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Pop Culture

Adele moved to tears after a man in the crowd holds up a photo of his late wife

"I see these little pockets of people's lives when I walk through, and it's so beautiful."

adele, adele tikok, adele las vegas
@adeleaccess/TikTok

"This is for you, sir, who's showing me a photo of his wife on his phone.”

Adele is an artist who regularly interacts with her fans during concerts. But one particular exchange left the singer in tears.

During one of her “Weekends with Adele” shows at Caesar's Palace in Vegas, the British pop icon began walking through the crowd singing “When We Were Young” when she noticed a man holding up his phone to show a picture of his wife.

Back on stage to sing “Someone Like You,” Adele then said, "This is for you, sir, who's showing me a photo of his wife on his phone,” while smiling.

Only a few moments later, Adele realized there was an additional layer to the man’s story.


After the song ended, Adele took a moment to describe to the crowd what just happened. "When I walk through the crowd," she said, taking a big breath to hold back tears, "I wish you could see what I could see."

She continued, "I know I talk to a few people every night, but then I just see little stories of people happening. There was a man. He's just there—can you see him holding his phone up?"

Tearing up, the “Hello” singer explained, "I think that's his wife on his phone, and I don't think she's here, and it just really moved me."

@adeleaccess A very special moment from Adele’s concert this past Friday ♥️ #adele#weekendswithadele#adelevegas#adelelive#someonelikeyou#whenwewereyoung♬ Someone Like You - Adele

"It looks like you're here on your own, and I'm so sorry," she told the man. "I'm so sorry for your loss, and I'm so sorry I didn't realize what you were showing me until I was already over there. I see these little pockets of people's lives when I walk through, and it's so beautiful."

People who watched the video noticed that the man had held up his wife’s picture while holding his heart. One person wrote, “crying bc he looked so content even if Adele didn’t notice, like he was happy knowing his wife would’ve loved just seeing what he’s seeing.”

It goes to show not only what a big heart Adele has, but the inherent empathy humans have for one another. Complete strangers can create intimate bonds because, to some extent, we all share an experience of love and loss. It’s a painful part of life, but arguably one that makes life so rewarding.

@penslucero/TikTok

Pency Lucero taking in the Northern Lights

Seeing the northern lights is a common bucket list adventure for many people. After all, it ticks a lot of boxes—being a dazzling light show, rich historical experience and scientific phenomenon all rolled into one. Plus there’s the uncertainty of it all, never quite knowing if you’ll witness a vivid streak of otherworldly colors dance across the sky…or simply see an oddly colored cloud. It’s nature’s slot machine, if you will.

Traveler and content creator Pency Lucero was willing to take that gamble. After thorough research, she stumbled upon an Airbnb in Rörbäck, Sweden with an actual picture of the northern lights shining above the cabin in the listing. With that kind of photo evidence, she felt good about her odds.

However, as soon as she landed, snow began falling so hard that the entire sky was “barely visible,” she told Upworthy. Martin, the Airbnb host, was nonetheless determined to do everything he could to ensure his guests got to see the spectacle, even offering to wake Lucero up in the middle of the night if he saw anything.

Then one night, the knock came.

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Pop Culture

Daughter shares incredible 3D optical illusions painted by her father, who has aphasia

David Hollowell suffered from a traumatic brain injury in 2021, losing his ability to speak. Remarkably, he is still able to express himself through art.

@david.hollowell/TikTok

David Hollowell pictured with his 3D art

For a little over three decades, David Hollowell’s professional life had been dedicated to art. In addition to working as an art professor, his highly acclaimed 3D illusion paintings were shown in prestigious exhibits. In 2018, the 71-year-old began taking his talents to a larger scale, turning his family barn into an immersive mural.

Then, in May of 2021, Hollowell fell off the roof of his home, resulting in a traumatic brain injury leading to aphasia, a disorder that affects a person’s ability to communicate through speech or written language.

Though Hollowell couldn’t access words the way he used to, his ability to paint detailed, mesmerizing images remained remarkably intact. And his daughter-slash-self-appointed-TikTok manager, Adrienne, is determined to share his work and his journey with as many people as possible.

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via YouTube

These days, we could all use something to smile about, and few things do a better job at it than watching actor Christopher Walken dance.

A few years back, some genius at HuffPo Entertainment put together a clip featuring Walken dancing in 50 of his films, and it was taken down. But it re-emerged in 2014 and the world has been a better place for it.

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An Australian woman thinks it's rude that Americans don't say, "You're welcome."

There’s been a growing trend amongst American Gen Zers and millennials to stop saying, “You're welcome,” after being thanked. Older generations may think the change is part of a more significant trend of younger people having more lax manners, but in actuality, younger people believe that giving a simple “OK” or “Mm-hmm” after being thanked is more polite than saying, “You're welcome.”

Recently, Australian TikTok user Tilly Hokianga vented her frustrations with Americans in a viral post entitled, “Things That Send Me as an Australian Living in the US.” A lot of the points she made were pretty typical for someone visiting the United States, such as there's too much sugar in the bread and too many options for cereal.

However, she also noted that Americans have difficulty saying, “You’re welcome.”

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Meteorologist Matt Laubham prays for the people in the path of a deadly tornado.

Broadcasters who have to report on tragedies as they are happening have a tough job. On the one hand, they have to maintain their professionalism and inform the public of what's happening in a factual way. On the other hand, they're still human and sometimes humanity trumps the traditional perception of what's "professional."

Such was the case for WTVA meteorologist Matt Laubhan, who found himself live on the air staring at a radar scan of a deadly tornado as it moved towards the small town of Amory, Mississippi. He, more than anyone, understood the severity of the situation, and he did his best to convey that to his viewers.

"This is a strong, life-threatening tornado that's going to move either extremely close to Amory or in through the northern part of the city of Amory."

He added, "Y'all trust me too much," explaining that people sometimes take his predictions of where the tornado will go as hard fact, but the reality is that tornados can change directions at any time. "So Amory, we need to be in our tornado safe place," he said.

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Rick Astley rocking his Foo Fighters 'Everlong' cover.

Rick Astley has to be the luckiest '80s musician on the planet. The whole "Rickrolling" phenomenon has given his hit song "Never Gonna Give You Up" a reach far beyond its natural life span, and kept the guy a household name far longer than he probably would have been.

(For those who are unfamiliar, Rickrolling is when you make someone think they're being sent to a website, but the link goes to Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" video instead as a joke. It's a silly viral bait-and-switch gag that's been going since 2006.)

But what people may not realize, because his most famous song has become an internet joke, is that Rick Astley is actually a really freaking great musician. The man can saaaang and it seems he's only gotten better with age.

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