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Thursday, January 23, 2014
This Couple Met At A Homeless Shelter And Now They're Married and Giving Back...
Ressurrection and Deven met at an unlikely place for romance: a homeless shelter in Virgina. After leaving the military, Deven had difficulty transitioning from military to civilian life. He felt lost and spiraled down a path of low-end jobs and eventually homelessness. Ressurrection -- a massage therapist and entrepreneur -- was forced to close her massage center and lost her home to foreclosure after ending a bad relationship. She, too, became homeless.
In August 2011, there was an earthquake in Washington D.C and soon after, Hurricane Irene hit. Ressurrection slept outside of the homeless shelter in her car, waiting for a bed to open up. She eventually made it into the shelter and it was there that she met the love of her life. But more on that later.
Fast forward to five months later when Deven came home from work one night and casually suggested that the pair get married. Ressurrection said "yes" and they began planning the wedding. The couple tied the knot on August 28, 2013 on the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech and the March on Washington. The theme of the wedding was "I Had a Dream, and It Came True." Afterwards, they fed the homeless at a park in D.C. in lieu of a wedding reception.
The couple has since focused a lot of time and energy on giving back. They started an organization called Glory Soldiers Global that focuses on eradicating poverty and providing healing, intervention and prevention of child sexual abuse. For more on their first meeting, read on.
Look-alike college friends Mikayla Stern-Ellis and Emily Nappi discover they have a whole lot more in common than they think - they're actually sisters!
In a plot twist straight out of the Parent Trap, two freshmen met and became friends at college before discovering that they're half-sisters through a common sperm-donor father.
Tulane University student Mikayla Stern-Ellis, 19, befriended fellow-Californian Emily Nappi, 18, but it wasn't just a West Coast upbringing that the two shared.
Mikayla told the Tulane Hullabaloo that she first made contact with Emily last summer while searching for a possible roommate on Facebook.
'There was an online survey, and we were both interested in Wall [Residential College],' Mikayla said. 'I was looking at the survey, and I was looking at Emily’s answers and I saw that we had a lot in common.'
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What are the chances! Emily Nappi (left) and Mikayla Stern-Ellis (right) met during their freshman year at Tulane and discovered they shared the same sperm donor father
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Surprise sisters: Biological half-sisters Mikayla (left) and Emily (right) are both Californians attending Tulane
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Chance meeting: The two met during their first year at Tulane University. They started talking the summer before freshman year while searching for roommates. Above, Mikayla and her mom Debra at the New Orleans campus
By then, Emily had already secured a roommate but the two continued to talk and became fast friends when they met in person on the New Orleans, Louisiana campus this fall.
Both quickly figured out that they were conceived by a donation from an anonymous donor. But neither thought much of it, even when they figured out that both of their donors were Colombian.
Mikayla's lesbian mothers Heidi and Debra Stern-Ellis used an anonymous sperm donor to have their daughter two decades ago.
When the girls went home for winter break, Mikayla told her moms about her new friend with whom she had so much in common.
Mikayla's mother Heidi remembers looking through the donor list two decades ago and while there were some 1,000 donors on the list, she doesn't remember any others with Colombian ethnicity.
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Different moms: On the left, Mikyala is pictured with mom Debra. On the left, Emily with mom Italia at high school graduation
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Early years: A young Mikayla clutches a stuffed animal Monkey
After seeing pictures of Emily, and remarking on how much she looked like her own daughter, she told Mikayla to text the girl asking for the sperm donor's number.
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Proud mom: Three-year-old Mikayla sits on mom Heidi's arms during a 1998 gay pride parade
Emily sent the number and it was a match, completely taking the two girls by surprise since they had been joking to schoolmates that there was a '25 per cent chance we're sisters'.
Following the life-changing realization, the interests the girls shared before make much more sense.
Both will perform in Tulane's upcoming production of the Vagina Monologues which means they may be taking after their father who listed drama as one of his interests on his donor profile.
They also share the same mind when it comes to fashion, both buying the same fleece sweater without the other one knowing on Black Friday.
For Mikayla, finding her half-sister in a college friend is proof that she's at the right school.
'For me Tulane just felt right, and this is one of the many things that proves I made the right decision,' Mikayla Stern-Ellis said.
'We thought [going to Tulane] she’d just find an education, but she found a sister,' mother Debra Stern-Ellis said.
The two have since changed their Facebook profile pictures to an image of them hugging.
