Elijah McClain was a massage therapist who played violin for shelter kittens on his lunch break in his hometown of Aurora, Colorado, because he thought the animals were lonely. If that detail alone doesn’t conjure up a picture of a gentle soul, Colorado Music described McClain as a young man who was “quirky, a pacifist, a vegetarian, enjoyed running, and known to put a smile on everyone’s face.”
Elijah McClain should be alive.
The 23-year-old was walking home from a convenience store in Aurora, CO when police stopped him, threw him to the ground and put him in a chokehold. “I can’t breathe,” he cried. “I’m an introvert and I’m different.” He had a heart attack and died. pic.twitter.com/YGeJCvdrRk— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) June 24, 2020
According to The Cut, McClain’s sister says he sometimes wore a ski/runner’s mask because he was anemic and would often get cold. One night last August, he was walking home from the convenience store with his mask on when the police approached him, responding to a call about “a suspicious man” in the area. What ensued was “a struggle” according to police, which was only partially caught on body camera, as all of the officers’ body cameras allegedly fell off during the incident.
McClain was held in a carotid hold, a controversial restraint technique banned in some cities for its potential danger, and was also given a shot of ketamine by paramedics. He had a heart attack on the way to the hospital and died there three days later, after having been declared brain dead.
He was unarmed. He was only 23. And his last words as the officers held him down are heartbreaking.
The full body camera footage of the entire evening’s events was posted on YouTube by the Aurora Police Department in November, three months after McClain’s death. (Discretion is advised.)
After the body camera footage was released, according to the Sentinel, District Attorney Dave Young sent a letter to Aurora police chief Nick Metz stating, “Based on the investigation presented and the applicable Colorado law, there is no reasonable likelihood of success of proving any state crimes beyond a reasonable doubt at trial. Therefore, no state criminal charges will be filed as a result of this incident.”
The officers were cleared of all wrongdoing.
This is one of the most heart wrenching things I’ve ever heard. How DARE these men walk free when the blood of this innocent, compassionate, sweet soul is on THEIR HANDS. #ElijahMcClain#JusticeForElijahMcClain
However, the public outcry over the case has grown into a tsunami of calls for accountability. More than 2.2 million people have signed a Change.org petition calling for a more in-depth investigation into McClain’s death.
On June 9, City Manager Jim Twombly agreed to an independent investigation of McClain’s death. But even that investigation has hit snags, as the initial attorney commissioned to lead the investigation was a former police officer who specialized in defending police departments in liability cases.
“Unfortunately, an attorney with a long career in law enforcement that specializes in defending municipal police departments from liability claims doesn’t qualify, in our minds, as a neutral review,” the Aurora city council said in a statement.
Some policy changes have taken effect in Aurora this month. According to CBS Local in Denver, Interim Police Chief Vanessa Wilson has announced that officers can no longer use the carotid hold, they must give warnings before shooting, must intervene if they see an offer using excessive force, and relieve other officers when a use-of-force incident occurs. They will also be trained to not assume a person is suspicious based off of a 911 call.
On August 24th of last year, 23 y/o Elijah McClain, a massage therapist who loved animals & often played violin for stray cats at Petco, was detained on his way home from picking up an iced tea for his brother in Aurora, Colorado.
Victims of police brutality don’t need to be angels. What’s wrong is wrong. But when a demonstrably tender and sweet soul like Elijah McClain is killed from a police encounter and no wrongdoing is found, it’s long past time to examine the rules that govern the entire system. No one in their right mind can say this young man shouldn’t be alive right now, playing violin for lonely kittens on his lunch hour.
In a small village in Pwani, a district on Tanzania’s coast, a massive dance party is coming to a close. For the past two hours, locals have paraded through the village streets, singing and beating ngombe drums; now, in a large clearing, a woman named Sheilla motions for everyone to sit facing a large projector screen. A film premiere is about to begin.
