Feel good stories

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BoMac

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There are many threads in this forum on divisive and not-so-positive issues like war, death, abuse, politics, religion, and cursing, beer-swilling, chute dispensing flight attendants, etc.

So I thought a thread where we could post feel-good and happy stories would be a welcome change of pace. We need to be reminded from time to time of the good that humans are capable of.

I read this story this morning that put a smile on my face.

Of course, all the negativity breeds cynicism, at least for me, so I really hope this is a genuine story rather than one that was created to generate attention. :wink:


Homeless man borrows executive's credit card, returns it
Posted Aug 13, 2010 by ■ Laura Trowbridge

A high-powered Manhattan advertising executive, perhaps a bit tipsy, let a homeless man borrow her American Express Platinum Card when he asked her for some spare change.

Merrie Harris, 45, was at a trendy SoHo Mexican restaurant with a friend, admittedly drinking margarita, when they stepped outside for a smoke and were approached by a homeless man.

Harris told The New York Post: "He asked me if I had any money. He said he just wanted to get a Vitamin Water. I said, 'I don't [have cash] -- I only have my credit card.' "

When the guy asked if he could borrow her credit card to get the Vitamin Water and some cigarettes, Harris handed the card over to him. Harris said after she let the man take her card, "everybody said they thought that was the dumbest thing, that there's a fine line between charity and stupidity."

She volunteers with the Coalition for the Homeless and said, "I'm eternally optimistic."

She began having doubts about her charitable act after ten minutes went by, and she wondered if the homeless man was out on a big spending spree with her platinum card.

The man did return though and Harris was so happy she gave him a hug and told him, "I knew you were coming back." He replied, "'Of course. I'm an honest person." Harris said:

"People kept coming up to me saying that's the best thing that ever happened."
A bum you can trust - honest!

By KEVIN FASICK and TODD VENEZIA
Last Updated: 7:24 AM, August 13, 2010
Posted: 2:58 AM, August 13, 2010


A Manhattan homeless man had an emotional reunion yesterday with the kindhearted ad executive who lent him her American Express Platinum Card outside a SoHo restaurant, in what became a shining act of generosity, trust and honesty.

"I didn't have to thank him. I trusted him all along," said Merrie Harris, 45, as she hugged Jay Valentine, 32, outside La Esquina on Kenmare Street.

Harris lent her card to Valentine there Monday after he asked her for change. Most people who witnessed the act of extreme generosity doubted he would ever come back. But a short time later, he returned with the card, stunning many and earning Valentine the title of Most Honest Homeless Man in the City.

"What he did was no surprise to me," Harris said yesterday. "People keep telling me, 'Why would you talk to him and trust him?' But are we only supposed to trust people we know? What would Bernie Madoff's friends be saying?"

Valentine told The Post that he was surprised to be handed the card, but he never thought to take advantage of Harris' generosity.
"I wasn't tempted at all," said the 32-year-old Brooklyn native. "She trusted me, and I didn't want to violate that trust. I would never do that."

Valentine said he has been homeless for a few years, since he lost his job at a real-estate company that had allowed him to sleep in the office. He said he now spends his nights in an Internet cafe whose staff allows him to sleep on their chairs. He said he was hungry and low on cash on Monday when he saw Harris standing with friends outside the restaurant.

"I asked her for change and told her I wasn't working," he said.
"She said she only had a card. She said, 'Can I trust you?' I said, 'I'm honest, yes.'

"I went and bought a few things and came back and gave her her credit card back, and everybody was surprised.

"I said thanks for trusting me. I guess she had a good sense of judgment. She knew I was trustworthy."

Valentine said he bought deodorant, body wash, a pack of Nat Sherman cigarettes and Vitamin Water. It all cost about $25, he said.

"She was really lucky it was me she ran into" and not someone who would have stolen the card, Valentine said. "I was really in need. I only had a couple of dollars on me."

"It sets a good example that people in need -- like I am or worse -- can and should be trusted," he said. "Everybody in the restaurant was surprised. They probably thought I would run off with the card."

kevin.fasick@nypost.com
 
That's an awesome story :). Nice to finally be proven right, that you can still trust people out there nowadays.