After posting the picture on her profile, Mikayla wrote: 'An invisible thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place, and circumstance.'
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Texas police officer Ariel Soltura stops his car to play football with 10 year old Jermaine Ford...
When a police officer in Rosenberg, Texas, saw a young boy playing football by himself on Saturday, he decided to take two minutes out of his day to throw the pigskin.
Footage from the dash cam mounted to his police car caught the wonderful moment between Officer Ariel Soltura and the boy -- later identified by KPRC Local 2 as 10-year-old Jermaine Ford. The clip has since garnered national attention after being posted to the Rosenberg Police Department Facebook page.
Soltura told KTRK that he could tell the boy was by himself and not waiting for other kids to come. The officer knew even a 2-minute game could make a difference.
"It's important because we all live in this world together," Soltura told the station. "We all make an impact in this world and make it a better place."
Boston Marathon survivor James Costello to marry his rehab nurse Krista D’Agostino ...
From tragedy comes love.
Boston Marathon bombing survivor James Costello – whose body was badly burned and shredded by shrapnel in the blasts – will soon marry a nurse whose tender care helped him on the hard road to recovery.
Now, he and his betrothed, Krista D’Agostino, have embarked on a 10-day, all-expenses paid vacation to the south of France for bombing survivors and first responders, Boston’s WBZ-TV reported.
Costello, who was pictured in the media dazed with his clothes in tatters seconds after the April 15 blasts, first met D’Agostino at the Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, where he recovered after a series of operations.
The pair hit it off, and soon were inseparable, he wrote on his Facebook page on Sunday.
“As you all know, April 15th was one of the worst days of my life. I soon wondered why and for what reason this had happened,” wrote Costello, whose friends call him Bim.
“A couple weeks later I was transferred to Spaulding Hospital. A few days later I saw a nurse in passing, this would turn out to be Krista. After sharing a handful of conversations I realized not only how beautiful she was but also what a kind heart she had,” wrote Costello, who was at the finish line with pals when the bombs detonated.
They went out on a few dates, and Costello finally had an answer to the question of why he was among the victims, he said.
“I now realized why I was involved in the tragedy, it was to meet my best friend, and the love of my life. Eights months later I’m happy to announce that we will spend the rest of our lives together… We got engaged last night in the middle of the beautiful French city Lyon!!!” he wrote on Facebook.
The couple travelled along with more than 100 other survivors of the bombings, along with family members and first responders.
They flew out of Boston’s Logan airport last week on the all-expenses-paid vacation to France, where they will embark on a 10-day river cruise courtesy of Vantage Travel, a Boston travel agency.
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
23 year old Good Samaritan Brian DiCarlo returns lost $40,000 to delight of 71 year old Sharon Davis who was using the funds to buy a home...
A Portland woman in the process of buying a home is cheering for a good Samaritan who found -- and returned – an envelope she lost that contained $2,000 in cash and a check for $38,000.
"I can't believe my good fortune," said Sharon Davis, 71. "What a good and amazing man."
Lt. Robert Wurpes, Clackamas County Sheriff's Office spokesman, said Davis was shopping at the Safeway market at Southeast 122nd Avenue and Sunnyside Road in the Clackamas area Friday, carrying the envelope and some paperwork for a home she is buying.
However, Davis, 71, apparently lost the envelope somewhere in the Safeway parking lot. She didn't realize the envelope was missing until she returned to her car after grabbing a cup of coffee at Starbucks.
"The envelope had apparently slipped out from under her arm," Wurpes said.
Frantic, Davis began searching the area, asking shop clerks if anyone had turned in the envelope. She also called the sheriff's office.
Meanwhile, Brian DiCarlo, 23, of Clackamas had found the envelope in the parking lot. He saw the cash inside and called 911 to report his unusual find. He handed over the envelope and its contents to a sheriff's deputy responding to the call.
Working from the paperwork in the envelope, the deputy was able to locate Davis -- who was still frantically searching the Safeway parking lot -- and returned the missing money and papers.
DiCarlo could be reached for comment.
Wurpes had his own kind words for DiCarlo, calling him "pretty amazing."
Silver Line - Friendship is just a phone call away for the elderly in the UK...
The Silver Line aims to help elderly people by giving them someone to speak to 24 hours a day, and will work like ChildLine by giving support and advice to those suffering neglect or abuse.
