It’s our last chance this month to enjoy some Feel Good Friday stories.
1. A 10-year-old girl in Pennsylvania named Olive Wallace plays violin and recently wrote her first song. Her mom was so proud, she posted the hand-drawn sheet music online . . . asked if anyone could play it to see if it’s any good . . . and musicians on social media did not disappoint. A bunch of people played it on piano, violin, and other instruments. But here’s the best one: The Director of Music Education at Seattle Pacific University arranged it for a full string orchestra. The mom posted a follow-up video of her daughter watching them play it for the first time. (Here’s the video.)
2. A toddler in Canada fell into an icy pool at his daycare last month, and no one found him for at least five minutes. But paramedics and doctors did CPR for almost three hours, and he somehow survived. He’s back home recovering now. The daycare owner is facing charges for criminal negligence.
3. A woman in Minnesota was driving Sunday night when she saw a house on fire. She called 911, woke everyone up, and no one got hurt. Both people who were sleeping inside made it out, and so did their dog. It sounds like an electrical fire started in the attic. (Here’s a photo.)
4. A four-year-old kid in Toronto got cochlear implants and heard his parents talk for the first time. His mom said she’s never seen such a big smile on his face.
5. Last month, a 47-year-old guy was rescued in the Caribbean after 24 days lost at sea, and he said he survived on KETCHUP. Now Heinz is trying to track him down to buy him a new boat. They haven’t been able to find him, so they turned to social media for help. (Here’s the Instagram post.)
6. Wildlife rescuers in England came to the rescue of a badger found stranded on a concrete ledge alongside a busy highway. Pauline Kidner, founder of Secret World Wildlife Rescue, said a crew responded to the M5 motorway, near Clevedon in north Somerset, when a member of the public reported a badger perched on the concrete ledge. Police blocked traffic in the area while the rescue crew rounded up the animal. Kidner said the badger was trapped between traffic and a drop of more than 300 feet. The badger was taken to Secret World Wildlife Rescue’s facility in East Huntspill, where it was examined and found to be free from injuries. Kidner said the badger was returned to the wild after two days of observation.
7. Workers were carrying out the demolition of an old building on the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus, when they discovered a 116-year-old time capsule. Officials said they had no record of a time capsule being concealed in the building, which was a former local YMCA. The school said the time capsule will be turned over to the University YMCA. The capsule will be opened as part of the group’s 150th celebration in the autumn.
8. Two long-lost half-brothers in the U.K. just found each other at age 85 and 87. They had the same dad, but didn’t know about each other until now. One of their granddaughters was researching her family history and figured it out.
9. Firefighters saved a dog that fell through some ice in Colorado this month. It was a little tougher than you’d expect, because the dog was a 155-pound Saint Bernard.
10. A bunch of students at the University of Florida broke a world record the other day for most fist-bumps by a mascot in three minutes. Their gator mascot stood on their football field while they ran in a circle and fist-bumped him over and over. The old record was 220, and they crushed it with 340.
11. A lot of spots in the U.S. are getting more snow this week. Here’s a cool way to pass the time: A Children’s Hospital in Colorado is asking people to build snowmen based on kids’ drawings. It’s the third year they’ve done it. You can sign up online, just google the phrase “Say Hi with a Snowman Signup Form“.
12. Back in 2012, a guy in Vermont named Lloyd Devereux Richards published a novel called “Stone Maidens”, but it didn’t sell well. As of last week, it was ranked 1,452nd among thriller and suspense novels on Amazon. He’s 74 now and sort of gave up on it. But 10 days ago, his daughter posted a TikTok of him at his desk . . . said it would be great if he could get some sales . . . and the other day, his book hit NUMBER ONE on Amazon’s best-sellers list. Before all this, Lloyd hadn’t even heard of TikTok. His daughter’s video has now racked up over 44 million views. (Here’s the video, and here he is getting emotional when he finds out he’s a best-selling author.)
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