The good guys thread

[kuhio98]

From John: Flowers for Mom

When I was a young boy about 8 years old, my younger sisters and I got the idea to buy something for my mother for Mother's day. Money was hard to come by. We went around to the neighbors and asked for pop bottles. Back then, soda pop was sold in bottles, and they were washed and refilled. There was a deposit on the bottles of $.02. per bottle We were able to get three cartons, just 18 bottles, making a refund of $.36. I also had three cents saved.

So with a grand total of $.39 we walked uptown (about a mile) to where we knew a florist was located. When we went inside, someone asked what we wanted. We told them we wanted to buy flowers for Mothers Day. I reached into my pocket and pulled out our whole stash of cash, asking if that would be enough.

Another gentleman, who I am sure was the owner, came over, looked us over, and said "just a minute". He went in back and came out with a geranium plant with gold foil wrapping around the pot. He took my three dimes, a nickle, and four pennies, and said, "Thank you very much." I had no idea that the cost was about four times as much. And we went proudly home carrying a flower plant for Mom.

[kuhio98]

Important Life Lessons

During my second month of nursing school, our professor gave us a pop quiz. I was a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions, until I read the last one: "What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?" Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seen the cleaning woman several times. She was tall, dark-haired and in her 50s, but how would I know her name? I handed in my paper leaving the last question blank. Before class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our quiz grade. "Absolutely," said the professor. "In your careers you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say 'hello.'" I've never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her name was Dorothy.

[kuhio98]

A Final Offering to a Furry Friend
An unforgettable true story of a grieving dog's gift to her buddy in heaven.
By Theresa Olive

Several years ago, our family rented a house that had a basement apartment under ours. The young couple who lived below us were quiet and unobtrusive. Their dog, however, was not.

Cody was a typical black lab; a big, tail thumping extrovert. He loved to greet us by planting his huge paws on our chest. Our dog Tasha, an English Setter mix, was a kindred spirit. Because she shared the yard with Cody, they soon became fast friends.

We often saw a blur of black and white fur as they raced neck and neck toward some hapless bird that had just landed in their territory. The only time I saw any conflict between the two dogs was when we fed Tasha. Cody would bound up, expecting to share in Tasha’s bounty. However, Tasha would bare her teeth and growl menacingly.

Cody would change his strategy, dropping to his belly and inching slowly toward Tasha’s dish. But this ingratiating behavior did not impress Tasha. The closer Cody got, the more Tasha snarled and snapped. Finally, Cody would slink away with his tail between his legs—until next mealtime, that is. Then Cody, ever the optimist, would replay the scene, with the same disappointing conclusion.

One day my husband Jeff came home visibly upset. He had just found Cody lying by the side of the road, killed by a speeding truck. Tasha sniffed at Cody’s glossy black fur and whined. Over the next few weeks, Tasha was listless, her tail drooping. She obviously missed her old friend.

At the same time, Tasha’s food dish disappeared. We replaced it with another, only to have that one vanish as well. There followed a steady succession of bowls, aluminum plates, even an old coffee can. They all disappeared. Finally, the mystery was solved when our neighbor knocked on our door, her arms loaded with the missing dishes, some still half-full of dog food.

"Are these yours?" she asked. When Jeff and I nodded, she explained, "I saw Tasha headed toward the road, so I shooed her back. Then I noticed all these dishes in a pile."

Puzzled, I asked, "Where were they?"

"Well, you know," she answered thoughtfully, "it was right by the place where Cody died. Isn’t that odd? Surely Tasha couldn’t..." Her voice trailed off in confusion.

Jeff and I exchanged glances. Could Tasha have been enticing her old friend back by offering him the one thing she withheld from him when he was alive? Even today, retelling the story gives me goose bumps. It raises questions about animals’ intelligence and emotions.

It also reminds me not to wait to show love to those around me. I need to share whatever blessings I’ve received with others—before it’s too late.

[kuhio98]

Organic Sock Bundles
Stay cozy and help someone in need with this cute bundle of socks. Each pack has three pairs of organic cotton socks to keep your loved ones warm all winter long. Men's and women's styles are available.

Each purchase benefits the Empowerment Plan, which provides comfort to the homeless in the form of warm winter jackets and coats.

Buy it now wearpact.com, $25

[kuhio98]

Kendall Plank knew her 12-year-old friend JB Glennon was nervous about getting a bone marrow transplant at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston.


She also knew her friend was a huge University of Texas fan.

One day when he stepped away from his room, she and her mom, Susan, decked it out with University of Texas memorabilia – quilts, blankets, games, towels and more.

"When JB saw his room he said, 'This is so awesome! Thank you very much!' and gave me a big hug," recalls Kendall, now 17, of Houston.

"He told me that it meant the world to him that somebody actually cared enough about him to do this," she says.

