Elderly blind golden retriever is reunited with family after 3 weeks in the Alaskan wilderness
So happy the sweet girl has made her way home.
Golden retriever reunited with family.
Sometimes we all need a feel-good story, and here at Upworthy, we seek out those stories so we can bring them to our audience. When we saw this one in the Daily Sitka Sentinel about a blind elderly dog being reunited with her worried family, we knew we had to share. An Alaskan family was faced with extraordinary stress after losing their sweet elderly pup, Lulu, after she wandered away from the yard.
Alaska is no place for a pet to go missing, with the wide range of wild animals sharing the habitat with its human population. From grizzly bears to moose, wolverines and everything in between, Alaska isn’t the safest place for domesticated animals to wander around alone. So when Lulu went missing it’s understandable that her family was worried for her safety. Thankfully for the frazzled family, a construction crew found the elderly dog three weeks after she had gone missing. The construction workers first thought Lulu was a bear hiding in the salmonberry bushes.
Lulu was close to death when she was found, but she’s now back with her family getting lots of snuggles and being nursed back to health. Ted Kubacki, Lulu’s owner, told the Daily Sitka Sentinel, “She means everything. I have five daughters 4 to 13 years old, so they’ve spent every day of their life with that dog.”
After the canine wandered off on June 18, the Kubackis were victims of a mean practical joke when someone told them they had found Lulu. After the Kubackis responded to the text with joy, exclaiming, “Oh my god, this is incredible,” the jokester replied, “just kidding,” dashing the joy and hope of the moment in one cruel text. The family became increasingly worried as the days went by.
Kubacki said, “She’s just so helpless, and you kind of imagined that she can’t get real far because she can’t see.”
Knowing their dog was blind, elderly and essentially defenseless against any predators or people who might do her harm, the family began to give up hope. Days, then weeks passed with no sign of Lulu, until three weeks later when a construction crew ran across what they thought was a bear. Once the crew got close enough to see the bear was actually a lost family pet, they got her out of there and called the Kubackis.
“I called my wife from work and I was just screaming... She just starts yelling, then she yells to the kids. And I just hear them screaming like crazy,” Kubacki told the Sentinel. The normally 80-pound golden retriever had dropped to just 57 pounds, was dirty with matted fur and was obviously dehydrated and hungry.
Kubacki explained that when their beloved dog returned home she could barely pick her head up. But, he said, “Slowly but surely she started eating and she was kind of able to pick her head up. But then yesterday, she propped herself up on her front paws by herself, like nestled into me and gave me a kiss and wagged her tail and it was just so great.”
We’re so happy this story had a storybook ending. Now Lulu can live out the rest of her golden years getting the snuggles she so richly deserves.
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An actual beaver dam on the now-thriving Price River
Not just coworkers—family, friends, strangers, kids…
Imagine having to go so badly but being out of euros. 
Anything hobbit-esque can't be wrong. 
But what if you need pain meds AND mascara?!
Imagine how this would affect childcare.
Honestly…where's the lie?
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Urgent dash to the bathroom! 🚪🏃♂️
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Close-up of bottom of ladybug found in colonPhoto credit: 
There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."