4 Uplifting News Stories To Help Get You Through The Week
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Health and Wellness

4 Uplifting News Stories To Help Get You Through The Week

Not all of the world is terrible.

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4 Uplifting News Stories To Help Get You Through The Week
The Fair Go

It's becoming increasingly difficult to fend off the cold bitterness that comes with merely being alive in the year 2017. For every ten good deeds gone by unmentioned, one horrible act of atrocity is covered on our newsfeeds and media outlets constantly, creating the illusion that the world is far more despicable than it actually is.

If you're about as tired as I am of the constant rage and fury spouted over the web, then here is a list of just a few news stories to help get you through the week.

4. The internet helps a child with Autism get his Christmas wish.

Lately, the internet has become a sad, irritating, awful place where the scummiest of scum use online anonymity to spout the most obnoxious opinions and sayings. But as is with all things, one shining bright light can come from a black hole vortex of Trump tweets and hashtag movements. That light in question being the world's desperate search for an obscure copy of a discontinued animated show for a child's Christmas wish.

When autistic 19-year old Thomas sat down to write his Christmas list, his parents were absolutely thrilled to discover how easy and affordable his requests turned out to be... with one exception--an episode of the newly canceled and very British stop-motion animated show "Postman Pat." You see, upon hearing of its cancellation, Thomas did what every true TV watcher does, screaming, crying, and asking literally anyone within ear shot how a God could ever let such a horrible tragedy occur, and this was something his father James could not accept.

Taking to Twitter, James tweeted out a cry for help, asking anyone in the world if a VHS copy of the super fun-to-say "Postman Pat's Prize Postbag" from 1981 existed and was able to be used to complete his son's Christmas list. The tweet, was discovered by professional dancer Brendan Cole, a cast member of the British reality show “Strictly Come Dancing”, who retweeted James' plea, skyrocketing the tweet into viral stardom. With the internet in an amazing race to unearth the whimsical adventures of this merry Postman, thousands of shares later, the tweet was discovered on stranger Jill Hulme’s newsfeed--and luckily, she had the exact thing the Duttons were searching for.

By the time this article publishes, the Duttons will have picked up their copy from Jill and will finally cross the final item off their son's list. After making plans to retrieve the gift, James took to Twitter once again saying,

“The response has been absolutely overwhelming and I’m so grateful to everyone for taking the time to give advice, or search in attics! The heartwarming side of human nature.”

In an interview with the Independent, the Dutton parents' optimism could not be concealed.

“I think the biggest thing that we have learned is the power of social media for good things, and the kindness of complete strangers.

3. Man gets dying wish to be buried with cheesesteaks.

Nobody in the history of the planet has loved anything as much as Robert Lussi loved cheesesteaks. With sources claiming his hobby of eating at least two a day, his (literally) unhealthy obsession is impressive enough to anyone looking for inspiration to have fun at any cost--financially or physically. However, his passion for cheesesteaks didn't just stop there. Robert's end-all-be-all selection of cheesesteak came from the kitchen of Pat's King of Steaks in Philadelphia--the ultimate crowd-pleaser for Robert's taste buds and the single strongest craving the man ever knew...despite the two and a half hour drive from his home in Plains Township, PA.

“He’s always had a bad heart and doctors told him he had to watch what he ate, but he always said, ‘I’m going to die one day and there’s no way I’m cutting all this good food out of my life',” Richard’s grandson Dominic told the Philadelphia Inquirer. Unfortunately, that day came on October 10th when the 76 year old man died of heart complications. Rejecting the somber atmosphere of death, however, Richard requested to be buried with Pat's cheesesteaks as his final request-- a wish Richard's son and grandson vowed to uphold.

The night before the funeral, Domic and his father John traveled to Philly, to purchase two more sandwiches for Richard.

“We were just going to get one but my pop always said, ‘If you’re going to Pat’s you always get two, you never order just one. It’s a waste of time,’” Dominic explained.

The next day, they placed the cheesesteaks in the casket alongside Richard's body (much to the surprise of some of the funeral-goers). Richard was lowered into the ground with the company of his beloved comfort food for all eternity.

Upon hearing about the grandfather’s last request, Pat’s owner Frank Olivieri Jr. told the Inquirer:

"I’m flattered, bewildered, and proud that someone would hold the Philly cheesesteak and Pat’s Philly cheesesteak so dear that they want to take it to the afterlife with them.”

“Maybe it’s a bribe for St. Peter,” he added.

