A miracle mother's day gift

Mother's Day fell on a Sunday in 1992. Surgical nurse Deanna Murray, 28, was working the day shift at the Medical Center of Central Massachusetts in Worcester. Her husband Michael, 27, was home with their two children, 3-month old Matthew and his 20-month-old sister. Around noon, Michael decided to take the kids to the hospital to give Deanna some Mother's Day gifts -- a necklace and a single rose. Then he carried the both children back to the indoor garage where his '87 Hyundai was parked. Matthew was already in his car seat, so Michael set him temporarily on the roof while strapping his daughter into her seat. Then, forgetting Matthew was still in his seat on the roof, Michael drove slowly out of the dark garage and through the streets of Worcester. NOBODY BEEPED to warn him something was wrong. He accelerated onto I-290 and was going about 50 miles per hour when he heard a scraping on the roof. "You could hear it slide," he said. "I looked where he should have been. Then I looked in the rear view mirror and saw him sliding down the highway." That's when an angel appeared. His name was James Boothbay, 67, a retired antiques dealer. James was driving behind Michael and doesn't like to tailgate, so he saw what he assumed was a doll slide off the Hyundai. He saw the car seat bounce a few times, but never tip over. When the "doll" opened its mouth, James quickly stopped and angled his car to block traffic. By then, Michael was backing up, and they both found baby Matthew unharmed. Even the car seat was undamaged. Michael told James, "When the police arrive, tell them I went to the hospital." He knew it would be best to break the news to his wife very gently, so he asked her to come down the hall to the emergency room under the pretense that "Matthew has fallen." She ran down the hall, and when she heard the full story, she said "nurses had to sit me down and hold me. It's a miracle. It really is."
State trooper Mario Tovar agreed. "The doctors gave him a good bill of health. He's a miracle baby. What a Mother's Day gift!"

Sometimes kindness can change a life

Sometimes simple kindness can make a giant difference in a child's life. It happened recently to a little boy in Wisconsin. Brock suffers with Autism and impulsivity control issues. He's making progress, but he seldom smiles. His goal is life is to be a policeman, and he broke into a grin one day when his Mom went to the police station to pay a parking ticket. One of the officers made the effort to show Brock around the station, smiling all the time. He patiently answered all Brock's questions, like "why do cops have refrigerators?" Before leaving the station, Brock told the officer he was his hero. But what Brock wanted most of all was a photo of himself with a policeman, to hang on the wall of his room. Now he has one, and here's how it happened.

                                                                                                                           Courtesy photo

About three weeks later, an officer and his dog responded to a call in Brock's neighborhood. Believe it or not, Brock waited patiently for about an hour until the officer was finished. Then he started to approach the officer. He got scared and hesitated a few times, but kept going, saying "Oh my gosh, I'm really doing this, Mom!" Mustering all his courage, he asked Officer Morgel for a photo, along with K-9 officer Riko. Because officer Morgel was incredibly patient and truly listened to Brock instead of brushing him off, Brock has his dream photo, and is smiling more every day.

A question worth pondering?

Indiana State Police incident

Dwayne Ellrich probably knew he was exceeding the speed limit on I-65 last month, especially when he saw the flashing lights of a state police car in his rear view mirror. Dwayne was taking his daughter Ashley to a Special Olympics event where she would be a participant. They were both nervous when Trooper Darrick Scott approached their car. Would they get a ticket, or a warning?

                                                                                                       Dwayne Ellrich/Facebook          

"When I pulled them over, I could see they were both uncomfortable," said Scott. "I wanted to make them more relaxed, so I went over to Ashley's window and gave her my hat." He offered to make her a state trooper for five minutes, and told her it was her duty to decide if her Dad should get a ticket. He recalled that "she thought about it, and then surprised me by saying yes."

But Scott didn't give her Dad a ticket. Instead, "I read him the warning and added that Ashley would be monitoring his speed." Later, Dwayne posted the incident on Facebook, crediting the trooper with reminding him to hit the brakes. "There are some great cops out there," he wrote. An ISP public information officer replied with a Facebook post, "We are extra glad that Ashley is on our side!"

Worst Day Ever?

