An adorable little girl named Gabby who was adopted when she was four years old by a couple in Dallas, Texas, is melting hearts. In a viral video, she explains to her mom what it was like to be adopted and what she thought the first time she saw her new parents. Watch to see her incredible explanation.
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A safe, stable home can change lives for the better. Here’s how Habitat for Humanity wants to make that possible for everyone.
Better health, better jobs, and a brighter future all start with access to a safe, affordable home.
A single door can open up a world of endless possibilities. For homeowners, the front door of their house is a gateway to financial stability, job security, and better health. Yet for many, that door remains closed. Due to the rising costs of housing, 1 in 3 people around the world wake up without the security of safe, affordable housing.
Since 1976, Habitat for Humanity has made it their mission to unlock and open the door to opportunity for families everywhere, and their efforts have paid off in a big way. Through their work over the past 50 years, more than 65 million people have gained access to new or improved housing, and the movement continues to gain momentum. Since 2011 alone, Habitat for Humanity has expanded access to affordable housing by a hundredfold.
A world where everyone has access to a decent home is becoming a reality, but there’s still much to do. As they celebrate 50 years of building, Habitat for Humanity is inviting people of all backgrounds and talents to be part of what comes next through Let’s Open the Door, a global campaign that builds on this momentum and encourages people everywhere to help expand access to safe, affordable housing for those who need it most. Here’s how the foundation to a better world starts with housing, and how everyone can pitch in to make it happen.
Volunteers raise a wall for the framework of a new home during the first day of building at Habitat for Humanity’s 2025 Carter Work Project. Globally, almost 3 billion people, including 1 in 6 U.S. families, struggle with high costs and other challenges related to housing. A crisis in itself, this also creates larger problems that affect families and communities in unexpected ways. People who lack affordable, stable housing are also more likely to experience financial hardship in other areas of their lives, since a larger share of their income often goes toward rent, utilities, and frequent moves. They are also more likely to experience health problems due to chronic stress or environmental factors, such as mold. Housing insecurity also goes hand-in-hand with unstable employment, since people may need to move further from their jobs or switch jobs altogether to offset the cost of housing.
Affordable homeownership creates a stable foundation for families to thrive, reducing stress and increasing the likelihood for good health and stable employment. Habitat for Humanity builds and repairs homes with individual families, but it also strengthens entire communities as well. The MicroBuild® Initiative, for example, strengthens communities by increasing access to loans for low-income families seeking to build or repair their homes. Habitat ReStore locations provide affordable appliances and building materials to local communities, in addition to creating job and volunteer opportunities that support neighborhood growth.
Marsha and her son pose for a photo while building their future home with Southern Crescent Habitat for Humanity in Georgia. Everyone can play a part in the fight for housing equity and the pursuit of a better world. Over the past 50 years, Habitat for Humanity has become a leader in global housing thanks to an engaged network of volunteers—but you don’t need to be skilled with a hammer to make a meaningful impact. Building an equitable future means calling on a wide range of people and talents.
Here’s how you can get involved in the global housing movement:- Speaking up on social media about the growing housing crisis
- Volunteering on a Habitat for Humanity build in your local community
- Travel and build with Habitat in the U.S. or in one of 60+ countries where we work around the globe
- Join the Let’s Open the Door movement and, when you donate, you can create your own personalized door
- Shop or donate at your local Habitat ReStore
Every action, big and small, drives a global movement toward a better future. A safe home unlocks opportunity for families and communities alike, but it’s volunteers and other supporters, working together with a shared vision, who can open the door for everyone.
Visit habitat.org/open-door to learn more and get involved today.
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Woman who moved from Ireland to Boston shares why the American dream is ‘all a lie.’
“I have been bamboozled.”
Living abroad is a dream many people have, whether it’s spending a summer in a foreign country or packing up their entire life to make the permanent move. In fact, according to a 2025 Harris Poll, more than half of Americans believe they could have a higher quality of life abroad, and many say they’d move if they had the means. Some estimates show that an estimated 5.5 million Americans live abroad, according to the Association of Americans Resident Overseas.