Excellent idea for a thread. I'll be on the lookout for positive stories to share. Maybe even draw on some from my own life. My mom had a good one the other day-I'll get the details and share that one.

Angela
 
This is a recent, personal feel-good story.

We've been attending our local Fringe Festival shows here in Minneapolis. It's fun to talk to the people around you in the queue while waiting for tickets or waiting to enter.

"What shows have you liked?"
"Have you seen other shows by them?"
Etc.

Anyway, last Sunday night we were waiting in line for a 10 pm show, and my wife started talking to the man in front of us. He was in line alone, but we have seen him all over the different venues for this year's festival, and recognized him from previous years, too, but had never talked to him. He is a smaller, old, white hair and Santa Claus-bearded man who walks with a cane. He said he is a big Fringe fan, and so he and my wife talked about what they had seen.

Well, one show this year is called Communopoly--a play about people literally in a Monopoly game who get fed-up with Capitalism and join a Communist group. The old man said he really enjoyed it and is a huge board game fan. We wife said that we really enjoy board games too, but don't get to play often because everyone is so busy. So, he says that he has a standing board game night at his house of most Friday nights, and that we are more than welcome to come whenever.

He said he has thousands of board games and loves to play all of them with anyone who can join him. I guess his son often joins him as do random friends. He admitted he is just an old hippie and loves to just get together to have fun. He gave us his address and phone number and said to check with him after the festival was done to see what the Friday schedule was. He said he often goes out of town to Sci-Fi conventions, so that would be the only reason he wouldn't have a board game night.

So, from a sort-of random stranger, we made a new friend and will join him for a board game night sometime later this month or in September!

:cute:
 
on a serious note
I do think it is nice that you and your wife reached out and made a new friend
in these days people do not take the time to interact with others enough.
 
Love the story about making a new friend :). It's funny the way you meet people sometimes. Hope you have fun with your get-together.

Still have yet to get the one story from my mom, but here's a couple other ones I thought of to share, both of which are personal:

This first one happened to my family a number of years ago. We were driving through Nebraska on one of our multiple trips out to Wyoming, where we were moving to at the time. On this trip, our car got stalled out in the middle of nowhere. Literally, we were surrounded by nothing but fields, standing by the side of the road on a warm day trying to call for help.

After a time, a lady happened to be passing by on the road. She saw us, pulled over, and offered to help us out. She then proceeded to take our family over to the nearest town, and helped us get our car there, too, so that it could go to a repair shop to get fixed. We found ourselves a hotel room we could stay in that was right near the service shop, again, pointed out with the woman's help. And the next morning our car was fixed (and if I recall, it wasn't for very much, either) and we were on our way again. The woman who helped us had to take us in the complete opposite direction she was traveling, but she did it anyway, no problem. I wish we could've managed to get contact info from her, I'd love to thank her for that.

The second story happened just earlier this year. The night my dad passed away, I was talking to a minister at the hospital. He was trying to comfort me and get me talking about some positive things, so I wound up talking to him about my love for writing. He seemed genuinely interested in the topic and gave me some good advice and supportive comments.

A few weeks later, I got a package in the mail. Inside was one of those "Chicken Soup" books, this one being for "the writer's soul", with a note that stated that the person who owned this book wanted to pass it on to me for encouragement and inspiration, and wished me luck with any writing I do in the future. The handwriting made the name at the bottom a bit difficult to read, but given my discussion with the minister, I have to think he had some hand in sending that along. It was a nice, comforting surprise and has definitely given me some much needed boost and interest, and an example of something good that came from a very difficult moment.

People like to laugh at me for keeping my faith in humanity. This is why I continue to do so.

Angela
 
I saw the documentary Beyond Belief on the Sundance Channel, it is excellent. Don't know if it's out on DVD. She received the medal at the WH


By The Associated Press
August 4, 2010

BOSTON — As a widow of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Susan Retik was showered with love and support from family, friends and even strangers who sent food, flowers and cash.

But when she watched the news and saw war widows in Afghanistan, she knew they had no such support system.

Retik and another Massachusetts woman who had also lost her husband on Sept. 11, 2001, decided to raise money for widows in Afghanistan, the same nation where their husbands’ killers had trained as terrorists.