2. A newly-wed couple adopts the stray dog that crashed their wedding.

Stray Puppy

Planning a wedding is never easy. Unforeseeable circumstances may threaten an operation months of painstaking work have been building to. Bridezillas can be created, money can be lost, and love itself can be ruined. But leave it to man's best friend to crash a wedding and still get away with being the highlight for all of the right reasons.

When Marilia and Matheus got married in Sao Paolo, Brazil, last month, they originally had an outdoor wedding planned. Unfortunately, harsh weather forced the ceremony into a tent where the remainder of the ceremony would take place. While just this one event would be enough of a disaster to ruin any wedding, the wedding party and guests didn’t panic, remaining perfectly calm, smiling and moving quickly to shift the celebration to a drier venue. With the ceremony picking up with all in attendance and every chair accounted for, one stray puppy unexpectedly entered the tent and became the ultimate plus one wedding guest.

Wet, cold and covered in mud, the dog was seeking refuge from the raging storm outside, completely unaware of how much of a wrong-place, wrong-time situation he had just put himself into. Trotting down the aisle and becoming fully visible to the entire ceremony, many wedding guests proceeded to shoo the dog away in justifiable fear of a stray, dirty dog ruining a special day that has been months in the making. But instead of running from the hostility towards him, the dog embraced his "welcome" by calmly approaching the bride at the altar, laying down, and falling asleep on her veil.

While some (again) completely justifiable gasps of horror echoed throughout the tent, the kind-hearted Marilia instantly fell in love with the dog, accepting him as a member of her Bridal party as opposed to throwing him out.

“I was really surprised and thought the little guy was really cute,” Marília told the Huffington Post.

With approval from the Bride, the guests in attendance took a relaxed breath and began to see the humor and adorableness in the situation that would extend into the reception. The dog eventually made his getaway late into the reception, but the newlyweds decided then and there on their wedding night to find and adopt him. After a strenuous few weeks of searching, the couple found him just this month and successfully adopt him as the newest member of their family. After fitted with the name Snoop, the once stray became the happiest pupper in the neighborhood.

“He came home, and I showered him,” Marilia said.“He played a lot, ate, drank water. He is very happy and slept super good the first night. [Snoop] is adapting very well to his new routine. He is very playful, needy and caring. We are so happy with him.”

1. A police officer changes a homeless man's life with a book.

Ask most people nowadays their stance on police officers and it's easy to be met with the response that all cops are racist, hateful murderers with no desire to better society and keep it protected. It's those people with that reaction that haven't met Officer Matt Holman.

It was February 2016 and Matt Holman was on patrol, looking out for any suspicious characters or crime-committing felons. Instead of discovering any evil-doers, however, Matt encountered a man named Robert Morris. Morris was in sorry shape at the time--he had been living in a tent in the woods after he had spiraled into addiction and alcoholism following the death of his mother, father, and sister. Though he has two surviving siblings, he had lost contact with them because of his condition.

When Holman saw Morris walking through the rain, he shined his spotlight on the homeless man and asked if he was okay. The two ended up walking together for a ways until they sat down in front of a nearby church in Greenville, South Carolina where Morris explained how floodwaters had washed his tent away and he had nowhere to go.

“We sat down and we had a long talk, and he was one of the nicest people I’ve ever met in my life,” Morris said of the officer.

When asked by Holman if Morris needed anything, Morris' response was quick and painful.

"‘Yeah, I need a Bible.”

Upon haring his request, Officer Holman spiral into a devastating internal conflict--in the back of his trunk laid his personal Bible filled with notes, bookmarks, scribbles, and highlighted passages that had impacted his life greatly for years. While staring into the eyes of someone that needed it, although desperately attached to his Bible, Holman relinquished the book to a man that needed it more.

“I didn’t want to necessarily give it up, but I kind of felt like God was telling me, ‘He needs this more than you do,’” Officer Holman would later recall.

After a grateful Morris parted ways with Holman with his new Bible, Officer Holman accepted his good deed, assuming he'd never see or hear from him again. Six months later, Morris called 911--not out of emergency, but out of desperation to thank Holman and had no other way of reaching the officer.

He left a recorded message at the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office crediting Holman for saving his life. The voicemail detailed his inspiration to check into an institution, recover from his addiction, and reconnect with his siblings and all because of the officer’s kindness. Officer Holman returned the call and the two began to form a friendship that carries over to today.


The world isn't all terrible, everybody. You just need to look in the right places for that glimmer of hope. It's there, you just have to find it.

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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
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