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Joy

10 things that made us smile this week

This week's roundup of joy includes 1,000 generous knitters, two impressive dancers, a thoughtful magician, a costumed Brendan Fraser and more.

magic, dancing

This week's roundup of joy.

Happy tears are a weird thing, aren't they?

Like, why do humans cry when we're sad and when we're happy? How can something touch our hearts in such a joyful way that our eyeballs start leaking saltwater? (And why does it totally ruin it to refer to crying as "eyeballs leaking saltwater"?)

Scientists don't know exactly why people cry happy tears, but according to VeryWellMind, they have a few best guesses. One is that we cry for balance—to manage our intense emotions or help regulate our body and mood. Another guess is that we cry when we're overwhelmed with happiness because we feel helpless and powerless over our emotions. A third theory is that crying signals vulnerability, which triggers empathy in others, therefore creating a social connection between people.


Whatever the reason, invoking tears of joy is one of our favorite pastimes here at Upworthy. We love it when readers make "cutting onions" jokes because the emotions behind them are pure, genuine and so very, very human.

Some of this week's roundup of joy will make you smile, some will make you laugh and some may just make you cry those happy tears. So have a tissue handy and enjoy!

1. You'll 100% want the sound up for this baby sea lion, I promise.

Be right back, gotta Google how to adopt a dozen baby sea lions.

2. Over 1,000 volunteers finish the knitting projects of people's loved ones who have passed.

Knitting, yarn

The volunteers at Loose Ends finish knit projects and mend broken hearts.

Photo by rocknwool on Unsplash

Two knitters founded Loose Ends, which connects the unfinished knitting projects of loved ones who have died or become disabled with knitters who finish their projects and send them back to their families. The project has more than 1,000 volunteers in 19 countries. Isn't that just so lovely? Read more about this heartwarming project here.

3. Brendan Fraser thrilled moviegoers by showing up to a screening of 'The Mummy' in full costume.

Pure, sweet Brendan Fraser, who couldn't be more endearing if he tried. Read the full story here.

4. This one's for all the introverts who have no interest in being out after 10:00 p.m.

@subradioband

send this to your favorite introvert #fypp #indieband #alternativeband

The indie pop band, Sub-Radio, is behind this bit of parody genius. Read the full story here.

5. A woman helped out a man with some bus money. He surprised her and her son with Eagles tickets.

That kid's face. Too sweet. Read the full story here.

6. Sometimes the seemingly insignificant moments turn out to be the most significant of all.

Childhood is fleeting at every stage, so we have to cherish those moments while they last. Find more of Clint Edwards' musings on parenting here.

7. A magician changed his act so a visually impaired man could experience the magic.

@magickevinli

One of my most memorable performances. There’s always a way to experience magic ❤️ Thanks for having me @Google #magician #kevinlimagic #google

Most magic tricks rely on sight to work, but Kevin Li wants everyone to be able to experience the wonder and surprise of magic. Read the full story here.

8. A heart-to-heart conversation that everyone should have at least once with the people they love.

This is where that tissue comes in handy. Phew. So beautiful.

9. Watch these dancers improvise to a song they didn't know they were going to dance to.

​These two dancers have only danced a few times together and all of that was improvised on the spot. Like, whoa. Very, very impressive.

10. Let's hop into the weekend with the energy of this happy little goat.

Hope that brought a few smiles—and maybe a few happy tears—to your faces!

If you enjoyed this post and would like to see more of them in your inbox, subscribe to our free newsletter, The Upworthiest, here.

Community

Georgia school board refuses the resignation of outed superintendent. Community in full support.

"Cheers erupted among hundreds of students and other community members and colleagues who gathered in support."

Georgia school board refuses the resignation of outed superintendent

It should go without saying that having your private business shared with people you didn't consent to hearing about it can be upsetting. But imagine having it shared publicly, with the entire town after you took on a prominent role. It would be devastating. Except what happened to Dawn Clements, interim superintendent of Ben Hill County Georgia, was even more upsetting. Someone publicly outed her as gay.

Coming out as part of the LGBTQ+ community is something that someone does on their own time in the way they feel most comfortable. It can take years for someone to build up the courage to do it, and some people never feel comfortable enough to share that part of themselves with the world. But no matter when or if someone comes out, their existence within and outside of the queer community is still valid.

And while many people respect that the decision to come out is deeply personal, not everyone does and Clements was on the receiving end of hateful behavior. According to LGBTQ Nation, Danny Pate wrote the letter outing Clements as gay and sent it to local pastors before the letter began circulating the community. This led to Clements handing in her resignation.

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A truck carrying Shell gasoline.

In a historic legal maneuver, ClientEarth is personally suing 11 of Shell’s board of directors for failing to bring its business policies in line with the Paris Agreement. The suit is the first time that a corporate board of directors has been sued due to a lack of climate action.

The Paris Agreement is a landmark 2015 international treaty to reduce global warming below 2° and, preferably, 1.5° Celcius.

ClientEarth is a Shell shareholder, giving it the right to bring a suit against the company for failure to manage the risk posed by climate change under the UK Companies Act.

“Shell’s Board is legally required to manage risks to the company that could harm its future success, and the climate crisis presents the biggest risk of them all,” ClientEarth said in a statement.

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"I don’t need to be muscly. That’s what henchmen are for."

In HBO’s “The Last of Us,” actress Melanie Lynskey plays Kathleen—a tough, formidable villain and ruthless leader of a rebel alliance, not to mention apocalypse survivor.

Do these attributes require any particular sort of body type? Common sense screams no. And yet, outdated views dictate that the answer must be yes.