On Wednesday, President Barack Obama will recognize Retik and 12 others with the Presidential Citizens Medal, the second-highest honor that can be conferred on an American citizen.

Retik, 42, co-founded Beyond the 11th, a nonprofit foundation that has raised more than $600,000 over the last six years for job skills training, literacy classes, small business development and other programs to help Afghan widows.

Retik, of Needham, hopes the award will focus attention on the plight of Afghan widows from areas touched by conflict.

“After Sept. 11, I just felt the whole world supporting me and lifting me up. But these women don’t have any of that,” Retik said.

“In Afghanistan, women are already not treated like men, and when a woman is widowed, her status is knocked down a notch.”

Retik and the group’s co-founder, Patti Quigley, started by making a donation from the money they received after the Sept. 11 attacks from insurance, their husband’s firms and strangers. They also raised money by riding their bikes from New York, where their husbands were killed, to Boston, where their flights to New York began.

Retik was pregnant and had two other children when her husband’s plane slammed into the World Trade Center.

“I remember thinking, how am I going to get through this?” but immediately people helped me,” she said.

Years later, Retik remarried and had another child.

“I feel like I’m OK; I’m all good,” she said. “But these women in Afghanistan need our help and attention, so if winning this award can shine a light on them then it makes me that much prouder to receive it.”

Beth Murphy, president of Boston-based Principle Pictures, made a documentary, “Beyond Belief,” about Retik and Quigley in 2007.

“From the moment I heard about what Susan was doing, I was in complete awe of her. I just remember thinking, my God, here is a woman who has every reason to become xenophobic and yet she’s choosing to do the opposite,” Murphy said.

“She’s a real person who is acting on the international stage in a really significant way.”
 
A dog named Faith inspires others simply by being able to walk with just her two hind legs.

There are some things you have to see to believe, and Faith is one of those. She's a labrador-chow mix born without one front leg and another that was severely deformed, only to be removed when Faith was seven months old due to atrophy. What's truly amazing about Faith is that, despite having only her two hind legs, she can still walk on them, as you can see in the video below.

Faith is something of a celebrity, having appeared on Oprah a few years ago, and according to The Sun, she's actually an honorary sergeant. The US Army gave her that title because she's helped disabled veterans trying to overcome injuries they sustained in war zones, even donning a military jacket when she visits bases or hospitals. As her owner, Jude Stringfellow, was quoted, "Faith seems to inspire these young men. It's very emotional watching them respond to her. She shows what can be achieved against great odds."

Now, she's planning to go international. Stringfellow wants to bring Faith to the UK, so she can bring her own brand of inspiration to those troops wounded in Afghanistan. Before she can do so, though, quarantine rules will have to be met. For the sake of those wounded soldiers, let's hope they have the chance to see Faith "marching" their way.

YouTube - First Person: Faith the Dog Inspires With Two Legs
 
I heard about her somewhere else once. That's a really cool story, I love that she's giving inspiration to disabled veterans. This is why I love dogs, they just know how to lift your spirit and make you feel better :).

On a related note, I read a review of a book by Pen Farthing called 'One Dog at a Time' earlier tonight-he's a British Royal Marine who rescues stray animals from war zones and runs a sanctuary/shelter for them until they can find homes of their own. I'd love to check out that book.

Angela
 
I saw a clip of Faith on Oprah years ago and it still makes me teary-eyed. :heart: Beautiful story.
 
I love that dog and how she learned to walk like that, they said they were sick of carrying her around in the snow so she just learned to hop to get around. Where there's a dog, there's a way!
 
(CNN) -- Some may call it chance, but Victor Perez believes a higher power was involved Tuesday when he chased after a vehicle suspected of carrying an abducted young girl in Fresno, California.

A construction carpenter by trade until work slowed down, Perez has been recently cutting wine grapes, earning minimum wage.

Early Tuesday, there was a light rain, making that task unlikely.

Perez, 29, tuned in to television news coverage of the abduction, paying attention to the description and video of the suspect's pickup truck.

At about 6:45 a.m., Perez was outside his house talking with his cousin about the abduction when they saw a vehicle matching that description: an older-model, reddish-brown Chevrolet with a white stripe on the side.

