The best day of this step-Dad's life

Brittany and Jeremy Peck were married this month at an outdoor ceremony in Elyria, OH. As usual, the bride's mother was seated in the front row, along with Todd Cendrosky, Brittany's step-Dad since she was seven years old. Everyone waited for the bride, and finally she appeared, riding in a golf cart driven by her Dad, Todd Bachman, who stayed involved in her daily life after her Mom remarried. As Brittany grew up, the two Todds didn't always agree, but when it was time for the wedding march, Bachman suddenly stopped the ceremony, went to where Cendrosky was sitting, and asked him to help walk Brittany down the aisle. Why did he share this honor?  "He has been as much a part of her life as me," Bachman said later.

                                                           Dad, Bride and step-Dad

Bachman tipped off wedding photographer Delia Blackburn ahead of time, so she could capture the moment. "Everybody was shocked, silent and crying," Blackburn said later. "There wasn't a dry eye in the place. Even I was crying."

Afterward, Blackburn uploaded the photo onto social media, where it got almost 700,000 "likes" on Facebook and had over 300,000 "shares." Later, step-Dad Cendrosky admitted he always wanted to walk a daughter down the aisle. He said, "When Todd grabbed my hand, that was the best day of my life."

Seeds of health are planted in school gardens

Ten percent of students in Kenyan primary schools eat no meals except school lunches. Since most schools cannot supply these lunches affordably, hunger continues to afflict about one third of Kenyan children. But when the pupils shown below walk home from Senator Barak Obama primary school west of Nairobi, they are no longer hungry.

                                                                                                                      Thomas Mukoya/Reuters
That's because Kenya's new School Garden Initiative has established 11 school gardens where students grown the food they eat for lunch. While working in the gardens, children learn fine arts, math, science, history, language and nutrition. These better-fed children also perform well on national exams. According to Global Envision, a blog published by Mercy Corps, growing their own food in school gardens also gives students confidence and strength, and encourages self-reliance.

Loyal customers rescue restaurant they love

The Pizza Palace on Hope Mills Road in Fayetteville, NC, is not a franchise. It's been a family-owned Italian restaurant for 33 years. But business dropped off last summer when Hope Mills Road was torn up. Street access was very limited. With hardly any customers, the eatery could barely make payroll. Maybe the owners would need to get a second mortgage to survive? Finally they shared their concern on their Facebook page.

                                                                                                                                             Facebook
"July 7 -- This is our current situation. There is only one entrance and one exit. To go orders can still be made, but we ask that instead of paying and picking up the food through the window, you come inside and get it or we can bring it out to you. Please join us in praying that this (road work) will be done as soon as possible. We know that God is in control and we are trusting in Him."

The message was shared 2,000 times on Facebook and business picked up so fast that the restaurant almost ran out of food! Tammy Brown, who's been waiting tables there for 22 years, nearly cried when she saw so many customers. "It's been non-stop," she said. "God's got it all under control." One customer, Katherine Lewis, came for a meal after hearing of the restaurant's plight. "We're compassionate and caring," she said of the Fayetteville community. Thomas Poulos, who opened the Pizza Palace in 1982, had been reluctant to share his concerns with the public, but came from the kitchen to thank his loyal customers, blowing a kiss in the air.

Persistant Mom retrieves her son's last selfie

Skyler Powell of Landrum, SC,  died in January when he lost control of his car on his way to school. His Mom, Tammy Taylor, knew he had his iPhone with him, but after the accident it was never found. She was tempted to believe she'd never have anymore pictures of him, but she resisted that temptation, and returned to the crash site more than 30 times to search for his missing phone.

                                                                                                                                      Facebook
Eight months went by, but Skyler's Mom never gave up, and finally she noticed the sun shining on a tiny piece of plastic in the ground. The iPhone was buried in dirt, but Tammy dug it up and started dancing and shouting, "Thank you, God. I needed that!" She took it to the busy Apple store where a kind employee took the time to clean it up and install a new battery. This allowed her to see her son's last selfie, taken three days before he died. "It's very dear to my heart," she says.

94-year-old finally completes her bucket list

Shirley Batchelder is the life of the party at Steeple Chase Manor Retirement in Franklin, TN. After 94 healthy years, including 57 with her late husband who she still describes as "handsome as can be," she's had a "happy life" and had only one item left on her bucket list. For years, she's wanted to buy a 5-second long commercial on TV to send a powerful three-word message. But even five seconds of TV time costs money, so she's been saving for it.

                                                                    Shirley Batchelder        Courtesy Photo

When she called Nashville's WSMV about buying five seconds of time, they decided to do a story about her instead, and give her lots of time to share her message. Shirley can't think of any more important three words to share, "because sometimes we all need reminding that we're in this together." And according to WSMV, she is now quite happy that her bucket list is empty. Here's what she wanted to put on everyone's TV.

The profound mood-altering power of music

There's a 162-mile highway in southwest England called the M5. On Saturday, September 12, it became the world's biggest parking lot. A vehicle carrying six horses broke down near the town of Taunton, and one of the horses escaped, causing total gridlock. Most frustrated drivers and passengers just sat and fumed, but one car was carrying a professional string quartet returning from a wedding. They decided to get out and play Pachabel's "Canon" on the roadside.

                                                                                                            Daily Picks and Flicks/YouTube
Anger gave way to joy as nearby motorists recorded the performance on their smart phones. When the music ended, drivers applauded enthusiastically. Violinist Lu Jeffery told The Telegraph, "We have played some of the most incredible concert venues globally, and then one afternoon you play the M5 and it all goes crazy." Fortunately, Helen Delingpole, a motorist from Wales, recorded the entire 5-minute performance on her camera, and you can see it at www.youtube.com/watch?t=15&v=tOOyb5Buzxk

Women are the eyes of Afghanistan

When Razia Jan, now 70,  grew up in Afghanistan, it offered free education to both boys and girls.  Kabul was a modern city, the Paris of Southeast Asia. But in 1979, while Razia was visiting the United States, Russia invaded Afghanistan and the 10-year conflict which followed resulted in a Taliban take-over.  Unable to return, she stayed in the United States to study at Harvard, marry and raise a son, but now, as a grandmother, she's returned to help girls in her home country.

                                                                                                              Beth Murphy/Ground Truth Project
In the village of Deh'Subz, a suburb of Kabul, she obtained a property most recently used as a dump. With a grant from the Rotary Club, she built a school there -- the first for village girls. When it opened in 2008, village elders insisted it be for boys, but Razia refused. "Women are the eyes of Afghanistan," she told the elders, "and unfortunately you are all blind."

Each morning the school principal tastes the water to be sure it is safe. Water at other schools has been poisoned. Guards protect the building 24/7. But despite adversity, the school is thriving. It has 450 eager students, and local leaders now send their own daughters, a powerful endorsement. Razia encourages girls to stay in school as long as possible. She tells them, "No matter how little you know, no one can take it from you."