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After adopting 7 kids, this lesbian couple is advocating for unconditional love.

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Judy Mitchell and Robyn Moreland are the kind of couple that should never have problems becoming parents.

Marriage has been a major roadblock for same-sex couples looking to adopt in the U.S., and the recent Supreme Court ruling on marriage isn't the be-all and end-all solution to their problems. This family is no exception.

Both women knew they wanted to have kids, and they found someone to share that with in each other.

Judy and Robyn met at a school they both taught at and have been together for roughly 13 years. When Judy failed to get pregnant via in-vitro fertilization, they looked to adoption to build their family.


Pictured: cuties. All GIFs and images via Ziniu Chen/Vimeo.

They now have seven adorable children. Most of them are young enough that they don't have memories of their lives before being adopted, but the couple's oldest children do.

Chase and Saydai were adopted when they were 10 and 8 years old, respectively. The brother-sister pair had been in foster care since they were 5 and 3, after someone discovered them behind a warehouse by themselves. They had been wandering the streets for a week in the July heat with no shoes, no food, and no water.

Judy and Robyn have an infinite amount of unconditional love for their children.

Don't just take my word for it, take Chase's:

He dreams of dodging his younger brother's wicked fastball.

Plus, being out of the foster care system will make it much easier for Chase and his siblings find jobs and pursue higher education in the future:

"I personally have friends who are still in group homes right now, and I know it is a lot more difficult for them to get a job or to get the financial aid to go to college," says Chase. "When I moved in with Judy and Robyn, there's more likelihood that I will be able to access those resources that are available to me."

Even though Chase, Saydai, and their adopted siblings were able to get out of the foster care system, their family faced legal challenges in the process.

One of the biggest challenges of all?

Robyn is the only legal guardian of all seven children, meaning Judy's rights as a parent are few to none.

What would happen if Robyn, who ended up applying as the guardian, became seriously ill? What if something happened to one of the kids and Judy was barred from coming to their aid because she isn't their legal guardian?

Robyn describes the extra precautions they had to take to protect their children:

"We had to go and get wills, have everything set out legally so that if something were to happen to me, the kids would be able to stay with Judy because otherwise the state would take them."

This summer's marriage equality ruling was historic. But gay couples are still fighting for their right to adopt.

Some recent (and pretty eye-opening) challenges include:

Yet, over 400,000 children were in the U.S. foster care system as recently as 2013.

Judy and Robyn's kids found their family, and their family should be recognized as such.

Watch them tell their story here:

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Making new friends as an adult is challenging. While people crave meaningful IRL connections, it can be hard to know where to find them. But thanks to one Facebook Group, meeting your new best friends is easier than ever.

Founded in 2018, NYC Brunch Squad brings together hundreds of people who come as strangers and leave as friends through its in-person events.

“Witnessing the transformative impact our community has on the lives of our members is truly remarkable. We provide the essential support and connections needed to thrive amid the city's chaos,” shares Liza Rubin, the group’s founder.

Despite its name, the group doesn’t just do brunch. They also have book clubs, seasonal parties, and picnics, among other activities.

NYC Brunch Squad curates up to 10 monthly events tailored to the specific interests of its members. Liza handles all the details, taking into account different budgets and event sizes – all people have to do is show up.

“We have members who met at our events and became friends and went on to embark on international journeys to celebrate birthdays together. We have had members get married with bridesmaids by their sides who were women they first connected with at our events. We’ve had members decide to live together and become roommates,” Liza says.

Members also bond over their passion for giving back to their community. The group has hosted many impact-driven events, including a “Picnic with Purpose” to create self-care packages for homeless shelters and recently participated in the #SquadSpreadsJoy challenge. Each day, the 100 members participating receive random acts of kindness to complete. They can also share their stories on the group page to earn extra points. The member with the most points at the end wins a free seat at the group's Friendsgiving event.

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Democracy

This Map Reveals The True Value Of $100 In Each State

Your purchasing power can swing by 30% from state to state.

Image by Tax Foundation.

Map represents the value of 100 dollars.

As the cost of living in large cities continues to rise, more and more people are realizing that the value of a dollar in the United States is a very relative concept. For decades, cost of living indices have sought to address and benchmark the inconsistencies in what money will buy, but they are often so specific as to prevent a holistic picture or the ability to "browse" the data based on geographic location.

The Tax Foundation addressed many of these shortcomings using the most recent (2015) Bureau of Economic Analysis data to provide a familiar map of the United States overlaid with the relative value of what $100 is "worth" in each state. Granted, going state-by-state still introduces a fair amount of "smoothing" into the process — $100 will go farther in Los Angeles than in Fresno, for instance — but it does provide insight into where the value lies.

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One man turned nursing home design on its head when he created this stunning facility

"What if we design an environment that looks like outside?" he said. "What if I can have a sunrise and sunset inside the building?



92-year-old Norma had a strange and heartbreaking routine.

Every night around 5:30 p.m., she stood up and told the staff at her Ohio nursing home that she needed to leave. When they asked why, she said she needed to go home to take care of her mother. Her mom, of course, had long since passed away.

Behavior like Norma's is quite common for older folks suffering from Alzheimer's or other forms of dementia. Walter, another man in the same assisted living facility, demanded breakfast from the staff every night around 7:30.

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A grandmother always felt her middle granddaughter Lindsay, 15, looked slightly different from the rest of the family because she had blonde, curly hair, while the rest of her siblings’ hair was dark “I thought genetics was being weird and I love her,” she wrote on Reddit’s AITA forum.

But things became serious after Linday’s parents “banned” her from taking things a step further and getting a DNA test. If the family was sure their daughter was theirs, why would they forbid her from seeking clarity in the situation? After the parents laid down the law, the situation started to seem a little suspicious.

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7 things Black people want their well-meaning white friends to know

"You, white friend, need to speak up and say something when I can't."

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Charlie Munger of Berkshire Hathaway.

Charles Munger, Vice Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway and Warren Buffet’s closest business partner, passed away on Tuesday, November 28, at 99. Buffett and Munger's partnership lasted over 50 years, producing Berkshire Hathaway, one of the largest and most successful conglomerates in history.

When Munger passed, his estimated worth was $2.6 billion. Buffet, 93, is believed to be worth $119 billion.

But Munger was far more than just a wealthy man. Apple CEO Tim Cook called Munger a “keen observer of the world around him,” and he was known for his pithy bits of common-sense wisdom known as “Mungerisms.”

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If you're grieving a loved one this holiday season, here's a gift you can give yourself

After losing her almost-4-year-old daughter to epilepsy, Kelly Cervantes created a "grief companion" that meets people wherever they are in their grief journey.

Images courtesy of Kelly Cervantes

Kelly Cervantes wrote her way through grieving the loss of her daughter, Adelaide.

Kelly Cervantes begins the Introduction to her book with five words: "Grief sucks. It's also weird." It's a concise truth that anyone who has lost a loved one knows all too well.

Grief is a universal experience—none of us get through life without loss—but it's also unique to each person. Most of us are familiar with the popular "stages of grief" theory, but denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance (along with guilt and a host of things) are less like sequential rungs on a ladder and more like pools you fall into at various times as you stumble your way through the grief process. Grief is not linear and it's not neat and tidy and it's not predictable.

Take it from someone who's been there. Kelly Cervantes lost her daughter, Adelaide, to epilepsy just shy of her 4th birthday. Using writing as a therapeutic tool to help her process Adelaide's medically complex life, death and everything that came after, Kelly created the book she wished she'd had as she was trying to navigate her own grieving process.

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