"I thought, that could be the truck," Perez, a father of two boys, told CNN Tuesday night.

That's when he sprang into action. He jumped into his 1988 white Ford pickup and followed the vehicle.

Perez tried to cut off the vehicle several times to question the driver. One time, the driver told him, "I don't have no time [to talk]. My battery is dying."

The second time Perez pulled up to the Chevy, he saw the little girl, her head popping up from below view, and knew something was wrong.

"I kept telling him, 'That's not your little girl,'" said Perez. "We argued. We exchanged words."

Perez -- who admitted he did wonder at some point whether the motorist had a gun -- pulled up to the truck a third, and then a fourth time, when he blocked the pickup truck.

Immediately after the truck stopped, the girl was out. Perez said he believes the driver pushed her out.

"I was beyond scared," he said.

Perez got out of his vehicle and stayed with the girl. She was wearing a Winnie the Pooh sweater, he said.

The chase had taken him about a mile from his house and into another neighborhood. He yelled for residents to get the girl a blanket.

The Chevy drove off. By then, Perez had a partial license plate number, which he gave to dispatchers, Police Chief Jerry Dyer said.

About 40 minutes later, police caught up with the truck, now parked, and arrested Gregorio Gonzalez, 24, of Fresno. Charges against him will include kidnapping, false imprisonment and sexual assault, Dyer said. The suspect was not armed.

Police, officials and the parents of the girl praised Perez and other good Samaritans and citizens who aided the search and took action to find the girl.

"This is a remarkable accomplishment for an entire community," Mayor Ashley Swearengin said.

Perez said the incident was beginning to sink in Tuesday night. "I probably saved a little girl's life."

The question arises: What would have happened if Perez had gone to work this day?

He quoted a relative who said divine providence might have stepped in.

"God works in mysterious ways," Perez said.
 
I don't think they want thanks or their identity revealed, that's why they did it that way. Anyway, great story.

AP Thu Oct 21, 9:39 am ET

NEW YORK – An anonymous benefactor in New York City stuffed $10,000 in cash into a 9/11 donation box at the World Trade Center.

Joe Daniels, president of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, tells the New York Post that officials found 99 $100 bills and five 20s in the box on Tuesday night.

The box hangs on a wall at the 9/11 memorial preview site.

Memorial officials believe the money was slipped into the box sometime between 5 p.m. — when the box was last checked — and 7 p.m., when the preview site closed.

Officials believe the donation was made by a single person. They say the bills were crisp and unfolded, appearing to have been recently withdrawn from the bank.

Daniels said officials would love to know the donor's name so they could say thank you.
 
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The Salvation Army red kettles are coming up golden in Indiana.

The charity says anonymous donors have left gold coins in kettles in Mishawaka and Kokomo this Christmas season.

The South Bend Tribune reports that someone dropped a 1-ounce U.S. gold coin worth $1,400 in a kettle outside a Sam's Club in Mishawaka. The coin was wrapped in a $100 bill and a small note thanking the organization for "doing God's work."

The Kokomo Tribune reports that another donor dropped a South African Krugerrand worth more than $1,400 in a kettle at Markland Mall in Kokomo.

The Salvation Army also has received four gold coins in Chicago and its surrounding suburbs.

Despite the gold coin donations, officials in South Bend and Kokomo say donations are running behind expectations.



Last week, Msnbc.com covered the struggle of Wayne Pittman, an unemployed carpenter whose unemployment benefits were on the verge of running out.

Like millions of other "99ers" across the country, Pittman was nearing the 99-week limit of unemployment benefits, with no job prospects.

According to MSNBC.com:

Christmas is out of the question for Wayne Pittman, 46, of Lawrenceville, Ga., and his wife and 9-year-old son. The carpenter was working up to 80 hours a week at the beginning of the decade, but saw that gradually drop to 15 hours before it dried up completely. His last $297 check will go to necessities, not presents.

Just six days later, things are looking up for Pittman's family -- and other unemployed Americans.

After reading Pittman's story, Florida lawyer Dan Dannheisser stepped up to make sure Pittman's son wouldn't go without Christmas presents. He's giving legos, "Star Wars" videos and sports memorabilia to the young boy.