Meet Chanie Gorkin, a sociable, studious senior this fall at all-girls Beth Rivkah High School in Brooklyn, NY.  Last November a teacher assigned her to write a theme on the topic, "Worst Day Ever." As an Orthodox Jew, Chanie doesn't believe in worst days, so instead she wrote a verse which teaches about finding the good hidden in every moment. Her Mom explains one of the major tenets of Hasidic philosophy is that "there is God in everything and it's part of our mission in life to look for the good." Her poem earned an "A" and appeared in an anthology, where it was forgotten until last month. While Chanie worked as a camp counselor without internet access, it suddenly went viral. Enjoyed by thousands on social media, it's been translated into Russian, Chinese, Hebrew and Italian and featured on ABC and NBC. If it lifts your heart, feel free to share this post.

Today was the absolute worst day ever
And don't try to convince me that
There's something good in every day
Because when you take a closer look,
This world is a pretty evil place
Even if
Some goodness does shine through once in a while
Satisfaction and happiness don't last.
And it's not true that
Its all in the mind and heart
Because
True happiness can be attained
Only if one's surroundings are good
It's not true that good exists
I'm sure you can agree that
The reality
Creates
My attitude
It's all beyond my control
And you'll never in a million years hear me say
Today was a very good day.

Now read from the bottom up and see what I really feel about my day.

Blessings often boomerang

The Bible promises that blessings can boomerang. We read in Ecclesiastes, "Cast thy bread upon the waters, for thou shalt find it after many days," or as one wag translates it, "Cast thy bread upon the waters, and it shall return to you as ham sandwiches." Kayla Lane, 20, knows about ham sandwiches. She's a waitress at the West Side Cafe in Fort Worth, TX. Two of her regular customers are Debbie and Shaun Riddle. Kayla hadn't seen them for a few weeks, and when they returned for lunch, she learned they just lost their nine-week-old daughter Glory to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Kayla depends on her waitress salary to pay her way through the University of Texas at Arlington where she majors in Education, but she decided to cover the couple's tab anyway. When their check arrived, it said, "Your ticket has been paid for. We are terribly sorry for your loss." What inspired her to do this? "I did it because it was amazing to see their strength," she said. "They still prayed before their meal and everything." The Riddles were deeply touched, but that's not all.

                       From left, Shaun and Debbie Riddle and Kayla Lane.       Courtesy photo

After they got home, Debbie realized how hard it must be to attend college and work full-time. She said everyone at the West Side Cafe "is so nice and friendly. They just really care." Then she found a onesie Glory had received from her Grandma. It said, "Kisses, 25 cents. I'm saving for college." Debbie knew she'd never see Glory go to college, but then she remembered Kayla and decided to launch a fund to help all student employees at the Cafe, with Kayla receiving the first scholarship. Debbie launched a GoFundMe page in Glory's memory, and in the first 19 days it received $2,900 from 73 donors, including a $500 donation from Tracey Sanford, owner of West Side Cafe.

They don't teach this in nursing school

Matt Hickling is a nurse at Melodies Center for Childhood Cancer in Albany, NY. Last month he was told one of his patients, named Abby, wanted to marry him. Whenever Abby visits the center for treatment, she looks for Matt and eventually they bonded. With consent of the family, he described the ceremony on Facebook, with photos. His bride is four years old.

When news of the nuptials got out, most of the Melodies Center staff decided to attend. A friend loaned Matt a fancy tuxedo T-shirt, and others provided Abbey with a white dress to wear over her regular clothes. Enchanted Garden Florists donated fresh flowers. The staff hummed the wedding march as Abby walked down the aisle over rose petals. Her Mom gave her away. Her physician, Dr. Jennifer Pearce, officiated, but no sooner had she said "We are gathered together..." than Abby took over. She turned to Matt and asked, "will you marry me?" "Of course I will," he said, and they sealed their vows with a hug and two ring pops. Then Matt pushed Abby down the corridor in a pink toy car with a "Just Married" sign and cans tied to the back. Soon they returned to the wedding room for cake and photos, and Dr. Lauren Silverman showed Abby how to push a piece of wedding cake into Matt's face. Matt gave Abbey a framed wedding photo, and she said, "this is the best day ever." She has 18 more months of treatment, and Matt hopes she'll remember the wedding and smile when times are tough. He knows he will too. Abby's Mom knew the Melodies Center staff are creative and thoughtful, but she said "I never expected all of this. We're grinning from ear to ear."