But life is funny, and sometimes these expats come back to the United States for a variety of reasons like family or career, which gives them an extremely interesting perspective when they begin their re-entry.
Take American-born TikTok user Kayleigh Donahue, for example. She’s going viral on the platform because of her unflinching take on why it was a mistake for her to move back to the U.S. after spending 4 years in Ireland.
Moving to the U.S. was a step backwards
Kayleigh moved back to the Boston area from Ireland to make more money, but that didn’t go as planned.
Even though she got paid more, the cost of living was so much higher that she saved less money than she did in Ireland. She also missed the generous number of vacation days she got in Europe as compared to America.
“I have been bamboozled,” she begins in the now viral clip with over 600 thousand views.
Many people like Kayleigh move abroad, especially to European countries, for a slower way of life, better work-life balance, more opportunity for travel, or just to see something different. But America is the land of opportunity, right? For some, that promise always beckons, no matter where they go. So even though Kayleigh had an amazing life in Ireland, she wound up moving home to advance her career and make more money.
The real cost of the American Dream
“Basically, I really got sucked into the American Dream way of living when I was abroad, which is funny because I loved living abroad,” Kayleigh said. “But you know, making more money, that’s enticing. Good job, that’s enticing. It’s not true. It used to be. It definitely used to be. You could come here and make a ton of money, make a great life for yourself. But the younger generation today, in this country – screwed. It’s literally all a lie that is sold to you. It’s such a struggle, and the older generation doesn’t seem to see how much of a struggle it is for the younger generation here.”
In the end, who wants to work harder for a lower quality of life?
“Needless to say, I will most likely be moving back to Europe where 20-plus days of paid vacation a year is literally the law, and I will make less money, but somehow, you know, the cost of living is lower there and I can save more,” Kayleigh concluded the video.
The comments support Kayleigh
Viewers applauded Kayleigh for coming to the realization:
“Yep, I made the same mistake. Then I realized that people and quality of life are more important than income. Enjoy life!” one wrote.
“Get that. We moved back to US and it was horrible. We moved back to the UK. Happier now was 6 weeks off a year” said another.
“I think there are actually very few people who derive their enjoyment and self-worth from their job. Quality of life is so much more important,” another user added.
Kayleigh made good on her promise. As of January 2025, she now lives in Amsterdam with her Dutch husband, and they seem to be loving their life abroad.
A Mercer survey in 2024 put Amsterdam as the sixth best city in the world for quality of life. It’s a place with rich culture, amazing public transportation, and a reasonable cost of living to earning potential ratio.
Young Americans really aren’t asking for that much. They just want to be able to afford and enjoy their life, and they’re willing to work hard for it. America should be giving them those opportunities instead of losing more and more talented young people to other countries.
This article originally appeared two years ago. It has been updated.
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Mom breaks down in tears after another parent called her about her daughter’s lunch
Small gestures can mean so much.
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.
An unexpected phone call
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. “I was like, ‘thank you for my food’? Like, what is she talking about? Did she find my TikTok? ‘F**k, I’m mortified.’ But that wasn’t the case,” Soogia recalled, hardly being able to get the story out through her tears.
That may seem like a small thing to some, but the small gesture healed a little bit of Soogia’s inner child. Growing up as a Korean kid in California, Soogia’s experience was a bit different than what her children are now experiencing.
Children eating lunch together. Photo via Canva/Photos “I guess I just never thought that my kids would be the generation of kids that could go to school and not only just proudly eat, but share their food with other kids that were just so open and accepting to it,” Soogia says through tears. “Knowing that they don’t sit there eating their food, feeling ashamed and wishing that their fried rice was a bagel instead, or something like that. And I know, it sounds so small and it sounds so stupid, but knowing their experience at school is so different from mine in such a positive way is just so hopeful.”