According to a follow-up story on Msnbc.com, Dannheisser said:

"I can't fix the unemployment situation in this country and the unfortunate situation he and Jacqueline were in, but I thought I could certainly fix a 9-year-old boy having Christmas."
 
By David Filipov and L. Finch
Globe Staff And Correspondent / December 15, 2010


Maybe it was the holiday spirit. Maybe it was because it was the right thing to do.

Or maybe it was a little bit of both that inspired Brian Christopher to perform a simple act of kindness.

The 49-year-old Navy veteran was walking near City Hall Monday when something on the ground caught his eye. It looked like a comic book. Christopher, an amateur artist, picked it up.

It was a wallet with $172 in it. But no credit cards, license, or any other identification.

What would you do? While you are thinking about that, consider this: Christopher is homeless. He has no income. He has three children, ages 14, 12, and 10, in Maryland. He really, really could have used the cash.

Instead, he brought the wallet to the closest police station, where an officer found a receipt inside with a name and telephone number. The police officer used that to track down the owner, who picked up the wallet. All the money was there.

Yesterday, Christopher admitted he had struggled with the temptation to keep the cash.

“I counted the money and said, ‘Wow, I could probably get three nice presents with this,’ ’’ he said at the Frog Pond in Boston Common, where he had gone to skate. “But maybe it was some student’s Christmas gift money. I just kept thinking of the meaning of Christmas.’’

It turns out the owner, Meghan Schultz of Cambridge, really needed the money, too. The bike messenger put the wallet in her back pocket. It slipped out as she was making the rounds.

“I had pretty much written it off,’’ said Schultz, 22. “For me that’s a pile of cash.’’

To her surprise, she got a call from Officer Richard Osberg of District One. When she came in to claim her wallet, she also got Christopher’s phone number.

“I wanted to see if I could take him out to lunch,’’ she said. “It’s not like I have a ton of spending money but I can afford this.’’

Christopher served in the Navy in the 1980s in a noncombat position before receiving an honorable discharge. He worked for a while as a bartender at Cheeseburger in Paradise in California, Md. Christopher, a native of Quincy, returned to Massachusetts this month. But his parents did not have room to take him into their Braintree home. And because his mother spends her time looking after his father, a veteran who is disabled after a stroke 10 years ago, they could not help out their son. (His wife lives with their children in Maryland.)

Last week, after failing to find a job or a place to live, Christopher checked into the New England Center for Homeless Veterans on Court Street.

He was outside the building when he saw the wallet. “I was facing a conundrum, a real moral dilemma,’’ Christopher said.

Christopher called a friend in Las Vegas and asked her advice. He called his case manager at the shelter, Reneé MacLean. They both suggested that he turn the wallet in to police.

“Doing the right thing when no one is looking shows something wonderful about his character,’’ MacLean said. “It’s definitely nice, especially around Christmas.’’

Osberg, the police officer, said that people occasionally turn in property that they find on the street, and not only the ones who can afford to.

“It’s always good when people make the right decision when they come across anything of value,’’ Osberg said. “Just because someone’s homeless doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a moral compass.’’
 
When she came in to claim her wallet, she also got Christopher’s phone number.

“I wanted to see if I could take him out to lunch,’’ she said. “It’s not like I have a ton of spending money but I can afford this.’’

:up: I loved this part-kindness being paid back :).

That's a really heartwarming story. I hate the fact that this man is homeless, though-it'd be great to do something to help fix that.

Angela
 
Secret Santa spreads joy, disbelief in Kansas City

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Secret Santa II hit the streets Tuesday in a long-standing Kansas City tradition of handing out $100 bills — sometimes several at a time — to unsuspecting strangers in thrift stores, food pantries and shelters.

Some people gasped in surprise. Some wanted to know if the $100 bill the tall man in the red cap offered was fake. Others wept.

[Related: Inexpensive Secret Santa gifts for co-workers]

Secret Santa II has seen a lot of reactions since taking over where his mentor, Kansas City's original Secret Santa, Larry Stewart, left off when he died in 2007 at age 58. Like Stewart, who gave away more than $1 million to strangers each December in mostly $100 bills, this Secret Santa prefers to stay anonymous.