It’s an unusual way to kick off a film about gender bias, inequality, early marriage, and other barriers that prevent girls from accessing education in Tanzania. But in Pwani and beyond, local organizations supported by Malala Fund and funded by Pura are finding creative, culturally relevant ways like this one to capture people’s interest.
The film ends and Sheilla, the Communications and Partnership Lead for Media for Development and Advocacy (MEDEA), stands in front of the crowd once again, asking the audience to reflect: What did you think about the film? How did it relate to your own experience? What can we learn?
Sheilla explains that, once the community sees the film, “It brings out conversations within themselves, reflective conversations.” The resonance and immediate action create a ripple effect of change.
MEDEA Screening Audience in Tanzania. Captured by James Roh for Pura
Across Tanzania, gender-based violence often forces adolescent girls out of the classroom. This and other barriers — including child marriage, poverty, conflict, and discrimination — prevent girls from completing their education around the world.
Sheilla and her team are using film and radio programs to address the challenges girls face in their communities. MEDEA’s ultimate goal is to affirm education as a fundamental right for everyone, and to ensure that every member of a community understands how girls’ education contributes to a stronger whole and how to be an ally for their sisters, daughters, granddaughters, friends, nieces, and girlfriends.
Sheilla’s story is one of many that inspired Heart on Fire, a new fragrance from the Pura x Malala Fund Collection that blends the warm, earthy spices of Tanzania with a playful, joyful twist. Here’s how Pura is using scent as a tool to connect the world and inspire action.
A partnership focused on local impact, on a global mission
Pura, a fragrance company that recognizes education as both freedom and a human right, has partnered with Malala Fund since 2022. In order to defend every girl’s right to access and complete 12 years of education, Malala Fund partners with local organizations in countries where the educational barriers are the greatest. They invest in locally-led solutions because they know that those who are closest to the problems are best equipped to solve and build durable solutions, like MEDEA, which works with communities to challenge discrimination against girls and change beliefs about their education.
But local initiatives can thrive and scale more powerfully with global support, which is why Pura is using their own superpower, the power of scent, to connect people around the world with the women and girls in these local communities.
The Pura x Malala Fund Collection incorporates ingredients naturally found in Tanzania, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Brazil: countries where Malala Fund operates to address systemic education barriers. Eight percent of net revenue from the Pura x Malala Fund Collection will be donated to Malala Fund directly, but beyond financial support, the Collection is also a love letter to each unique community, blending notes like lemon, jasmine, cedarwood, and clove to transport people, ignite their senses, and help them draw inspiration and hope from the global movement for girls’ education. Through scent, people can connect to the courage, joy, and tenacity of girls and local leaders, all while uniting in a shared commitment to education: the belief that supporting girls’ rights in one community benefits all of us, everywhere.
You’ve already met Sheilla. Now see how Naiara and Mama Habiba are building unique solutions to ensure every girl can learn freely and dare to dream.
Naiara Leite is reimagining what’s possible in Brazil
Julia with Odara in Brazil. Captured by Luisa Dorr for Pura
In Brazil, where pear trees and coconut plantations cover the Northeastern Coast, girls like ten-year-old Julia experience a different kind of educational barrier than girls in Tanzania. Too often, racial discrimination contributes to high dropout rates among Black, quilombola and Indigenous girls in the country.
“In the logic of Brazilian society, Black people don’t need to study,” says Naiara Leite, Executive Coordinator of Odara, a women-led organization and Malala Fund partner. Bahia, the state where Odara is based, was once one of the largest slave-receiving territories in the Americas, and because of that history, deeply-ingrained, anti-Black prejudice is still widespread. “Our role and the image constructed around us is one of manual labor,” Naiara says.
But education can change that. In 2020, with assistance from a Malala Fund grant, Odara launched its first initiative for improving school completion rates among Black, quilombola, and Indigenous girls: “Ayomidê Odara”. The young girls mentored under the program, including Julia, are known as the Ayomidês. And like the Pura x Malala Fund Collection’s Brazil: Breath of Courage scent, the Ayomidês are fierce, determined, and bursting with energy.
