Grandma couldn't come to the wedding so they brought the wedding to her...

On Sunday morning as sunlight glinted off the newly fallen snow adding an air of magic to the day, Windemere nursing home was all a-twitter, filled with excitement as something unusual was about to happen.

When Jade Bennett and Joseph Rock began planning their wedding there was one special person Jade was determined to have present: her grandmother. But Edith Bennett, nearly 93, had recently moved to Windemere nursing home and was unable to go out.

“That drove the whole decision,” recalled Joe. The wedding would be at Windemere.

Staff members were gracious, welcoming, and helpful, said Jade. “They told me that this is my grandmother’s home, and that they would love to have the wedding there.”

After a nine-year relationship, a five-year engagement, and two daughters, the couple wanted to plan a wedding their way, emphasizing those things most important to them. Family tops the list for bride and groom alike.

It was only natural to plan a small wedding with Grandma Edith an honored guest.

“The wedding is a way for Joe and I to express our gratitude to her,” said Jade. “To thank her for everything she has done for us. Without family, we are nothing, and to me, Grandma means family.”

The couple also dedicated the wedding to Joe’s mother, Ann Elizabeth Rock-Theroux, who recently died. Even the glass cake plate was meaningful, having belonged to her.

“I don’t remember ever having a wedding here,” mused staff member Diane Jackson, as intrigued residents watched preparations. ‘We’ve had a lot of things, but we haven’t had a wedding. It’s so nice they can do that!”

PHOTO BY DANIELLE ZERBONNE

Edith Bennett with great granddaughters Madison and Grace Bennett-Rock.

Madison and Grace Edith Bennett-Rock, Jade and Joe’s little daughters, ran up and down the corridor in red patent leather Mary Janes. Rosie Levesque, six, daughter of bridesmaid Sarah Levesque, joined them, all in red dresses, sparkling sequins, frothy tulle.

Bride and bridesmaid took over the beauty salon for last-minute primping, assisted by Sarah’s daughter, Shannon. The beaming groom greeted guests and kept an eye on the little girls.

Friends and family arrived breathless and rosy-cheeked from the snow, many wearing boots with their wedding finery. Several babies attended, watching from their parents’ arms with bright-eyed fascination.

Today's Good Newsz Only Quote of the Day...

Philadelphia 76ers sign Kevin Grow, an 18 year old senior with Down's Syndrome, to special contract...

Well, this may be a first for the NBA.

On Monday, the Philadelphia 76ers signed 18-year-old Kevin Grow to a special two-day contract, inviting the Pennsylvania high school senior with Down syndrome to take his game to a full-size court.

It all started when Grow, who serves as Bensalem High School's basketball manager, stepped in and played two varsity games at the end of the season. The teen scored three points in his first game and sunk four three-pointers during his second gamelast week, WPVI-TV reports.

That's when Sixers President and General Manager Sam Hinkie took note. Hinkie watched a video of Grow's incredible plays and decided to sign the 18-year-old, NBA.com reports.

As a ceremonial member of the team, Grow will receive his own custom jersey and will also accompany the team for practices and meals. 

Kevin is dialed in at team practice this evening. #SIXERSSTRONGpic.twitter.com/MW2o7gGghd

— SIXERSSTRONG (@SIXERSSTRONG) February 17, 2014

"Everybody is very proud of what you have done and what you have accomplished is sensational," Sixers coach Brett Brown told Grow during the signing, the Inquirer notes. "You should be proud of yourself."

Grow is also set to take the court Tuesday night for a special presentation before the Sixers' home game against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

See Grow make the four three-pointers during a Bensalem High School game:

Life Lessons: A Burglar Stole My Engagement Ring — And It Made My Proposal...

About seven years ago I met a girl. It was at a college party–a “kickback” if I recall the distinction made by the host at the time. She was tall, she was blond, she had short hair. She was sitting in a cardboard box for some reason. Her name was Samantha. 