Inspired by JB's jubilant reaction, Kendall told her mother, "We gotta do this for all these kids that are here."

Nearly six years later, the Dec My Room http://decmyroom.org/ program, which largely relies on volunteers and donations, has taken over hundreds of children's hospital rooms across the country with themes ranging from Hello Kitty to Hollywood.

"It's just taken off," says Susan Plank.

On a recent afternoon, Joshua Lopez, 11, of Downey, Calif., is at Inpatient Acute Rehabilitation Unit at Children's Hospital Los Angeles when an entourage of volunteers descends with handpainted signs, balloons, and Los Angeles Lakers memorabilia (including a signed size 17 basketball shoe from Pau Gasol, his favorite player) to decorate the room of the ailing fan.

One member of the entourage is Dec My Room Director Jenny Hull whose daughter, Josie, 11, spent most of her young life in hospital rooms after undergoing a grueling 23-hour separation surgery on Aug. 5, 2002.

Jenny says Josie helped pick out the decorations.

"I love decorating the rooms and helping the children," says Josie.

A few minutes later, doctors and nurses yell "Surprise!" as Joshua enters the room.

"This made me really happy," says Joshua, who is struggling with juvenile dermatomyositis.

Next door is Brieanna Smith, 14, of Los Angeles, who is also being treated for juvenile dermatomyositis.

Her room was recently made-over with chinese lanterns, Hello Kitty balloons and blankets. She also received DVDs of the Twilight movie.

"I was really surprised when they did this to my room," says Smith. "It's made my room more homey."

Her mother, Alicia Cole, agrees. "She was so excited that day when they made over her room," says Cole, 45. "She said, 'Mom – look at my room! Look at my room!' "

She said when her daughter first found out she might be at the hospital for four months, she was depressed. But the makeover made a big difference in her state of mind.

"This lifts the kids' spirits," Cole says.

[kuhio98]

Local woman helps nurse hummingbird back to life
By Tom Plahutnik

FRANKENMUTH, MI (WNEM) - WNEM.com was alerted to a nice story out of Frankenmuth where a local woman helped get a hummingbird back in the air after being trapped in a garage.

It happened Thursday morning to Jim and Kathy Haney when the bird flew into their garage and couldn't find its way out. Jim Haney tells the rest below:

This little bird flew into our garage and couldn't find his way out. After sitting on a wire all night, it appeared that he didn't have the energy to fly away even when we touched him gently. Julianne Haney carefully pried his little feet off the wire and carried him to our feeder where he drank his fill and flew away. Everyone is happy.

Kathy Haney filled in an extra detail and said Julie stood on the roof of her car in the garage to gently get the bird off the wire, as he had a really tight grip on it.

All's well that ends well, right?

[kuhio98]

Passerby who happens to be daughter of baseball's Joe Torre catches falling baby

New York (CNN) -- A 1-year-old boy who plummeted two stories from a fire escape in Brooklyn on Wednesday was saved when a quick-thinking passerby saw the child and caught him as he fell, according to police.

The woman who caught the baby is Cristina Torre, daughter of famed Major League Baseball manager and former National League All-Star catcher Joe Torre.

The boy crawled through the window of a second-story apartment after pushing aside a piece of cardboard that blocked an opening beside the apartment's air conditioning unit, according to NYPD Detective James Duffy.

He then climbed onto the fire escape and fell onto the awning of a frozen yogurt shop directly below the apartment and bounced off, Duffy said.

That was when 44-year-old Cristina Torre, who happened to be passing by, saw the situation and positioned herself beneath the awning in time to catch the child, Duffy said.

Joe Torre released a statement Wednesday night saying, "I am very proud of my daughter Cristina's actions today during an incident in Brooklyn involving a small child. Fortunately for that child she was in the right place at the right time to lend a hand."

The boy's parents were charged with child endangerment, Duffy said. Three other children, aged 2, 3 and 5, were taken into the custody of Child Protective Services.

[phesina]

Local woman helps nurse hummingbird back to life
By Tom Plahutnik

FRANKENMUTH, MI (WNEM) - WNEM.com was alerted to a nice story out of Frankenmuth where a local woman helped get a hummingbird back in the air after being trapped in a garage.

It happened Thursday morning to Jim and Kathy Haney when the bird flew into their garage and couldn't find its way out. Jim Haney tells the rest below:

This little bird flew into our garage and couldn't find his way out. After sitting on a wire all night, it appeared that he didn't have the energy to fly away even when we touched him gently. Julianne Haney carefully pried his little feet off the wire and carried him to our feeder where he drank his fill and flew away. Everyone is happy.

Kathy Haney filled in an extra detail and said Julie stood on the roof of her car in the garage to gently get the bird off the wire, as he had a really tight grip on it.

All's well that ends well, right?

What a lovely story! Thank you!