Culture

10 things that made us smile this week

happiness, joy, delight, hope
@ravenscimaven/Twitter, RM Videos/YouTube, CBS/Twitter

From delightful musical TikTok collaborations to surprise engagements, here are 10 delightful finds from this week.

Hello, everyone!

At Upworthy, we're on a mission to make the world a better place, and part of that mission includes bringing more joy into people's lives. Sometimes that means sharing stories of hope and humanity to warm your heart, and sometimes it means sharing silly animal videos you can't help but laugh at.

Each week, we round up 10 things from around the internet that spark joy and delight in the hopes that it brings a little lightness to your day. If you've had a long week and are looking for some reasons to smile, here are 10 of them:

This pooch gives "dog sledding" a whole new meaning.

Are all dogs this smart? If so, I want one.

13-year-old used his Make-a-Wish wish to feed homeless people.

The Make-a-Wish Foundation grants wishes of kids with terminal illnesses, and typical wishes range from getting to meet a hero to getting to go to Disneyland. But when Abraham Olagbegi, who was born with a rare blood disorder, got a chance to get his wish, he chose to feed people who are homeless once a month for a year. "My mom always says it's a blessing to be a blessing so I just wanted to do something for other people to make it last long," he said. What a sweetheart. Read the full story here.

Sikh community prepares 3,000+ meals and transports them by helicopter to stranded Canadians.

British Columbia got hammered by a once-in-a-century weather event that caused unprecedented flooding and mudslides, cutting off Vancouver from the rest of Canada by road and rail. As we've seen countless times before, the Sikh community stepped up to help out, cooking thousands of meals and arranging a helicopter to deliver them. Read the full story here.

Watch this red panda trying to get into a pumpkin.

Why do red pandas always look like little kids dressed up in costume? They're so stinking cute.

The strangers who met after a mistake text are sharing their sixth Thanksgiving together.

Wanda Dench and Jamal Hinton met in 2016 when Wanda thought she was texting her grandson to invite him to Thanksgiving dinner but reached 17-year-old Hinton instead. The two formed a sweet friendship and have been sharing Thanksgiving dinner ever since. Read the wholesome, heartwarming story here.

Adele helped arrange the most adorable surprise engagement ever.

I mean, how can anyone top that? Meet the lucky couple and read the full story here.

Check out this dad showing his tiny baby the art in an art gallery.

That guy's a keeper.

This kid finds out he got a puppy and welp, hand me a tissue, please. 

What pure emotion. Oof. And the way the pup goes up and licks his face? It's too much joy for one video.

Have you ever loved anything the way this pup loves the water?

Dying. There is absolutely no way that doggo is getting out of the water.

This delightful musical collaboration on TikTok is exactly what TikTok should be used for.

As we saw with the wave of sea shanty videos a while back, TikTok can be used to create unique musical collaborations between total strangers. It's the best thing about the app, truly. And this one just takes the cake … er, muffin. So dang sweet.

Hope that brought a smile to your face! Join us at the end of each week for another roundup of joy-filled finds from around the internet.

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A young woman was sad her boyfriend would never meet her mom. Turns out he already had.

Their connection is romantic comedy worthy.

Leah Menzies/TikTok

Leah Menzies had no idea her deceased mother was her boyfriend's kindergarten teacher.

When you start dating the love of your life, you want to share it with the people closest to you. Sadly, 18-year-old Leah Menzies couldn't do that. Her mother died when she was 7, so she would never have the chance to meet the young woman's boyfriend, Thomas McLeodd. But by a twist of fate, it turns out Thomas had already met Leah's mom when he was just 3 years old. Leah's mom was Thomas' kindergarten teacher.

The couple, who have been dating for seven months, made this realization during a visit to McCleodd's house. When Menzies went to meet his family for the first time, his mom (in true mom fashion) insisted on showing her a picture of him making a goofy face. When they brought out the picture, McLeodd recognized the face of his teacher as that of his girlfriend's mother.