Ms Rantzen said a £5m grant means the Silver Line will be able to launch before Christmas – often the loneliest time of year for older people. She said the line aims to tackle the “stigma” attached to being lonely which “makes it impossible” for older people to ask for help and can damage their self esteem.
The Silver Line aims to tackle loneliness for older people and is run by volunteers who will refer callers to activities and organisations that can help them.
Ms Rantzen, also a trustee of the NSPCC, said she understood the challenges of getting funding for a new charity, having launched ChildLine in 1986. ChildLine now takes more than a million phone calls a year to give free counselling for children to discuss abuse and neglect.
She said: “The Silver Line is hugely grateful to Big Lottery Fund for enabling us to launch in time for Christmas, for many older people the loneliest time of the year. The Fund has recognised that millions of older people are lonely some or all of the time, but the loneliness carries a stigma which makes it impossible for them to ask for help.”
The Silver Line has been trialled in the North West and North East as well as Jersey since the end of last year, but the £5 million grant means it will be extended to the rest of the UK before Christmas.
Ella Brittain, who contacted the pilot phone line, said it was “very comforting” to have someone to talk to after her husband died and she didn’t want to be a burden to the rest of her family.
She told BBC Radio 4’s World At One: “I can’t tell the children I feel so low or I don’t want to get up in the morning, but I can tell a phone line.”
She said the free phone helpline didn’t just give advice, but also someone to talk to. It offers a ‘befriending service’ where users can book appointments for a phone call if they want to make new friends.
The freephone helpline will now aim to recruit new staff and 3,000 volunteers to man the line 24/7 and offer befriending services to 12,000 older people.
Monday, January 20, 2014
With Only Months To Live, Rowena Planned Out How To Be There For Every Big Moment In Her Son Freddie's Life...
Teddy bears are awfully clever these days. Take three-year-old Freddie Darby's bear who, it seems, is not only good for a cuddle, but has special powers, too.
If ever the little boy wants to speak to his mother and she is not around, he whispers into teddy's ear and - as if by magic - Mummy can hear everything.
'I've told Freddie that his teddy bear has a hotline to Mummy for when I'm not there,' says Rowena, 33, who lives in Bolton, Lancashire, with Freddie and husband Phil, 34.
Made with love: Rowena shows three-year-old Freddie two of the cards she has made for him to remember her by
'So, he talks to him and can tell him anything he wants - and I've told him his teddy will pass it on to me, no matter where I am.'
It's a charmingly simple idea for any child experiencing separation anxiety when Mum or Dad is away from home. But there's an achingly poignant reason why Freddie is so attached to his stuffed bear. Rowena has only months to live. Diagnosed with bowel cancer shortly after Freddie was born, she knows that time with her little boy is running out.
Now, in a bid to ensure that he is as prepared as possible, she is spending her last moments dreaming up ever more imaginative ways in which he can remember her.
The clever trick with teddy is just one idea. She has also set up an email account in his name, which he can access it when he's old enough. He'll be able to read the emails she's written to him during her illness, giving him insights into her life.
Wedding day: Rowena and husband Phil on the day they tied the knot
She has also recorded a CD of her favourite songs and nursery rhymes for him and even plans to write some children's stories and film herself reading them.
Perhaps most personal of all, she has hand-made beautiful cards that Freddie will receive on each birthday and Christmas until he is 21. There are also cards for his first day at school, his graduation, even his wedding - events that, sadly, Rowena is unlikely to see.
Inside each card are simple messages. From prosaic pieces of advice such as 'If you can't say anything positive, don't say anything at all' to more lump-in-the-throat inducing expressions such as: 'Every time you look at the sky, remember that's how big my love is for you.'
It's a heartbreaking task. But Rowena says that preparing her little boy for life after her death is keeping her going.
'I can't waste any time crying,' she says. 'Of course, there have been tears and the last thing I want to do is leave Freddie. But I can't let my time be taken up by being upset because what good is it going to do? The important thing is to spend time with Freddie, give him lots of lovely memories and make sure he can cope when I'm no longer around.'
Rowena, an actuary, always wanted to be a mother. She met husband Phil, 34, a former financial adviser who is retraining to become a teacher, in their first term at York University in 1999. They married exactly ten years later.
'I always knew I wanted four children,' she says.
By September 2009, her plan was on track and Freddie was on the way.
But it was during her pregnancy that Rowena started suffering symptoms of bowel cancer.
