+
upworthy
More

A mom wrote a letter to the NYC Ballet about her daughter's disability. They responded gracefully.

A mom writes a letter and gets a very happy and surprising response.

Meet Pearl and her awesome mom, Natalia.


They love ballet.

It just so happens that the New York City Ballet has an outreach program for kids.

The kids get to interact with real ballet dancers, and the program helps them build confidence in their dance skills.

But there was a complication. Pearl has cerebral palsy.

Cerebral palsy affects body movement, muscle control, muscle coordination, muscle tone, reflex, posture, and balance. It can also affect fine motor skills, gross motor skills, and oral motor functioning.

Pearl's mom was worried about what that would mean for her daughter in the class.

So she wrote the NYC Ballet a letter, requesting a private session.

"It would mean so much [to Pearl] to take part in a NYC Ballet workshop, so they too could become ballerinas."

"The worst thing they'll do is say they're not interested," she thought.

The NYC Ballet's response was a little better than she had imagined.

Not only did they set up four workshops for Pearl, they invited more children struggling with cerebral palsy to participate as well.

Then the NYC Ballet decided to write a letter too, hoping to get medical expertise on how to help the kids dance.

They sent an email to an expert in cerebral palsy, Dr. Joseph Dutkowsky at the Weinberg Family Cerebral Palsy Center at Columbia University.

"Would you be willing to come and help us set up some workshops for children with disabilities?" they asked.

His response was also better than they imagined.

At first, the professional dancers were nervous about how to behave around the kids.

A lot of kids with cerebral palsy struggle to move without braces, crutches, or other equipment. So the dancers asked Dr. Dutkowsky what to do with it during the lesson.

His answer was right to the point:

The decision to not use the braces made a huge difference to the kids and their families.

Juliet was diagnosed with cerebral palsy when she was 2. She's slightly wobbly when she walks. It was not lost on her mother, Joanne, just how big of a deal it was for Juliet to be free of her braces.

For Juliet, it was a truly liberating experience.


For the professional dancers, it was an eye-opening experience.


19 kids got to participate in the program.

All because one mom wrote a letter.

It turned out to be a wonderful experience for all.

So wonderful, in fact, that the New York City Ballet will be continuing the program for the foreseeable future.

Awesome indeed.

You can watch their full story here.


Time travel back to 1905.

Back in 1905, a book called "The Apples of New York" was published by the New York State Department of Agriculture. It featured hundreds of apple varieties of all shapes, colors, and sizes, including Thomas Jefferson's personal favorite, the Esopus Spitzenburg.






Keep ReadingShow less

Joey Grundl, Milwaukee pizza guy.

Joey Grundl, a pizza delivery driver for a Domino's Pizza in Waldo, Wisconsin, is being hailed as a hero for noticing a kidnapped woman's subtle cry for help.

The delivery man was sent to a woman's house to deliver a pie when her ex-boyfriend, Dean Hoffman, opened the door. Grundl looked over his shoulder and saw a middle-aged woman with a black eye standing behind Hoffman. She appeared to be mouthing the words: "Call the police."

Keep ReadingShow less
Photo by Katerina Holmes|Canva

Mom in tears after another parent calls about daughter's lunch


People say having children is like having your heart walk around outside of your body. You send them off to school, practices or playdates and hope that the world treats them kindly because when they hurt, you hurt. Inevitably there will be times when your child's feelings are hurt so you do your best to prepare for that day.

But what prepares you for when the child you love so much winds up accidentally healing your inner child. A mom on TikTok, who goes by Soogia posted a video explaining a phone call she received from a parent in her daughter's classroom. The mom called to inform Soogia that their kids had been sharing lunch with each other.

Soogia wasn't prepared for what came next. The classmate's mother informed her that her son loves the food Soogia's daughter brings to school and wanted to learn how to cook it too.

Keep ReadingShow less
Pop Culture

Listen to this organ in Croatia that uses the sea to make hauntingly beautiful music

It's a 230-foot-long organ that turns the rhythm of the waves into actual music.


In 2005, a Croatian architect designed a 230-foot-long organ that turns the rhythm of the waves into actual music.

Nope, not nonsensical bellows or chaotic tones. Real, actual, music.

Keep ReadingShow less
Modern Families

A comic from The Oatmeal illustrates how we're missing the mark on happiness.

I do the things that are meaningful to me, even if they don't make me "happy."

By Matthew Inman/The Oatmeal. Used with permission.

How to Be Perfectly Happy


Matthew Inman is the Eisner Award-winning author of The Oatmeal. He's published six books, including New York Times Best-Sellers such as "How to Tell if Your Cat is Plotting to Kill You"and "The Terrible and Wonderful Reasons Why I Run Long Distances."He enjoys running marathons, writing comics, and eating cake.

You can read more of Matthew's comics here.

Keep ReadingShow less
Health

Sweeping UN study finds that 9 out of 10 people worldwide are biased against women

In other words, 9 out of 10 people worldwide—both men and women—are biased against women in vital areas that impact the world in major ways.

Photo by Joe Gardner on Unsplash

As the U.S. ramps into an all-too-familiar presidential election cycle where the only viable candidates left on the ballot are men, the UN announces a study that may—at least partially—explain why.

The Gender Social Norms Index released yesterday by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) offers a look at gender equality as measured by people's personal gender bias. The data, which was collected from 75 countries covering 81% of the world's population, found that 91% of men and 86% of women show at least one clear bias against women in the areas of politics, economics, education, and physical integrity.

In other words, 9 out of 10 people worldwide—both men and women—are biased against women in vital areas that impact the world in major ways. Splendid.

Keep ReadingShow less