At the end of the video, she vowed to send extra food in her daughter’s lunch every day so she could share her culture with the other kids.
The comments were heartfelt
Soogia’s tearful video pulled on the heartstrings of her viewers who shared their thoughts in the comments.
“Soogia! It will never be small. Your culture is beautiful & the littles are seeing that every day. You’ve even taught me so much. I’m grateful for you,” one person says.
“Beautiful! I can see your inner child healing in so many ways,” another writes.
“Welp. Now I’m sobbing at the airport. This is beautiful,” someone reveals.
“These Gen Alpha babies really are a different, kinder generation. I love them so much,” one commenter gushes.
Ultimately, the story is a wonderful reminder that everyone has a backstory and that a simple gesture like appreciating someone’s culture or history can mean far more to them than you’ll ever know.
This article originally appeared 2 years ago. It has been updated.
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Teacher explains how ’90s kids never had water bottles in school and ‘somehow’ survived
“Save some water for the fish!”
Americans’ attitudes about water have changed over the past 30 years. In the past, a common phrase on the athletic field was, “Don’t drink too much water, you’ll get a cramp,” which was partially true because of the risk for overhydration. Beyond that, the only people with water bottles were hippies. Now, people everywhere walk around with large water bottles, sometimes up to 64oz, attached to themselves like purses. It’s like people leave the house with the sincere belief that they will not be able to find potable water for the next three weeks.
The hydration craze has also meant that water bottles have become trendy status symbols and markers of personal identity. Are you more of a Yeti person or a Stanley? The trend has also been passed down to our children, who are encouraged to bring water bottles to school daily. In 2024, Miss Smith from the popular Bored Teachers TikTok page had fun with the trend in a video that received over 1.5 million views.
“Does anyone over 30 remember being allowed to have a water bottle in their elementary classroom?” she asks in the video.
The three-second rule
Miss Smith recalls the only water she had during school back in the day was at lunch or during snack time and even then, the time she was allowed at the water fountain was limited.
“You were like gulping for life at that water fountain while kids behind you were like obnoxiously counting down or being like, ‘She’s getting more than 3 seconds!’” Then, the teacher would tap you on the shoulder, and you were done.
“Can you imagine if we did that to today’s kids? The emails! The calls I would get,” she continued.
The funny thing is that even though kids didn’t drink much water back in the day—and if they did, it was out of a fountain—somehow they survived. Now, we’re raising an entire generation that feels compelled to lug a heavy and costly bottle with them wherever they go, fearing they will suffer from dehydration.
Plenty of people remember those days well
The post resonated with many folks over 30 who lived through the dry days of pre-millennium America.
“I hear all the time that behavior issues have risen since we were kids; my theory is we were too dehydrated to misbehave,” one commenter joked. “We didn’t have water bottles because they also didn’t want us to ever go to the bathroom,” another added. “I don’t remember drinking water as a kid. Unless it was from a hose, it was Kool-Aid or milk. How am I still alive?” another said.
Your water bottle is SO ‘2023’
The hydration craze was a news topic in early 2024 after the new, limited edition Stanley + Starbucks water bottle was released at Target stores. The frenzy over the $49.95 bottle had people camping outside Target and jumping counters to get their hands on newly designed bottles popular with younger women.
The bottles promise to keep hot drinks hot and cold drinks cold for an extended period of time. So, when you drop your daughter off at first period, her water is still cold by the time the 3:05 bell rings. Having cold water throughout the day certainly is a luxury, but does it explain the hype? Some think the hydration craze has gotten out of control, but if history has anything to say about it, trends come and go and extra hydration in fancy cups might be on the way out.
This article originally appeared two years ago. It has been updated.
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Millennial has brilliant clapback for Gen Zers who try to say they haven’t aged well
He also brought the receipts.