13 year old Derrick Jenkins gets surprised by his military mom Cotina in the middle of his basketball game...
Nobody has ever been happier after missing a free throw.
On Thursday night, 13-year-old Derrick Jenkins saw his mother, who had been serving in Kuwait, for the first time in eight months.. The surprise reunion came while he was playing in a middle school basketball game at Legacy Middle School in San Antonio, Texas. Luckily for those not in the stands, KSAT-12 was on hand to capture the heartwarming moment and explain the scheme that set it up.
Having arranged for a fake technical foul to put Jenkins at the line, coaches escorted his mother, Lt. Col. Cotina Jenkins-Sellers, onto the court. Jenkins missed both free throws, and then his mother encouraged him.
"Aw, that's alright Derrick," she said.
At the sound of her voice, Jenkins turned around abruptly. His reaction at seeing her will bring tears to your eyes.
Sunday, January 19, 2014
No Excuses: Deaf Seattle Seahawks Fullback Derrick Coleman Inspires Fans..."whatever you wanna do, its still achievable...you just have to overcome certain obstacles."
Seattle Seahawks fullback Derrick Coleman may claim he’s "nobody special" but to the millions of people who know his life story, he’s an inspiration.
"I’m just a guy who has hearing aids and wanted to play football and found a way to do it," Coleman, 23, told NBC News.
As the first deaf offensive player in the NFL, his tough road to the big leagues was featured in a Duracell ad that’s been viewed more than 5.6 million times on YouTube.
Deaf since the age of 3, Coleman has had to rely on lip reading. It’s a skill he honed at a young age at school where his hearing impairment required him to work extra hard.
"Freshman or sophomore year of high school is where I had that mindset of if someone tells me that I can’t do something, well I’m going to try real hard to do it," Coleman said. “If I succeed great, and if I don’t well at least I know I gave it all I got and I didn't leave any excuses on the table."
Coleman’s parents never made excuses for him either.
"The way they punished and raised my sister and my brother was the same way they raised me," he said. "But at the same time they always gave me more motivation."
Pediatric Cancer Survivor Jordan Leandre Shares Memories of Treatment – and Triumph
I don’t remember a lot about my treatment process – after all, I was only about 2 1/2. Here is some stuff that I do remember.
I remember being very sick and in and out of the hospital for a span of about 11 months. I remember how sad my parents were and not really understanding why they were upset. I remember my roommate in the hospital, Andrew, who was about 13 or 14 at the time. I called him my hospital brother; coincidentally, my actual brother is also named Andrew. We used to hang out and play video games and basketball in the hallway with another guy, until we were told that we couldn’t do it anymore.
Four-year-old Jordan Leandre sings the National Anthem before the start of a Red Sox game in 2004.
I used to hate getting my blood drawn, which I realize now is what they had to do to make sure that my blood was healthy and there wasn’t anything odd in there. I used to cry my eyes out when it came time to do the blood work. I don’t care really about it as much now that I am older, it just hurt so bad for the longest time.
I always liked to sing when I was in the hospital, songs like “American Soldier” and “God Bless the USA.” I would sing them all the time. The Red Sox were looking for someone to say “Play ball!” before a game at Fenway Park, and Lisa Scherber, director of patient and family programs, said that she could do one better — and it happened to be me singing at Fenway. That led to me singing there numerous times, starting in 2004 as part of the WEEI/NESN Jimmy Fund Radio-Telethon. One time that is memorable to me is the day when David Ortiz pushed me, in my wheelchair, out onto the field on Opening Day in 2006. Papi is my favorite player; next is Jon Lester, who is really my pitching inspiration. He showed me that there really isn’t anything that can keep you away from what you love and he made a historic return from cancer and I personally am proud of him.
Saturday, January 18, 2014
Injured Boston Marathon couple Rebekah Gregory and Pete DiMartino to have dream wedding...
Rebekah Gregory and Pete DiMartino were waiting at the finish line of the Boston Marathon when the bombs went off on April 15, 2013. Now, almost a year later, the couple is getting ready to walk down the aisle. And thanks to wedding planning website The Knot, they'll receive the wedding of their dreams.
Gregroy and DiMartino met in 2012 and began a long-distance relationship. In April 2013, they were in Boston to cheer on DiMartino's mother as she ran the marathon. Gregory's 6-year-old son was there too. When the bombs went off, Gregory instinctively shielded her son, and in the process, broke almost every bone in her foot, leg and ankle. She is still in a wheelchair.