We were essentially children, then, but over these intervening years became adults together. From 19 to 26 she walked me through dropping out of college, being embarrassed, moving across the country, writing books, having breakdowns. She was the long-suffering girlfriend, content with meager indulgences: a puppy and that pink bike I got her after my first five-figure check at 20 and later, a goat. 

But eventually, I got it together. Or so I thought: I bought us a house. I bought her a ring. I even bought myself a safe to put the ring and all the other adult things in. I did everything I was supposed to. 

Deciding to ask Sam to marry me was a process many years in the making, one that, honestly, I didn’t totally understand but knew was time for me to get on with. I found what I thought was the perfect ring while in New York on business: a 115-year-old Victorian piece that I put a better diamond in. I planned to propose during an upcoming vacation in Hawaii. I was pretty damn proud of myself. 

I put that little ring in that little safe and forgot about it. In California for a few days, starting to recover from what was already shaping up to be a terrible week, Samantha took a phone call: Your house has been broken into. Everything was stolen. Everything ransacked and destroyed. That safe? Yeah it was broken into as well–busted completely open and cleaned out.

The horribleness of it all came together for me as we huddled next to each other outside a restaurant, 2000 miles from home, her on the phone with the police relaying me questions. What did you have here? Who do you think could have done this? Where there any valuables in the safe we should know about?

She could see the answer in my eyes the second she passed along their question. She’d probably already had some idea and now the suspension of disbelief was no longer possible. But we kept up the external charade anyway–it was too much to talk about. She handed me the phone and I handled it with the cops. They’d left the box, but the ring was gone. Gone before I could give it to her. 

So much for being an adult. So much for those best laid plans. For the illusion of having a handle on my life. 

Today's Good Newsz Quote of the Day...

12 year old seventh grader Shubham Banerjee takes on a science project of his own and builds a braille printer for the visually impaired...

A California seventh grader looking for a science project decided to tackle the issue of braille printers being too expensive for families with blind children or schools seeking to educate them.

Motivated to help the millions of visually impaired people living in developing countries worldwide, the boy's bright idea for a prototype successfully slashed the cost of such a printer from $2,000 down to $355.

But perhaps the reason Shubham Banerjee has attracted so much attention is because he built the printer mainly using Legos.

With a bit of hardware from Home Depot and a $349 Lego Mindstorms kit, the 12-year-old took a basic, preexisting pattern for a printer and reworked it with new software and hardware enhancements to print out letters in braille. The result is called the Braigo.

Banerjee used a base model that's included with the EV3 set and redesigns with totally new software to print letters A-Z. The project has already sparked endless ideas for enhancements in software to make Braigo do a lot more. These are already being worked on.

Perhaps best of all, the youngster has created the software in Open Source code and made the design readily available for public consumption free of charge, so that anyone can use it and improve it.

Hockey player makes life saving assist: David Glen of Penn State hockey team makes life-saving stem cell donation...

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind for Penn State forward David Glen, on and off the ice.

The sophomore scored a goal in the Nittany Lions' 4-0 upset of 10th-ranked Michigan on Feb. 8, marking their first conference victory of the inaugural Big Ten hockey season. But what made the weekend series against the Wolverines even more memorable was Glen's return to action after a selfless act that forced him to miss a few games.

After being identified as a match by a national marrow donation program, Glen underwent a peripheral blood stem cell procedure to help a woman battling cancer. Other than the woman's age, Glen didn't know the identity of the patient needing the transplant. However, he did know the procedure would keep him off the ice for at least a few games.

The choice was clear.

PSU forward David Glen sat out a few games but helped save a life by undergoing a peripheral blood stem cell procedure to help a woman battling cancer.(Photo: Penn State Athletic Communications)

"It was just missing a couple of games to save someone's life," Glen told NHL.com. "It's pretty easy if you take a step back and look at it that way. I felt like there was no other option. It was the right thing to do."

In November 2012, Glen and his teammates took part in the "Match4Kim" drive to support the mother of Drew Roper, a fellow student-athlete. According to "Be the Match," the program that facilitated the event, approximately one in every 540 people tested will be a match and donate bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cells. Given the improbable odds, Glen said he didn't anticipate being eligible.