Millennials and Gen Z truly have a sibling kind of relationship. They take turns teasing each other but in the end it’s nothing but love between the two generations. One such viral taunting involved people saying that Gen Zers have aged like milk. Several Gen Zers themselves even agreed that people often mistake them for much older than they are. But that’s neither here nor there.
Gen Z eventually fired back with their own commentary about how poorly millennials age. But millennials came with receipts to prove that this was beyond untrue. Millennial Chris Bautista uploaded a pretty savage video response to these young whippersnappers explaining why they feel that way.
According to Bautista, the answer is quite simple. Millennials set the bar for what aging looks like for people approaching middle age.
Why millennials think they’re aging better
“I’m gonna say this a little bit louder for the Gen Zers in the back that didn’t hear me the last time. Millennials look fantastic for our age and you cannot tell us otherwise,” Bautista starts. “The reason why you think we don’t look great for our ages is because we have set the new standard of what it looks like to age.”
Then he pulls out the evidence. Pictures of celebrities who were the age millennials are right now when the pictures were taken. Yikes! Most millennials look nowhere near the age of the people in the pictures.
Watch the video:
Fellow millennials were quick to chime in with their guesses as to why they are the poster children for anti-aging.
“It’s cause all millennials used the St. Ives peach scrub exfoliating wash and we achieved eternal youth,” someone surmised.
“It’s gotta be the Flintstone vitamins,” another quipped.
“I don’t know, I am 40 and got stopped at my son’s high school security guard because he thought I was a student. No one ever believes my age,” wrote a third.
A fourth shared, “But seriously like what’s the reason? Cause this life has been stressful.”
Experts actually have some answers
There are several theories as to why the anti-aging phenomenon has occurred. None of them actually involve Flintstones vitamins or St. Ives scrubs, but they do have that signature self deprecating millennial humor. They range from being the first group heavily indoctrinated to cosmetic “tweakments,” to being depressed and therefore indoors all day, to simply having youthful energy due to never being able to truly grow up.
A woman getting botox Photo credit: Canva However, according to experts, it really comes down to millennials being among the first group to take the basics seriously. By basics, we mean, sunscreen (and somehow bypassing the anti-sunscreen conspiracy theory craze via TikTok) as well as hydration (hellooooo Stanley water bottles). Plus, millennials aren’t as known to have a proclivity towards vaping, like their Gen Z counterparts. Sometimes it really comes down to the simple things.
Regardless of aging it seems that the sibling banter between these two generations will remain alive and well forever and ever.
This article originally appeared two years ago. It has been updated.
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Responses to silly ‘depluralize a movie’ prompt showcase how delightfully clever people can be
These went so much harder than expected.
For all of the downsides of social media, one of its biggest upsides is how it highlights how incredibly funny some people are. Short form posts are a perfect place for quippy wit and humor to shine, and when you toss in a prompt with a grammatical twist, the result is a showcase of human cleverness.
A perfect example is the “Depluralize a movie” prompt, which has made its way around various social media sites and brings out the most concisely skilled word nerds among us.
“JAW.” Cute, simple, straightforward. You can take any movie with a plural “s” and just remove it for a tiny chuckle. “The Avenger.” “Star War.” “Heather.” But the best responses make you think for a minute before the light bulb goes on and the belly laugh hits:
“Lion and Prejudice.”
“Tree Gump.”
“Snow White and no one else.”
“A Crow on the Orient Express.”
“Gone with the Air Molecule.”
“The Breakfast Individual.”
“Fish of rock.”
“Indiana Jone.”
“Child of the kernel.”
“Clause of Endearment.”
“Cheaper By Myself.”
“Chitty Bang”
“Monster, Sole Proprietor.”
“BRICK-E.”
“Inchloose.”
“A Single Ado About Nothing”
“One Good Man.”
“Something, Somewhere, Once”
“Saturday at Bernie’s”
“One Dollar Baby.”
“Mario Only Child”
“The Postman Rang Once The One Time He Stopped By.”
