours,” Said Pam. “This was a forever commitment.”

Over the past several years, an increasing number of tourists have ventured to the Himalayas to attempt to reach the summit of Mount Everest. This has led to the routes being filled with plastic bottles, cans, oxygen cylinders, batteries, food wrappers and more. It can be challenging to maintain the garbage collection due to remote access and extreme conditions, but the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has restricted tourists from visiting many popular travel destinations. So, a climbing community in Nepal saw the pause in tourism as an opportunity and partnered with luxury brand Bally to help preserve the mountains. Bally Peak Outlook is an initiative launched by the Swiss luxury brand to preserve “the world’s most fragile mountain habitats,” according to the website. The “8x8000m” Everest endeavor was led by Dawa Steven Sherpa, a Nepali cimber, environmental activist and tourism entrepreneur. He is responsible for leading expeditions that have removed 22 tons of waste since 2008. Due to the challenging terrain, half of the expedition team was made up of ethnic Sherpa, a group whose unique genetics allow them to withstand extreme mountain environments. In a short documentary released by Bally Peak Outlook on April 1, Steven Sherpa shares more about the expedition. “When we take away garbage from the mountains, it must feel to the gods like taking a thorn out of their finger,” said Steven Sherpa. He refers to Mount Everest as a sacred mountain and “in a way, a life giver, because it brings in a lot of economic opportunity to the entire region.” The team of climbers cleaned from the base camps all the way up to the peaks, leading to an astonishing 2.2 tons of garbage collected. The group hopes that their efforts will inspire and motivate others around the world to do the same once the pandemic is over.  

Gracie is a 3-month-old golden retriever puppy that started making regular visits to the Good Samaritan Society - Scotland in early March. This retirement and assisted living facility in Scotland, South Dakota has ‘seen a lot of smiles’ since Gracie started coming around. When she is not at Good Samaritan, Gracie lives with Pam Stewart, the facility’s social services manager. Shortly after bringing Gracie home, Stewart started bringing her along to work. Gracie immediately became a natural at loving the residents and bringing joy to those around her. "We've seen a lot of changes since she's come," Stewart told Good Morning America. "We've seen a lot of smiles, cuddles. It's giving them a lot to talk about versus what they've seen in the world." When Gracie accompanies Stewart to work, she spends most of the day visiting the facility’s residents, cuddling and comforting roughly 30 senior citizens each day. Throughout these rounds, the pup is always accompanied by a staff member to ensure everyone stays safe, according to Good Samaritan. The residents love Gracie’s company, and are happy to have a dog around after the facility’s previous dog, Hope, died last November. “I talk to her and pet her,” 66-year-old resident Dennis Gruhlke told GMA. Good Samaritan has been in lockdown since the pandemic began last March, but is now starting to reopen to visitors in accordance with federal guidelines. Gracie is helping residents stay positive and comforted while they wait for family visits to return to normal.