His results were kept on file, and he was contacted by the program's registry in the spring of 2013. After a few follow-up tests, he was identified as an eligible donor in December. The following month, he set up a meeting with Penn State coach Guy Gadowsky.

"We were extremely happy for him and proud of how he was handling [the situation]," Gadowsky said. "He did a lot of research as to what this would do to his body. He told me that he'd have to miss three or four games, but that's a very small price to pay for the ability to give someone a second chance at life. [His decision] was completely consistent with his personality."

With backing from the coaching staff and the Penn State athletic department, the Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, native revealed the news to his teammates and was greeted by cheers. Gadowsky said he was not surprised to see his team embrace Glen, an alternate captain who was voted most valuable player by his teammates as a freshman.

In the ensuing days, word spread about the five-day donation process Glen was undergoing, and the community rallied around him. Gadowsky said Glen didn't want recognition for his decision, but he got his fair share on social media and at Penn State's next home game on Jan. 25. Glen wasn't in the lineup, but he was the center of attention.

12 hours and a couple pokes later I'm all done!!! Can't express how thankful I am for all the support!pic.twitter.com/XQCpnBSR7v

— David Glen (@glenflow) January 28, 2014

A sign against the glass in the student section read "David Glen: The Ultimate Assist," and the fans chanted his name. His teammates responded with a spirited effort in front of a sellout crowd at Pegula Ice Arena, though they lost 3-2 to second-ranked Boston College.

Glen also missed a two-game road series against Ohio State but was cleared to return for the opener of a two-game series against Michigan on Feb. 7. Gadowsky put him in the starting lineup and he received a standing ovation before the game.

"I had no idea [the ovation] was coming," Glen said. "It was a really special moment for me and a classy move by everyone in the building and the Michigan team as well. Everyone has really been beyond supportive. Feeling support the whole way through made things a lot easier."

After losing the front end of the Michigan series, Glen and Penn State responded the following day with their shutout victory, which snapped a nine-game losing streak and marked the first win against a top-10 opponent in the program’s two-year history in Division I. Glen said his team thrived off the electric atmosphere and called the win "a special moment" for Penn State hockey.

Gadowsky said the win was especially sweet because it coincided with Glen's return.

"To play Michigan, who has won more national championships than any other university in college hockey, at home and win, I'm just so happy that David was on the ice and scored such a huge goal for us," Gadowsky said. "He's such a heart-and-soul guy and means so much to the team and the program that it just wouldn't have felt right if he wasn't here."

Glen said he's feeling great and is glad to be back on the ice. He’s been humbled by the outpouring of support, encourages other people to get tested, and said he would consider going through the donation process again.

"It was a pretty rewarding experience for me," Glen said. "It's not often that you get the opportunity, so I had to jump at it and make the most of it. I'm really honored and privileged to have been a part of this."

Today's Good Newsz Quote of the Day...

26 year old NFL hopeful Rashid Williams gives up job, lives out of a van to train for shot at pros and to ultimately help his family...

(Photo by Kristian Dyer)

At a time when most draft prospects are trading up their cars, NFL hopeful Rashid Williams recently traded in his luxury sedan for a minivan. He's heard the jokes and the zingers from the other players training at TEST Parisi Football Academy in Martinsville, N.J., including that he drives a “soccer mom mobile.” But his minivan is more than a set of wheels to take him to his combine training every day.

He also lives in it. Williams is homeless by choice.

For most NFL draft prospects, sacrifices are to be expected as they ready for the combine and their individual Pro Days; for Williams, his ambition has taken him so far as to empty his life savings to train for the NFL draft. This decision now means that he lives out of his van to pursue this goal.

He is far from your typical athlete readying for a shot at an NFL payday.

He ran track at Division II Holy Family in Philadelphia and never played college football. Then after college, he went through a series of jobs before he enrolled at Penn State to get his MBA. He's smart with a good sense of humor and a tremendous belief in himself, very much an All-American type.

When he smiles, so does everyone else in the room.