“I for Vendetta”
“Malcom I”
“Jumanjus.”
That last one is a perfect example of why people are loving the responses to this prompt. “Jumanji” isn’t even plural, but applying the rule that gives us cactus/cacti and octopus/octopi, we get “Jumanjus.” Cleverly hilarious.
Some adjustments are just so silly, you can’t help but laugh, like “Indiana Jone.” Many of them use animal groups (pride of lions, murder of crows, school of fish) that you have to decipher or stretch your logic to break down things we don’t think of as plural (wall to brick, wind to air molecule, corporation to sole proprietor). And “I for Vendetta” and “Malcolm I”? Perfect. (As one person said, we don’t have enough Roman numeral humor in the world.)
People loved seeing how creative others were in their responses:
“This thread is for the ‘pleasure to have in class’ kids only and I love it. 😂”
“Gods everyone is so much smarter than me. I’m just over here trying to think of titles ending in S.”
“I’ve never been more ok with everyone been smarter than me. 😂”
“I cannot read this thread while my partner is trying to sleep beside me. I am SHAKING the bed, laughing.”
Why do we find wordplay so funny? Photo credit: Canva Why do people find these depluralized titles so funny, though? Likely the same reason we delight in puns and spoonerisms. Wordplay tickles our brains and our funny bones.
As neuroscientist Dean Burnett shared with BBC Science Focus, “Humor is essentially our brain going ‘This isn’t how things usually work… but I’m okay with it!’”
Burnett explains that humor happens in our brains when there’s incongruity between what we expect to happen and what actually happens and we resolve that incongruity.
“Basically, thanks to these complex systems in our brains, humour can be derived from things being surprising, unexpected or wrong in some form, as long at it’s resolved, without negative consequences,” he writes.
That’s essentially what’s happening when we see a familiar movie title altered in a way that we don’t expect but that ultimately makes sense. Whatever the humor trigger, it’s so fun to have so many people enjoy some wordplay together.
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Man explains the counterintuitive reason Norwegians love fishnet underwear
It’s not in case they trip across a nightclub.
When you think of mesh shirts and fishnet stockings, you might picture a goth, punk, or other brands of night club fashion. Most wouldn’t associate fishnet garments with hiking, skiing, or dogsledding.
But as Michael Kristy from The Iron Snail Clothing Co. explains, fishnets are the underwear of choice for many. In particular, Norwegians who want to enjoy the great outdoors in all temperatures wear them. It may seem counterintuitive to wear something holey to stay warm, but there’s a reason it works better than most base layers.
Kristy explains that Norwegians have been wearing fishnets under their clothes for over 100 years. And they’re not the only ones. The first people who summited Mt. Everest wore a fishnet layer under their clothing to stay warm.
Mesh undergarments were popular around the 1950s, but they weren’t called fishnets. They were called “health vests” or “string vests” and they were touted as being “recommended by medical professionals.”
What’s the big deal with mesh? It’s all about the air layer it creates. Wearing it under clothing serves as both an insulating layer and a moisture wicking layer.
“It really helps regulate your overall body temperature and makes you feel a lot more comfortable when you don’t have wet, clammy clothes sticking to you at all times,” says Kristy.
The Norwegian company Brynje manufactures mesh under layers and claims they are four to six times warmer than other base layers.
So under other clothing, the fishnet fabric keeps you warmer. But conversely, if you get too hot, stripping down to only the mesh layer will quickly cool you down.
In addition to plenty of punk/goth approvals, the comments included corroboration from Norwegians and others who have first-hand experience with the magic of mesh base layers:
“Norwegian here, and proud wearer of «netting» as we call it in the military!”
“Can confirm, most Norwegians (and neighbours) that do outdoors stuff use ullnetting/woolnet. It’s basically a cheatcode for staying warm, so I have a ton of these. The words fishnets or health/stringvests is never used. You can find very old farmers that use the word healthvest/helsetrøye, mostly people just call them ullnetting or netting if talking to outdoors people.”
