|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
1
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
|
KINDNESS • Sunny Skyz
Oliver made sure his lifelong friend had a prom dateFifteen-year-old Lilly Austyn went to prom in Greensboro, North Carolina, on the arm of Oliver, a friend she has known her whole life. The event, held at Life Community Church, is built for teens like Lilly, with a limousine ride and a grand entrance for kids whose families rarely get a night like this. Lilly lives with Rett Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that primarily affects girls and often strips away speech and motor skills after a child develops normally. Her mother, Jaime, had spent years assuming this kind of evening would not come. On the dance floor, it did. "She looked up at him and just as normal and natural as could be, she put her arm up on his shoulder. She knew what to do," Jaime said. Oliver had made sure his friend had a date. He stayed for the whole dance.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
|
2
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
|
NATURE • Good Good Good
Oyster farmers saved a seal pup, then sent dinnerA premature seal pup is recovering at a wildlife rescue center after oyster farmers found her stranded and called for help. The farmers did not stop at the rescue. A few days later, they sent the center a cooler packed with clams and crab, the kind of contribution that feeds animals and the staff caring for them. "It takes a village," the team behind the rescue said, which is the sort of thing people say when a village has, in fact, shown up. The pup arrived underweight and too young to be on her own, the usual story for a seal that washes ashore before she is ready. Now she is being hand-fed and watched closely until she is strong enough to return to the water. The farmers, having delivered shellfish to a building full of seals, presumably understood the irony and sent it anyway.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
|
3
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
|
KINDNESS • GreaterGood
A stray from Texas healed her soul one shoe at a timeLily arrived in Minnesota from Texas as a heartworm-positive stray with serious wounds, and Northern Lakes Rescue agreed to thousands of dollars in medical bills to put her back together. Kelly Brunson saw the rescue's first photos of the dog and told her husband they did not need a third dog, then could not stop looking. The family came home from vacation to find Lily waiting in Kelly's mother's garage. Five minutes later, they knew. The timing turned out to matter more than anyone expected. Within a couple of months, the Brunsons lost their first dog to leukemia, a week after she fell ill. Lily kept waking Kelly each morning with something new and faintly ridiculous. Some days she wore a curtain on her head. Some days she carried over a single shoe, as if asking whether Kelly was ready to put it on. "She has healed my soul," Kelly wrote.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
|
4
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
|
DELIGHT • Good News Network
Arsenal's used socks now warm recovering horses and donkeysArsenal FC players have donated their used football socks to Redwings, a horse and donkey sanctuary in Norfolk, where the footless red dressings now cover the legs of animals recovering from surgery. Michael Lloyd, the club's Operational Sustainability Manager, pitched the idea and contacted the rescue, which cares for more than 1,500 horses, ponies, donkeys and mules. Nicola Knight of Redwings called it "one of the more unusual" donations they had received, then a "game changer." The socks hold vet bandages in place, protect sensitive legs from flies, and even keep the hair back while feet get trimmed. Arsenal played 63 games this season on their way to a first Premier League title in 22 years, which means roughly 1,000 pairs of socks worn into the ground. The animals need two pairs each. With the season resuming in August, more bales are expected. The horses, presumably, are unbothered by the brand.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
|
5
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
|
DELIGHT • InspireMore
A 7-year-old asked if the Queen kept a dragonQueen Camilla hosted a treasure hunt and tea party for seriously ill children at Clarence House, her London residence, partnering with the nonprofit Dreams and Wishes. The children arrived by horse-drawn carriage to find Grenadier Guards posted at the door. The Queen's Equerry, Major Treasure, sent them searching for chocolate coins, which had been hidden under the guards' bearskin hats. One 7-year-old named Rupert brought along his Chief Scout's Commendation for Meritorious Conduct medal and asked the Queen to pin it on him herself. "He was really overwhelmed, and gradually, he has been getting more excited," his mother told The Independent. She said the family had decided this year was about saying "yes to life." Rupert had one outstanding question before the visit, which his mother also relayed. He wanted to know whether the Queen kept a dragon in her castle. Dreams and Wishes, founded in 2011, is run entirely by volunteers.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Did today's letter lift you? Pass it to someone who'd want the same.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
With love, The Editor
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
honeyletter
|
