You can't just love a certain percentage."

Liz Smith is senior director of nursing at Franciscan Children's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. She always wanted to be a mother, but thought her opportunity had passed, until fellow nurses introduced her to Gisele, who weighed one pound, 14 ounces, when she was born at 29 weeks. Her mother was addicted to drugs and could not care for her, since Gisele would need an experienced care giver to help her live outside the hospital. The nurse and baby bonded quickly, and Smith went to see her every day, "It was my reward after a long workday," she said. "You can't just love a certain percentage. You have to give it your all."

533 days after Smith first met Gisele, the two finally shared a last name. Gisele was two years old. Smith never expected it, but she went from nurse to mom, and Gisele went from a frail preemie with complex medical needs to a beaming little girl. And now they have each other for the rest of their lives. Smith said it was the power of love that brought her and Gisele together. "To witness how love can transform a life -- how it's transformed hers and mine, is unbelievable," she said.

Is it snail mail, or whale mail?

Today's crumb comes from a reader in Fishers, Indiana. As technology advances, snail mail may soon become a thing of the past, but whale mail has a future, at least in the village of Lehde, about 60 miles south of Berlin, Germany. About 150 people live in Lehde, and for centuries it was only accessible by boat. For the past 118 years, the German mail service (Deutsche Post) has delivered mail by water, at least from March to October. And Andrea Bunar, shown here, is the post mistress.

Her work is environmentally friendly, and she finds it easy to paddle or pole up and down the tiny canals between homes in her yellow post barge. She delivers everything from letters to large packages, using her own strength to propel the boat to about 60 mailboxes. She travels about five miles daily and has been delivering the mail for almost ten years.She says the exercise keeps her in shape.

When God showed up on time

LeAndra Clay lives in eastern Arkansas. About a month ago, she lost her house in a fire. Since then, she's been living in a shed without any electricity, until she came forward recently after winning the lottery for $150,000.

                                                                                                                     Arkansas Lottery
She matched four out of five numbers on the Powerball drawing, plus the Powerball number. This would have totalled $50,000, but she paid one dollar extra for a Power Play, which tripled her winnings. She says her first thought when she found out was that God really showed up "on time" for her. She plans to donate part of her winnings to her church, and use the rest to buy a new house and car.

A real spring break party!

Joshua Caraway, 19, is a freshman at the University of West Georgia, and went with friends to Miami Beach for spring break this year. But what he did during break was so unusual that the photos have gone viral. Can you guess how he partied? Here's a hint.

Joshua walked along the sandy beach with a trash bag. He wore gloves, and picked up garbage other students had left behind. A policeman saw him, and walked up to say "thank you." Then a local news stationed posted photos on Facebook, and they blew up online. Joshua tried to get his friends to help him, but they thought he was nuts. He did it anyway, because he loves animals and the environment, and he wanted to leave the beach looking better than when he got there.

Shoes for flood victims

A woman from Hays, Kansas, has donated 204 pairs of shoes to Nebraska flood victims after buying all the remaining shows at a local Payless store that was closing. The shoes were part of a flood relief shipment taken to farmers in Nebraska by Fort Hays State College's agricultural sorority, Sigma Alpha.

                                                                                                       Kelly Tyko, USA TODAY

Addy Tritt, a Fort Hays State graduate, said she wanted to help others because so many people have helped her in the past. When the price at the Hays Payless dropped to $1 per pair, she negotiated with the business to buy all remaining inventory for $100. They included 162 pairs of baby shores, two pairs of men's shoes, and the rest were women's shoes. The retail price for the shoes would have been more than $6,000.

Every baby needs a Mom

Kelly Lively, 56, always wanted to be a mom but could not have kids on her own. She's a nurse in Kokomo, Indiana, and a few years ago she heard about a boy named Marcus. He was born at 25 weeks, addicted to heroin. He weighed one pound and his mom abandoned him at the hospital. He was not expect to live past his second birthday. When Kelly first met Marcus in 2017, he was 18 months old and could barely lift his head. She said his eyes were "lifeless." But when she kissed him and asked if she could be his mom, he grinned. She adopted him in 2018.

Kelly says Marcus is not aware that he has any disabilities, and she places no limits on him. He was unable to speak until she taught him sign language. Eventually he learned to sign "yes" and "no," and whenever she she asked to touch him, he usually said "no" since he did not like to be touched. But after 10 months, he changed his mind and fell asleep in her lap. Today he's off the ventilator and can walk. Doctors never thought he would do either. They're amazed, and have told Kelly, "whatever you're doing for Marcus, keep on doing it." Caring for Marcus is not easy, but love makes it possible.

The absurdity of holding on to hate

Today's crumb comes from a faithful reader in Indiana. John Sato is 95 years old. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand, where 50 Muslim men, women and children were were murdered at a mosque in Christchurch. He said the crime kept him up that night, and he decided to ride four different busses to join others walking down the street in a rally against racism.

                                                                                                                  Getty Images
Sato's wife passed away 15 years ago, and their daughter died last year. He said he wanted to join others in Auckland Center for the rally, and he was helped along the way by strangers he met. At the end of the rally, a policeman gave him a bottle of water and drove him all the way home. Sato said that watching innocent people die during WWII had put into perspective the absurdity of holding on to hate.