This past fall at 26 years old, he decided to be gung-ho for his NFL dream after two tryouts with indoor football teams. He believes through hard work he can make it.

But that belief that he can change himself from a track standout into an NFL player meant leaving his comfortable job as a sales representative at Frito Lay, a decision he said “wasn't easy because I enjoyed working there.” He moved out of his apartment in the Harrisburg, PA area and emptied his life savings that he had earmarked for a down payment on his first house.

On the surface, it all seems incredibly risky and perhaps a bit crazy, especially since he last played competitive football in high school.

He enrolled at the TEST Parisi Football Academy in northern New Jersey for their combine prep program. With his life packed in his trunk, the three-hour drive from central Pennsylvania took him to a facility that has produced the likes of Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco, Arizona Cardinals cornerback Patrick Peterson and New York Jets linebacker Demario Davis among dozens of other NFL players. Unlike the other players prepping for the draft, there is no agent to pay for his combine training and all expenses come out of his pocket.

With his life savings “pretty much” cleared out, he sold his new car to buy a used minivan. It is in that minivan where he now sleeps at night.

“It is a sacrifice for sure, but I knew that putting myself through this program would be worth it in the end. Housing wasn't included in the fee I paid,” Williams told Yahoo Sports. “So I traded in my car for this minivan. I eat in it, sleep in it. I park it overnight at nearby hotel so that I am safe.

"No one has bothered me yet. I've stayed in a hotel parking lot, a Walmart parking lot, a gym parking lot. I've gotten used to it.”

The northeast has been struck by a deep-freeze this new year, with night temperatures routinely dropping into the single digits and 18 inches of snow expected this week in Martinsville. Williams sleeps in the back seat of his van with multiple layers of sweatpants and sweatshirts on. He huddles underneath three blankets to stay warm. He reads at night to keep his mind off the cold.

His body has acclimated to the cold temperatures he says; after six weeks of the lifestyle it has become his new norm. He eats a lot of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches as well as consuming protein drinks. As for creature comforts, there are none. He just wants to not freeze at night.

A wet towel from his shower at the gym last night hangs over the seat and snacks are piled up in a container on his passenger seat. A book on personal training sits on the seat. A duffle bag filled with his recent laundry is on the floor in the storage area.

He stays at a local Panera or a library sometimes until closing time, just to soak up the warmth and access to electricity. Then when their lights go off, he slides open the door of the minivan to try and get some sleep. It is a long way's away from a promising career in the business world, but it is a sacrifice he is willing to make.

There's always the threat of someone trying to rob him, so he tries to stay under the covers and do his best at getting some sleep.

The story of a boy and a dog who changed each other's lives...8 year old Owen Hopkins and his 3 legged dog Haatchi.

An English boy with limited mobility formed a special bond with a three-legged dog nobody else wanted, and now their story is becoming a book.

Owen Howkins, 7, suffers from Schwartz-Jampel syndrome, a rare genetic condition that leaves his muscles in a permanent state of tension. It makes moving difficult — and also caused Owen to become fearful of meeting new people.

Until he met Haatchi the dog, Buzz60 reports. Owen's mother learned about Haatchi online. The Italian shepherd had been tied to a railroad track where he was hit, and his tail and one leg had to be amputated. Owen's family adopted the dog, and Haatchi and Owen formed a bond straight away.

In a video about the pair created by students from the University of Hertfordshire, Owen speaks about meeting Haatchi for the first time.

"The first day I met him," Owen said, "he just laid up to me and put his head on my lap. And that's what happened."

Owen continued, "He changed my life. I'm not scared of strangers now."

In an interview with TheBreeze.com, Owen's father, Will Howkins, said that within two or three weeks of Owen getting Haatchi, his son was eager to go for walks with the dog "because it was something different for other people to look at as opposed to Owen. He was gaining confidence and talking to people about Haatchi as opposed to people staring at him, and he loved it."

In 2013, the pair took first place in the Friends for Life category at the Crufts dog show in the U.K. Upon winning, Owen remarked, “I am so happy. Thank you to everybody who has voted for me. I am glad that Haatchi is in my life, because he makes me smile all the time and is my best friend.”