Ayomidês with Odara in Brazil. Captured by Luisa Dorr for Pura
Ayomidês take part in weekly educational sessions where they explore subjects like education and ethnic-racial relations. The girls are encouraged to find their own voices by producing Instagram lives, social media videos, and by participating in public panels. Already, the Ayomidês are rewriting the narrative on what’s possible for Afro-Brazilian girls to achieve. One of the earliest Ayomidês, a young woman named Debora, is now a communications intern. Another former Ayomidê, Francine, works at UNICEF, helping train the next generation of adolescent leaders. And Julia has already set her sights on becoming a math teacher or a model.
“These are generations of Black women who did not have access to a school,” Naiara says. “These are generations of Black women robbed daily of their dreams. And we’re telling them that they could be the generation in their family to write a new story.”
Mama Habiba is reframing the conversation in Nigeria
Centre for Girls' Education, Nigeria. Captured by James Roh for Pura
In Mama Habiba’s home country of Nigeria, the scents of starfruit, ylang ylang and pineapple, all incorporated into the Pura x Malala Collection’s “Nigeria: Hope for Tomorrow,” can be found throughout the vibrant markets. Like these native scents, Mama Habiba says that the Nigerian girls are also bright and passionate, but too often they are forced to leave school long before their potential fully blooms.
“Some of these schools are very far, and there is an issue of quality, too,” Mama Habiba says. “Most parents find out when their children are in school, the girls are not learning. So why allow them to continue?”
When girls drop out of secondary school, marriage is often the alternative. In Nigeria, one in three girls is married before the age of 18. When this happens, girls are unable to fulfill their potential, and their families and communities lose out on the social, health and economic benefits.
Completing secondary school delays marriage, and according to UNESCO, educated girls become women who raise healthier children, lift their families out of poverty and contribute to more peaceful, resilient communities.
Centre for Girls’ Education, Nigeria. Captured by James Roh for Pura
To encourage young girls to stay in school, the Centre for Girls’ Education, a nonprofit in Nigeria founded by Mama Habiba and supported by Malala Fund and Pura, has pioneered an initiative that’s similar to the Ayomidê workshops in Brazil: safe spaces. Here, girls meet regularly to learn literacy, numeracy, and other issues like reproductive health. These safe spaces also provide an opportunity for the girls to role-play and learn to advocate for themselves, develop their self-image, and practice conversations with others about their values, education being one of them. In safe spaces, Mama Habiba says, girls start to understand “who she is, and that she is a girl who has value. She has the right to negotiate with her parents on what she really feels or wants.”
“When girls are educated, they can unlock so many opportunities,” Mama Habiba says. “It will help the economy of the country. It will boost so many opportunities for the country. If they are given the opportunity, I think the sky is not the limit. It is the starting point for every girl.”
From parades, film screenings to safe spaces and educational programs, girls and local leaders are working hard to strengthen the quality, safety and accessibility of education and overcome systemic challenges. They are encouraging courageous behavior and reminding us all that education is freedom.
Experience the Pura x Malala Fund Collection here, and connect with the stories of real girls leading change across the globe.
Sometimes our coping mechanisms are found where we least expect them. Such was the case for a woman named Ruby Gregory, who went through a breakup so difficult she completely lost her appetite. (It happens to the best of us.) That is, until she discovered her love of boiled peanuts.
Gregory took to Instagram to publicly express her gratitude for a company called Peanut Patch Boiled Peanuts. (They, of course, make the boiled peanuts.) Before reading her heartfelt letter, she made it clear in the post that she was not sponsored by the company.
She also clarified that she has eaten a lot of boiled peanuts. “I have consumed well over 100 cans of Peanut Patch Boiled Peanuts after my wife left me back in September.”
“Hello. My name is Ruby. And I’m writing today to express my appreciation and gratitude for your product. Back in September, my wife came home, told me she cheated on me with someone in her nursing program, and left. I was so sad. I could hardly eat for about a month. I lost 30 pounds in 30 days. Yikes.”