Menzies posted about the realization moment on TikTok. "Me thinking my mum (who died when I was 7) will never meet my future boyfriend," she wrote on the video. The video shows her and McLeodd together, then flashes to the kindergarten class picture.

“He opens this album and then suddenly, he’s like, ‘Oh my God. Oh my God — over and over again,” Menzies told TODAY. “I couldn’t figure out why he was being so dramatic.”

Obviously, Menzies is taking great comfort in knowing that even though her mother is no longer here, they can still maintain a connection. I know how important it was for me to have my mom accept my partner, and there would definitely be something missing if she wasn't here to share in my joy. It's also really incredible to know that Menzies' mother had a hand in making McLeodd the person he is today, even if it was only a small part.

@speccylee

Found out through this photo in his photo album. A moment straight out of a movie 🥲

♬ iris - 🫶

“It’s incredible that that she knew him," Menzies said. "What gets me is that she was standing with my future boyfriend and she had no idea.”

Since he was only 3, McLeodd has no actual memory of Menzies' mother. But his own mother remembers her as “kind and really gentle.”

The TikTok has understandably gone viral and the comments are so sweet and positive.

"No the chills I got omggg."

"This is the cutest thing I have watched."

"It’s as if she remembered some significance about him and sent him to you. Love fate 😍✨"

In the caption of the video, she said that discovering the connection between her boyfriend and her mom was "straight out of a movie." And if you're into romantic comedies, you're definitely nodding along right now.

Menzies and McLeodd made a follow-up TikTok to address everyone's positive response to their initial video and it's just as sweet. The young couple sits together and addresses some of the questions they noticed pop up. People were confused that they kept saying McLeodd was in kindergarten but only 3 years old when he was in Menzies' mother's class. The couple is Australian and Menzies explained that it's the equivalent of American preschool.

They also clarified that although they went to high school together and kind of knew of the other's existence, they didn't really get to know each other until they started dating seven months ago. So no, they truly had no idea that her mother was his teacher. Menzies revealed that she "didn't actually know that my mum taught at kindergarten."

"I just knew she was a teacher," she explained.

She made him act out his reaction to seeing the photo, saying he was "speechless," and when she looked at the photo she started crying. McLeodd recognized her mother because of the pictures Menzies keeps in her room. Cue the "awws," because this is so cute, I'm kvelling.

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Therapist shares how creating art helped traumatized students feel calmer after Sandy Hook

A simple idea with big impact.

Photo by Lucas Alexander on Unsplash

A simple solution for all ages, really.

School should feel like a safe space. But after the tragic news of yet another mass shooting, many children are scared to death. As a parent or a teacher, it can be an arduous task helping young minds to unpack such unthinkable monstrosities. Especially when, in all honesty, the adults are also terrified.

Katelyn Campbell, a clinical psychologist in South Carolina, worked with elementary school children in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook shooting. She recently shared a simple idea that helped then, in hopes that it might help now.

The psychologist tweeted, “We had our kids draw pictures of scenery that made them feel calm—we then hung them up around the school—to make the ‘other kids who were scared’ have something calm to look at.”



“Kids, like adults, want to feel helpful when they feel helpless,” she continued, saying that drawing gave them something useful to do.

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5-year-old Italian piano prodigy rocks Mozart at international competition and holy cow

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Alberto Cartuccia Cingolani wows audiences with his amazing musical talents.

Mozart was known for his musical talent at a young age, playing the harpsichord at age 4 and writing original compositions at age 5. So perhaps it's fitting that a video of 5-year-old piano prodigy Alberto Cartuccia Cingolani playing Mozart has gone viral as people marvel at his musical abilities.

Alberto's legs can't even reach the pedals, but that doesn't stop his little hands from flying expertly over the keys as incredible music pours out of the piano at the 10th International Musical Competition "Città di Penne" in Italy. Even if you've seen young musicians play impressively, it's hard not to have your jaw drop at this one. Sometimes a kid comes along who just clearly has a gift.

Of course, that gift has been helped along by two professional musician parents. But no amount of teaching can create an ability like this.

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