Me and my dog: Owen with his friend Haatchi, who has helped him overcome his anxiety of the outside world

Winners! Owen now loves taking Haatchi to dog shows, where he has proved to be quite a hit

Lean on me: Owen's father said the pair didn't like to be apart

Family favourite: Owen's father Will and fiancee Colleen (left) decided to adopt gentle giant Haatchi after reading about his difficult start to life on Facebook. The Anatolian Shepherd quickly bonded with Owen

Best buds: Haatchi, who quickly bonded with Owen, accompanies the youngster to therapy sessions

What to pick? Haatchi and Owen peruse a sweet stall

Kisses: Haatchi accomapnies Owen even when he goes to have a bath

Today's Good Newsz Quote of the Day...

Long lost siblings John Maxiner and Buddine Bullinger find one another…at Walmart.

• 
  Good Morning America/Courtesy John Maixner -

John Maixner spent years walking into a Walmart in Dickinson, N.D., and waving to the friendly female employee who, he now can see, bore a slight resemblance to him.

It wasn't until Maixner, 57, who was given up for adoption as a baby, began looking for his birth family to obtain medical information that he discovered the Walmart employee, Buddine Bullinger, was his sister.

"My mouth just fell open," Maixner told GoodMorningAmerica.com today.

Since his search began last year, Maixner has discovered he has a brother and three sisters, and he's been reunited with all of them.

The children were all given up for adoption over 50 years ago by their mother through Catholic Services.

One of the children, Deidre Handtmann, who lives in Bismarck, reconnected with their mother later in life and took care of her until her death last year.

Bullinger, 56, knew their mother's name and was connected to Handtmann by the funeral home after their mother died. Catholic Services put Handtmann in touch with Maixner this summer.

When Handtmann told him about their other siblings and showed him Bullinger's picture, Maixner had his jaw-dropping moment when he recognized the Walmart employee.

Soon Maixner and Bullinger were making up for the lost time they spent as anonymous customer and employee.

"We exchanged phone numbers and went to Perkins and had coffee and got to know each other," Maixner said of his younger sister.

All five siblings - brother John Blankendall, in Tennessee, and Sandy Watkins, in California - met face-to-face for the first time in October.

"I walked in and I was just kind of speechless," Maixner said. "The conversation got going after a while, but we all just looked at each other and we all looked alike."

"I found myself looking at my brother and comparing our ears and our noses and our eyes," he said.

In just a matter of weeks, Maixner, who has no kids of his own and lost his adoptive parents last year, gained four siblings and "at least" 10 nieces and nephews, he said.

"I gained a huge family," said Maixner, the eldest sibling.

Now the five brothers and sisters are speaking by phone "every day or two" and celebrated Handtmann's 50 th birthday together earlier this year.

"We just talk about daily things," Maixner said. "What we're doing…work…what we're eating for lunch or supper."

Heartwarming Exchange Between Trash Collector Manuel Sanchez and 5 year old Autistic Boy Daniel Mulligan Goes Viral

A five-year-old boy from California obsessed with garbage trucks got the surprise of a lifetime from the garbage man he religiously greets at his family's home every Monday.

Daniel Mulligan, of Ojai, Calif., became fascinated by garbage trucks as a toddler after his mother, Robin Newberger, showed him YouTube videos of garbage trucks as a way to ease his fear of the trucks' loud noise.

Daniel, who has autism, is drawn to the order and precision that comes with the weekly trash pickup and the organization of the trash cans, his mother says.

"He knows which trash can is going out on which day and notices them when we're driving and notices if they're out of line," Newberger said. "We will literally be waiting outside for hours on trash day because he hears the truck in the neighborhood and can't focus on anything else."

On Monday, Daniel and his parents - Newberger and dad, David Mulligan - did their usual routine of waiting outside for the recyclables collector, Manuel Sanchez, to arrive, when Sanchez surprised them all.

Sanchez, an employee of a private, family-owned trash collection company, got out of his truck and presented Daniel with a toy garbage truck of his own.