A delicious craving
But suddenly, she began to crave them. She continued:
“Then one day I got a craving for boiled peanuts, the ones you’d see being sold on the side of the road on game days growing up. Since I had that craving back in November, I have consumed approximately 5-10 cans of Peanut Patch boiled peanuts per week. Usually the standard size, but I’ve since discovered the giant cans sold at Sam’s Club. If you do the math, I have consumed well over 100 cans of Peanut Patch Boiled Peanuts since my wife left me.”
But here’s where the wonderful news comes in:
“I am doing much better now. This has been the hardest and best thing that has ever happened to me.
I have learned so much about my resiliency and strength and am genuinely excited for what my future holds. More importantly, I have learned that real love is consistent, dependable, and nourishing, just like Peanut Patch cans of boiled peanuts.
In the coming weeks, my divorce will be finalized, and I will be able to officially and legally move forward with my life, but I will always remember that when things got hard and money got tight, I could always count on my Peanut Patch cans of boiled peanuts to keep me going no matter what the next day brought. Thank you for your product. Thank you for listening. And I hope this email finds you well.”
The company responds
Peanut Patch Boiled Peanuts responded in kind, writing in an Instagram message, “Hey there Ruby! Just wanted to let you know that there are some boiled peanuts heading your way, but we are also putting together another care package for ya, that’ll take a little longer. Didn’t want you to think we forgot about ya or anything!”
The comment section came alive, proving that an online community can truly deliver.
One person joked, “Have you thought about maybe seeking a therapist?” Gregory responded, “My therapist is aware and has cried over said boiled peanuts with me.”
Others were merely supportive of her heartbreak. “I have never felt more seen. Boiled peanuts heal the soul!” one person said. Another shared, “Facing heartbreak and life hardship, but hitting your protein every day despite it all… a true icon!”
Another agreed, “Wow. I’ve never been so emotionally touched by a video about boiled peanuts and divorce, which outwardly has no correlation. I hope life continues to treat you and your boiled peanuts well.”
This person summed up what many might be thinking: “Romance is temporary, boiled peanuts are forever.” Gregory replied, “You get it.”
Upworthy spoke with Gregory, who said the company sent an initial giant care package and is sending another one soon. “I don’t know what will be in it! By this time next week, I’ll also be a single woman!” she said.
She’s also overjoyed by the response, saying, “I’m just so overwhelmed with the support and community of people there who have bonded over this regional delicacy. Shout out to Badass Tally Peanuts and Peanut Patch. They have both been supportive. Badass Peanuts is local to Tallahassee and is Black-owned, LGBT friendly, and a family business.”
It’s perfectly normal to forget how much the world changes month by month. It can feel like we blinked, and suddenly there are self-driving cars, delivery robots, and home 3D printers. But not long ago, what was once considered “the way it was” would drive people batty today.
A user going by the name u/CharlesUFarley81 took to the r/AskReddit subreddit to pose this question: “What ‘back then’ inconvenience would break people today in 10 minutes?” The post received 6,200 upvotes and more than 4,000 responses, offering some surprising reminders of how different things once were.
One commenter described what an ordeal going to the bank used to be: “No online banking. I remember being a kid, and it seemed like my parents were constantly going to the bank.”
Another followed up with, “More than that, no ATMs. If you want to spend any money on the weekend, you’d better withdraw it before 5 p.m. on Friday.”
This Redditor reminded us that before trusty computers, we had only typewriters: “Projects for class had to be typed. Mistakes were corrected with white-out. If you decided there’s a better way to say something, you’d have to retype the whole thing.”
Oh, and never forget there was a time before remote controls. “Having to stand up and walk across the room to change the TV to one of the three channels,” one user wrote.
Speaking of media, there was no Spotify in years past, so the music we wanted to hear wasn’t always at our fingertips. One Redditor shared the memory: “Having to wait to hear your favorite song on the radio and try to record it onto a cassette tape without the DJ talking.”