“I’m a veteran. I did training with the Norwegian army on a base north of Norway. I had so many layers and was constantly freezing my ass off. I noticed the Norwegian army guys had these fishnets as their first layer. And asked em why they all had that. He told me it was to keep them warm. Luckily i have not been in that kind of cold since. But getting those fishnet layers has been on my mind since.”
Fishnet leggings add a surprising amount of warmth as an underlayer. Photo credit: Canva “Our guide on a glacier tour in Norway had these and told me about them, so I decided to give them a go for a recent vacation to go figure skating on wild ice in northern Sweden. I wore these nets under a merino wool baselayer and a thick Norwegian wool sweater (plus an outer synthetic hard shell to keep out the wind) and it was fantastic. Spent all day outdoors at -20°C combining intense workouts with picnic breaks and never got cold thanks to my base layer always being dry. 11/10 would recommend, I haven’t shut up about these since then.”
“Yeah, it’s absolutely true too. I’m an avid outdoorsmen, so I’ve watched lots of tests on this. Fishnets outperform even the best wool base layers in absolutely every single category except for odor. Unless we’re talking niche applications there’s nothing better than the fishnets.”
“I’ve been wearing mesh shirts under my normal clothes for about a year now—and without knowing this was exactly what they were used for, I found it helped me keep cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Imagine my surprise when this video teaches me I’ve been continuing a longstanding Norwegian tradition as a necessity for working in a warehouse (and for punk fashion lol).”
With as many advancements as we’ve made, sometimes the traditional methods still work best.
You can follow The Iron Snail on YouTube for more fun clothing facts.
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56 years after it first debuted, Robert Plant performs a majestic version of ‘Ramble On’
“It’s why this man is on the shortest of short lists of the best front men of all time.”
In 1969, the Juggy Sound Studio in New York City was forever changed. It was that year and place that Led Zeppelin recorded (at least part of) their album Led Zeppelin II, with the song “Ramble On” its 7th track. The song, co-written by front man Robert Plant and guitarist Jimmy Page (who also produced the track), has remained a staple in their extraordinarily rocking catalogue for over half a century.
So when Robert Plant, at the ripe young age of 77, casually strolled onto the set of The Late show with Stephen Colbert and flawlessly belted out the song, fans sure noticed. Yes, his face has more wrinkles – time will do that to a person. But it’s time itself that made the lyrics to this particular song all the more meaningful.
“Like he wrote it this morning”
Guitar Gods Unleashed took to X to share the video, writing “’Ramble On’ is 56 years old, and Robert Plant just walked onto The Late Show and made it sound like he wrote it this morning.”
The comments are so fitting for such a powerhouse performance. One X-er notes that some rock stars age. But Robert Plant? “You see the aging rock star trying to replay their youth, then you have Robert Plant being Robert Plant, and it rivals the original from a half century ago. Just incredible.”
Lord of the Rings
Another points out the lyrics, which reference J.R.R. Tolkien’s popular book series turned movies, Lord of the Rings. “I like that ‘Ramble On’ has Lord of the Rings references from back when Robert was reading the book series. I had no idea what Lord of the Rings was back when I first became a fan of the song, but eventually I said, “wait…did he mention Gollum and Mordor?”
In a piece for Far Out Magazine, Jack Whatley discussed the fact that many bands are influenced by authors. “The singer used moments throughout the lyrics to express his connection; lines like ‘the darkest depths of Mordor’ and ‘Gollum and the evil one’ are both doffs of the caps to the writer. Many artists have made references to great literature in their time; whether it is The Beatles and C.S. Lewis’ influence on ‘I Am The Walrus’ or The Cure’s nod to Albert Camus.”
The lyrics
The lyrics are so hauntingly beautiful and even more impactful now that Plant is older.