The family was even more surprised when they realized it was the same toy truck that Daniel received at Christmas but accidentally broke it the same day.

"It was just amazing because it was the same one and Manuel had no idea," said Newberger, who captured the moment on her phone and posted it to Facebook. "That made it all the more incredible to us."

Newberger says that Sanchez jokingly asked Daniel, "Do you want this one too?," pointing to his real garbage truck.

"I said, 'He does want your truck,'" Newberger recalled, adding that Sanchez quickly got back into his truck after the exchange in order to finish his route.

Sanchez's employer, E.J. Harrison and Sons, found out about their employee's good deed and gifted him with a gift certificate to a local restaurant.

"This was something he did absolutely on his own," company spokeswoman Nan Drake said of Sanchez, who has worked there for nearly a decade. "We're so proud of him."

The video of Sanchez giving Daniel the truck has gone viral, with more than 60,000 shares and 6,000 likes. The response has been so overwhelming that Newberger created a separate Facebook page, " The Gift," as a place for parents of children with autism to share uplifting stories.

"I asked people to share the gifts about their kids because a lot of times, with kids with autism, it's just about the struggle," Newberger said. "I'm glad it's showing the positive side of autism."

"The response has been so overwhelming," she said.

Today's Good Newsz Only Quote of the Day...

Cancer patient Sharon Hart receives a heartwarming message from her 14 year old son William...

For Sharon Hart, the third day after her chemotherapy treatment for acute myeloid leukemia is always the hardest. That’s when she feels weak and sometimes discouraged.

“The blood levels are depleted and I get tired and sick to my stomach,” said Hart, of Bolingbrook.

She was feeling that way Saturday afternoon at Chicago’s Rush University Medical Center when she looked out the window and found reason to smile.

On top of the hospital parking lot, her 14-year-old son William had stomped out a message in newly fallen snow, in letters the length of two cars: HI MOM. The ‘o’ was made into a smiley face.

When he left the hospital hours later, William and his father and uncle added: GOD BLESS U! The gesture not only lifted Hart’s mood, but warmed the spirits of other patients, families, nurses and doctors as news of the message quickly spread. People posted pictures on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, drawing national attention.

“My son has never done anything like this before,” said Hart, 48. “He is a very caring child and very loving. ... He acted on instinct and from what was in his heart. I’m glad so many people got to see the message and that it touched so many. It shows how big God is.”

Hart was admitted to Rush after she was diagnosed with leukemia on Feb. 3. William arrived at the hospital to visit her and noticed the expanse of fresh snow on the garage. He stomped out the message, then called his mother and told her to look out the window.

“I wanted to send her the message because I thought it would brighten her spirits and help her get through this,” said William, a freshman at Bolingbrook High School. “I would love for her to be happy.

“This has been rough. I’ve been praying a lot and trying to not think about what’s going on so I can do good in school. I keep my hopes up and pray every night that my mommy gets well.”

With the help of a nurse, Sharon Hart climbed out of bed and opened the blinds. That’s when she saw that he had written, ‘HI MOM.’

When William left the hospital hours later with his dad and uncle, the three decided they would extend the message to all the patients. It was viewable from the east side of the hospital from the 9th floor to the top of the building.

“They wanted to write ‘God Bless U All,’ but they ran out of room,” said Deb Song, a spokeswoman for the hospital. So they wrote ‘GOD BLESS U,’ instead.

William said his first message was specifically for his mother. But after the visit, he thought about all the other families. As he and his father and uncle pushed around the snow with their feet, they noticed people gathering at the windows, waving, jumping and taking photos.

“It was very cold out there, but I didn’t care,” he said. “I wanted to get it done and let people see it. It’s amazing because just to see people feel happy feels good.”

A nurse who works the third shift noticed the message because a patient’s daughter was watching the men stomp it in the snow and became emotional.
When Angela Washek, 26, a registered nurse in the surgical intensive care unit, looked outside, she thought the men were just playing in the snow, she told the hospital staff. Then she realized that they were shaping letters.