DiMartino lost 90 percent of his right Achilles tendon and suffered broken ankle bones and a ruptured eardrum.
But the tragic events of that day put the couple's love in perspective. In October 2013, DiMartino proposed and Gregory, of course, said "Yes."
"[In] the end, we decided our relationship was worth more," Gregory told People. "We realized that we didn't have to survive that day -– we could've lost one another –- and for me, I knew I didn't want to spend another day without this guy. For whatever time I have left on Earth I want to be with him."
The Knot heard about the couple's hardship and chose them as the 2014 Dream Wedding recipients. The couple's entire wedding -- from flowers, to the dress, to the cake -- will all be voted on by readers, but The Knot will foot the bill.
"Being able to show people that you can take something so horrible and turn it into something so beautiful has been such a blessing for us," Gregory told The Knot. "I don't know if I'll be able to walk down the aisle, but all I want to do is marry the love of my life, Pete."
16 year old Grant Virgin makes remarkable recovery after hit and run accident..."We're not expecting Grant to get close to where he was before, he's going to be better than he was before," said his father.
In the back of John's mind was his older son, Grant, who had
gone for a walk nearby minutes earlier.
He gestured to an emergency medical technician to ask what
happened.
"I called him over and I said, 'My son was walking over
this way,' and he said, 'Describe him,'" said John. "I said, 'Well,
he's 6 feet tall and has hair color just like mine,' and then he pointed at
Bryce and said, '...and looks just like him.'"
John looked down at the area that had been cordoned-off --
the pavement covered with blood -- and his heart sank.
"At that point you realize your worst fear," he
said. "I knew it was grave."
Minutes earlier, the 16-year-old had been airlifted to a
nearby trauma center after being struck by a hit-and-run driver. He had a long
list of injuries: a torn aorta, a traumatic brain injury -- including skull
fractures and bleeding throughout his brain -- compound bone fractures and
spinal fractures. Seemingly endless bits of broken glass and gravel were
embedded in his skin.
John and Bryce Virgin rushed home to break the news to
Grant's mother, JJ. Then the family hurried to the hospital, hoping to find him
still alive.
When they arrived, they were met by grim-faced doctors who
offered the slimmest odds that Grant Virgin would live through the night.
Instead of shrugging their shoulders in acceptance, his
parents were indignant.
"It's like, how dare you not fight for my son's
life?" said JJ Virgin. "It really took us ... getting very aggressive
and assertive to save our son's life, because they weren't going to do it.
"They told us not to. They told us to let him go."
From that moment forward -- time and time again -- they
would go against doctor's orders. That included trying unconventional, untested
therapies -- anything that might help Grant. One in particular involved giving
him high doses of omega-3 fatty acids (found in fish oil).
Fish oil is what the Virgin family believes ultimately --
dramatically -- altered his life course, and healed his brain.
Weeks before fish oil was even considered, Grant Virgin
underwent multiple surgeries, and spent considerable time on a ventilator.
Eventually, his body was stable, but his brain was still
riddled with damage. He was in a coma, and his doctors urged his family to
"wait and see" while his brain healed.
"The doctor told me, 'OK, now we wait.' and I go, 'We
wait?' 'Yes, we wait,'" said JJ Virgin, who questioned that course of
action -- "'Surely there's something we can do?'"
The doctor's response, according to her: "'Nope,
there's nothing we can do. We just wait. The brain's got its own time
schedule.'"
Friday, January 17, 2014
Peter Pan a/k/a Sandor Sturbl, changes his lines and pops a fairy tale proposal in the middle of a performance...
Planning to pop the question? Well, you might want to re-think that Bruno Mars-backed flash mob. First of all, haven't we seen enough of those? And second, this guy just topped any of the ideas you came up with in your first brainstorm session.
Sandor Sturbl, a 28-year-old man from the Netherlands, plays Peter Pan in the musical version of the classic tale. His girlfriend, Lily-Jane Young, is opposite him as the female lead, Wendy.
Well, right about the time in their performance when they were supposed to kiss as characters, Sturbl had other plans. The show was being performed in Glasgow, Young's hometown, and Sturbl could imagine no place better to ask her to be his wife.
He addressed the audience, explained how he had a good reason for interrupting the performance they all paid good money to see, and then delighted them with a fairy tale proposal. And, of course, Young couldn't help but say yes.
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