A fake white beard taped to his face, Secret Santa II handed out about $10,000 in total Tuesday. Recipients included a police officer with terminal cancer, a homeless man pushing a rickety old shopping cart, an 81-year-old woman who had recently told her 27 grandchildren she wouldn't be able to afford any Christmas gifts, and Bernadette Turner, a 32-year-old unemployed mother of two.

"It's hard to come by," Turner said looking in disbelief at the $200 Secret Santa had given her.

Then one of Santa's "elves" — another tall man in a red cap — sidled up to next to Turner, asked a few questions, and handed her an additional $100. Turner, whose children are 3 and 8, was overcome.

"I can only afford one gift for each child. But now ...." she said, wiping tears from her cheeks and reaching out for a hug.

[Related: Cheap stocking stuffers for kids]

"Do you believe in Santa Claus?" Capt. Ray Wynn of the Kansas City, Mo., Fire Department, asked from a few feet away. Wynn had followed Stewart on many "sleigh rides" around the country and now follows this Secret Santa, providing stories, memories and amusing sound effects.

"I do now," Turner said. "I do now."

Secret Santa II took over from Stewart about the time the recession hit and the economy went into a tailspin. Like Stewart, this Secret Santa doesn't talk about his own finances, where those $100 bills come from and if — like for so many people now — they've been harder to come by.

Come December, he just fills his pockets with money, dons his red cap and heads out looking for people to make really happy.

He will likely hand out about $40,000 this December. He says he'll go "till the money runs out."

"The recession, unemployment. This is the time you don't want to stop. You don't want to back off," he said.

He walked up to Peggy Potter, 59, of Kansas City, Kan., who was looking at some framed prints at a thrift store. He made some small talk, put his arm around her and within minutes she was crying. Her son died about a year and a half ago. Her husband died in July and her daughter died soon after that.

[Related: 12 geek stocking stuffers for less than $10]

"I'm just ... today's been a rough day for me, just thinking about my loved ones," she said. "I've been having a hard time paying for all the funerals."

Santa gave her $200, listened more, hugged her, and told her the poster she was holding had special meaning. It was a photo of two hands, one large, one small. Words printed at the bottom could have been written by Secret Santa, the original or the current one.

It said: "Kindness in giving creates love."

Secret Santa spreads joy, disbelief in Kansas City - Yahoo! News
 
:cute:

CANOE -- CNEWS - Good News: Twins become new parents on the same day

MONTREAL — Twins are rumoured to have a spooky connection that science can’t fully explain.

But these Quebec twins went a step further — they both became new parents on in the same hospital on the same day.

Daniel Couture’s wife was pregnant at the same time as his twin sister, Michelle Couture.

“I don’t know why but I dreamed Wednesday morning she would give birth,” he said in an interview Thursday.

“I just felt it. I called her at home and told her she would give birth that day.”

But his own wife soon went into labour herself, and Michelle joined Daniel at the Montreal-area hospital to wait. Then, just before Daniel’s wife gave birth, the heavily pregnant Michelle began to feel the early signs of labour as she paced the hospital corridors.


“My brother told me not to worry, there were plenty of doctors around,” she said.

Daniel’s wife gave birth to a baby girl, Rebecca, just after nine Wednesday morning. Michelle, whose due date was actually Christmas Eve, gave birth to a baby boy, Simon, 10 hours later.

“It’s a cute story,” Michelle admitted.

“Our doctor is very impressed. But I don’t think there’s anything mysterious about it. It’s really just chance.”

But recalling his strange dream, Daniel thinks it was more than just a coincidence.

“I’ve never had a connection like that with my twin sister before,” he said. “But this time, I must admit, there was definitely something going on.”

Officials at the Anna-Laberge Hospital confirmed nothing of the kind had ever happened in its 22 year history.
 
That's a really heartwarming story. I hate the fact that this man is homeless, though-it'd be great to do something to help fix that.

He's been getting monetary donations at the shelter-and the company that designs the wallets wants him to design one (he's an artist). The girl took him out to lunch and he actually wanted to pay, but she did.
 
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