Song said Washek emailed pictures to the medical staff.

“We don’t always get to see the good side of things in ICU,” Washek said. “People come out of surgery and they are in pain and feeling bad. When they feel better they go to another floor. This gave us a glimpse of people at their best. It boosted our morale, that’s for sure.”

Within an hour, staff from other parts of the building were coming over to get a peek at the message, Washek said. Then the story went viral.

“I still can’t believe this,” she said. “People have called from Pittsburgh and Cleveland and said they saw it. People want to care about the good side. A story, even a small one, makes people feel good. We all want to feel good at the end of the day.”

“We got such an overwhelming response from our doctors, nurses and staff who saw it and thought it was wonderful. The gesture was so simple, but so creative and nice,” Song said.

By Monday morning, the snow -- and the message --- had been cleared from the parking, Song said.

But through photos and stories, the power of the gesture has endured.

“She said it was really heartwarming, especially since she works with acutely sick patients, which can be tough,” Song said. “The gesture was so simple, but so creative and nice.”

Tim Harris gives out more than 2000 hugs in 4 days at the World's Friendliest restaurant...

Tim Harris and his hugs have made headlines before.

The 28-year-old with Down syndrome is the founder of Tim's Place, "The World's Friendliest Restaurant," in Albuquerque, N.M., where he's known for serving breakfast and lunch with an extra-big hug.

But last year, when Harris' family realized that his birthday fell on National Hug Day (Jan. 21), they knew they wanted to dish out more than just good meals and warm embraces.

So, they hosted the first annual Hug-A-Thon, where Harris hugged more than 1,000 people and raised $6,000 in three days, according to the HooplaHa video above. The money went to Firefighters Random Acts, a nonprofit that enables firefighters to perform random acts of kindness in their community, according to its website.

This year, Harris set a new goal: 2,000 hugs and $10,000. In four days he beat that, according to the Tim's Place Facebook page. He hugged more than 2,000 people and earned $13,000 in donations.

In the joyful video above, you can either meet or reacquaint yourself with Harris, his family and the customers who stop by for a hug on the regular.

"This is so amazing," Harris says, choking back tears during this year's Hug-A-Thon. "I'm very happy. I have somebody here to love. Everybody, I love every one of you!"

Today's Good Newsz Only Quote of the Day - Happy Valentine's Day!

The Knot magazine awards Boston Marathon bombing survivor couple Rebekah Gregory and Pete DiMartino a dream wedding...

Two survivors of the Boston Marathon bombings have been selected to get the wedding of their dreams this year by the wedding planning website The Knot.

The Knot described Rebekah Gregory and Pete DiMartino, who have been together since Nov. 2012, as "an inspiring couple who deserve the wedding of their dreams after the obstacles they have overcome.”

Charles Krupa/AP

Gregory and DiMartino were less than 10 feet away from the first bomb that went off at the Marathon last April. They were at the event with Gregory's son Noah cheering on DiMartino's mother, who was running the race.

“I remember being thrown back and the noise and the smell of it and not knowing where anyone was,” Gregory told Boston Magazine. “The first thought that went through my mind was, where is my son? I couldn’t find him, but I could hear him in the background and he was going, ‘Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!’"

“I figured out that he was in the back of me. I couldn’t even see my legs at that point. So I reached out my hand to try to move him toward me, and I realized I had two exposed bones completely sticking out of my left hand, blood rushing down my arm. At that point I just remember thinking I was going to die,” she said.

DiMartino was also seriously injured.

“This experience has brought us so close,” she told Boston Magazine. “We have a new appreciation for each other and every day. When you go through something so horrible and it turns out to be one of the best and worst days of your life. It’s hard to explain but that’s exactly what it is. For us to be where we are right now, especially in our relationship, we couldn’t be any happier.”

DiMartino proposed to Gregory in a model of a house they were having built in Houston, Texas.

While they know they'll getting married this year, they don't know much else about their big day. That's because the details are totally up to The Knot readers, who are voting on everything from the location to the theme and even the entertainment. The couple finds out what their wedding will be like on Valentine's Day.