Case in point: former "America's Top Model'' winner Adrianne Curry recently criticized the legitimacy of Lynskey for the role solely because of her naturally soft body frame, implying that only someone toned and athletic could pull it off.

Referencing a photo of Lynskey in a dress for InStyle Magazine, Curry tweeted, "her body says life of luxury...not post apocolyptic [sic] warlord. where is linda hamilton when you need her?"

Lynskey, who is no stranger to standing up to body critics, had some choice words to say in response.

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Education

Sojourner Truth's real 'Ain't I a Woman?' speech was nothing like the famous one we all read

A prime example of how historical distortions can paint a totally inaccurate picture.

The famous Sojourner Truth speech most of us learned is a fabrication.

For generations, students have read the extemporaneous speech Sojourner Truth gave at the Ohio Women’s Rights Convention in 1851, known widely as "Ain't I a Woman?" As a formerly enslaved Black woman speaking out against slavery and for women's rights, Truth made some powerful points in her speech—except the speech most of us read is almost nothing like the one she delivered.

The way "Ain't I a Woman?" is written makes it sound as if Truth walked straight off a Southern plantation. But Truth was a Northerner her entire life. The Southern dialect that permeates the popular version of her speech is a total fabrication.

It wasn't Truth who altered her speech, though. A white abolitionist woman named Frances Dana Gage published the speech 12 years after it was given, and her version is the one that became popularized, in all its glorious inaccuracy.

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David Rossler returns to the place where he hid from the Nazis during World War II.

David Rossler, 84, and his mother were taken in by Georges Bourlet and his four young adult children in 1944 and allowed to hide in their home in Brussels in the waning months of World War II. Rossler and his mother were Jewish, and Belgium was occupied by Nazi Germany. If caught, they’d be taken to a concentration camp.

Rossler had already lost his uncle and grandfather after they were taken to Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland and he would lose his father, hiding elsewhere, to an illness.

Bourlet and his family were also in danger if they were caught hiding the mother and child from the Nazis. "People who protected Jews were simply risking their lives. You wouldn't end up in jail, but in Auschwitz—and Auschwitz, you didn't end up anywhere but in the crematoria," Rossler said in a video produced by MyHeritage.com.

After Allied forces liberated Belgium in 1945, Rossler, who was born Daniel Langa and later took the name of his stepfather, moved to Austria and lost touch with the Bourlets.

As Rossler entered his 80s and was in declining health, his final wish was to thank Bourlet’s family for the incredible bravery and humanity he showed him and his mother during the war.

For years, Lionel Rossler, David’s son, did everything he could to find the family, including putting ads in the paper and posting on social media. After one such post, he received a message from Marie Cappart, country manager for MyHeritage in Belgium, who wanted to help.

MyHeritage is an online genealogy platform with 90 million family trees. Rossler's story hit close to home with Cappart.

"My husband lost his grandfather during the war. He died at the concentration camp in Auschwitz-Birkenau," Cappart told Newsweek. "My own great-grandmother also died in the camp at Ravensbrück. She was British and was in Belgium as part of the resistance. Sadly she was caught by the Nazis and deported. She never came back."

“After browsing records and cross-referencing data, Cappart found an Anne-Marie Bourlet, born in Auderghem in 1929,” Lionel said, according to SWNS. “She discovered that Anne-Marie married someone with the surname Dedoncker and had five children—all of them possibly still alive.”

“After a bit more research, Cappart found Xavier, one of Georges Bourlet’s grandsons, and managed to contact him,” he continued.

Finally, after 75 years, David Rossler returned to the place where he hid in 1944 and 1945 and thanked Bourlet’s five grandchildren.

“It was an incredibly emotional day for us,” Lionel explained. “I was able to see, with my own eyes, the place where my father was kept safe from the Germans all those years ago.”

“If I had Mr. Bourlet in front of me, I would want to kiss him,” said David. “To say thank you with all my body, with all my life, I am alive, I have a family of which I am very, very, very proud. To tell him that my life is thanks to him.”

Bourlet didn’t know it then, but his bravery saved the lives of nine people.

“Because of his heroic action, Georges was able to save the lives of my father and grandmother,” Lionel said. “Nine people were saved thanks to what he did; my brother, myself and our children would not be here today if not for his courage and kindness.”

As a final “thank you” to Bourlet and his family, the Rosslers want him to be recognized as Righteous Among The Nations at Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center. This honor is for non-Jews who risked everything during the Holocaust to save Jewish people.

The medal given to honorees has an inscription with the Hebrew saying: "Whosoever saves a single life, saves an entire universe.”

Motherhood

LGBTQ daughter surprises mother with pregnancy after secret IVF

She thought she would never have grandchildren and got the surprise of a lifetime.

LGBTQ daughter surprises mother with pregnancy after secret IVF.

Many parents dream of becoming grandparents. Oftentimes, people think about grandkids before they even become a parent as a "when I'm old" daydream about what life will be like at a later stage. It shouldn't be surprising that some parents of adult children may feel a little bummed when their child decides not to have children or can't have them. Or in some cases, parents assume their child's membership in the LGBTQ community would prevent them from having babies.

The majority of parents simply want their children to be happy, so they readjust their dream and support their children. But in the case of one mom of an adult child, her assumption was simply wrong.

TikTok creator Aurelia uploaded a video to reveal a birthday surprise for her mother wrapped in a large box. She explains to her mom why she's recording but doesn't give away what's inside the box.

Shortly after unwrapping it, Aurelia's mom pulls a teddy bear dressed in a t-shirt and little pants out of the box. Through excited confusion, she yells, "What is this?!" before Aurelia instructs her to press the paw on the bear.

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