“Leaves are fallin’ all around
It’s time I was on my way
Thanks to you, I’m much obliged
For such a pleasant stayBut now it’s time for me to go
The autumn moon lights my way
For now, I smell the rain, and with it, pain
And it’s headed my wayAh, sometimes I grow so tired
But I know I’ve got one thing I’ve got to doRamble on
And now’s the time, the time is now
Sing my song
I’m goin’ ’round the world, I gotta find my girlOn my way
I’ve been this way ten years to the day
I’m gonna ramble on
Gotta find the queen of all my dreamsGot no time for spreadin’ roots
The time has come to be gone
Though our health, we drank a thousand times
It’s time to ramble onRamble on
And now’s the time, the time is now
Sing my song
I’m goin’ ’round the world, I gotta find my girlOn my way
I’ve been this way ten years to the day
I’m gonna ramble on
Gotta find the queen of all my dreamsI ain’t tellin’ no lie
Mine’s a tale that can’t be told
My freedom I hold dear
How years ago in days of old
When magic filled the air‘Twas in the darkest depths of Mordor
I met a girl so fair
But Gollum and the evil one
Crept up and slipped away with her, her, her, her, her, yeahAnd ain’t nothin’ I can do, no
I guess I’ll keep onRamblin’, I’m gonna say
Sing my song, I’ve gotta find my baby
I’m gonna ramble on, sing my song
Gonna work my way, gonna ramble on
Gonna ramble on, yeah-yeah”“A completely new composition”
Another fan shares their thoughts on just how brilliant the performance was. “To craft a new arrangement of a rock classic – a completely new composition – centered around the limitations your aging 80-year-old voice… and create something still so artistic and beautiful… it’s why this man is on the shortest of short lists of the best front men of all time.”
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Tornado forces couple to have their wedding in a gym next to an active volleyball game
“They made us feel like royalty.”
A lot of things can go wrong at a wedding, but for Visha and Ankeet Shah, what went wrong was rather unique. During their wedding, a tornado forced them and their guests to leave an upper floor of the Oklahoma City Convention Center to take shelter downstairs. Nearly 400 wedding guests had to share the first floor with a junior volleyball tournament that was taking place. Thankfully, all that went wrong ended up so right as the players celebrated the couple.
Prior to the tornado sirens going off, the wedding reception was in the middle of dancing the Garba, a traditional Indian dance.
“I remember them saying, ‘We have an emergency! There’s a tornado watch happening, and we need to take shelter and go downstairs,’” Ankeet Shah, the groom, told People. “I thought it was a joke at first, but then it turned into a reality, and we headed downstairs.”
Bump, set, celebration
In under 15 minutes, the wedding attendees were downstairs at the courts where the volleyball players were stretching before their match-ups. As everyone sheltered in place, the players started to notice what was going on. Wedding guests and players started mingling, with some players taking photos with the happy couple.
“We started kind of chatting with one of the coaches, and before we knew it, the girls ran onto the court taking pics with the couple and started chanting and lifting them up,” said Sydney Ore, the Shah’s wedding planner.
One thing led to another, creating a lively party atmosphere. Players joined in with guests to celebrate, clapping and chanting the bride and groom’s names. A mass of happy volleyball players lifted them both up into the air to celebrate.
“The girls were basically singing with us, dancing with us. They made us feel like royalty,” Ankeet said to KOCO News 5.
Shelter in place turned party in place
The volleyball players soon helped recreate the Garba with the guests.
“There’s usually music playing around and folks singing around with it, as well, but we did a silence dance with it, as well, and we looked over and saw the volleyball girls across the net doing a silent dance with us, as well, and that was super fun and memorable,” said Visha Shah, the bride.
What could have ruined the day turned out to be a wedding celebration that was more memorable than expected. A community of kind strangers came together, refusing to let the weather ruin the wedding or the volleyball tournament’s good time.
“It was amazing. It was the kindness of strangers truly. My tears were sad in the beginning but then towards the end it was happy tears,” concluded Visha.
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