A little personal fun fact: I was a DJ on the KZLA morning show in Los Angeles, and we were taught to talk over the beginnings (and sometimes the ends) of songs. It was called “talking up the ramp” (or “hitting the post”), and it was annoying to time perfectly. So, this wasn’t just difficult for the listener.
One Redditor took it a step further, noting how available many of us are expected to be 24/7:
“Nobody was expected to be reachable at all times. You needed to say something to a relative? You called them, and if nobody answered the phone, tough luck, you called them again a few hours later. And automatic answering machines were a later invention.
I don’t know about other countries, but in mine (Argentina), phone lines were some kind of luxury until roughly 30-35 years ago, to the point that homes were sold for more if they had a landline. And because not everybody had a landline, some people used a neighbor’s number as a reference. So, people would call that number, the owner would answer, and then notify the person in question. Or, a neighbor would notify you about an incoming call they were expecting around that time, and they would wait (sometimes for like half an hour) next to the phone. Inside your house, obviously.”
That comment alone received nearly 5,000 upvotes, with one person (of many) responding, “That sounds so peaceful. That’s one of the things I truly dislike about the modern age: you’re expected to instantly reply to people. It gets exhausting.”
Missing being present
Similarly, the information you were given on any given day was all you had. One user wrote:
“You agree to meet up with a friend at a particular time and place. You’re there on time, but your friend still isn’t. Did they forget? Did they get in an accident on the way, or are they just late? Once they’ve left their home, there’s no way of calling them to find out. You will only find out what happened after they finally show up, or, if you wait around forever and they don’t show, then you go back home and try calling them at home.”
Speaking of calls, the panic of not knowing who was calling with each ring wouldn’t be tolerated today. As one person pointed out, “Not knowing who was calling you; you had to answer the phone to find out. Caller ID and *69 were like magic that only the rich could afford at first.”
And don’t forget: before Google or Apple, navigation meant paper maps. Not only did we have to use them for directions, but as one Redditor pointed out, it was all about “having to FOLD them.”
Arielle Nissenblatt has many questions for her followers on Threads. But one in particular stood out last week, and it led to days of laughter. She asked, quite simply, “Please share exactly one (1) thing that makes you laugh without fail every time.”
In less than a week, the question inspired more than 8,000 responses. The Arielle was so pleased that she wrote, “Going through this thread as I fall asleep and am crying laughing snorting. What a joy!”
That’s a lot of funny things. Here are just a handful:
Funny stories
User @loreleiarmstrong shared a hilarious story from a woman named Barbara, who went through quite the ordeal with a brilliantly satisfying ending:
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Flatulence
More than one Threader mentioned how hilarious they find flatulence. @johnpark quoted writer Emily Heller, who wrote, “If you don’t find farts funny, then you’re a loser because you’re choosing to have less joy in your life but the exact same amount of farts.”
Another commenter agreed with just one word: “Farts.”
This, of course, also included texting mishaps involving, you guessed it, farts:
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Animals
The daughter of Martin Scorsese, @francesca.scorsese (and yes, she has a blue checkmark, so it’s likely really her), chimed in with “Funny animal videos.” The OP agreed, adding, “Unlikely animals getting along.”
Sweetness
A few people said that simply hearing someone else laugh makes them laugh. @lima_sierra wrote, “Anyone 5 or younger laughing.”
Another user added that “the rubber duckies on a Jeep’s dashboard” always make them happy.
Silly conversations
In one exchange shared by @dolphin_dom, a fun fact quickly goes off the rails:
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TV moments
@catscoffeebookslove recalled the time Tim Conway played a dentist on The Carol Burnett Show:
@jazaaiekj shared, “Tim Conway talking about the elephant. Cry laughing every single time.”
@cheesee_lizee shared her favorite moment from Parks and Recreation: “The ‘Get on Your Feet’ music scene from Parks and Rec.”
Quite a few people mentioned their favorite Saturday Night Live sketches. One in particular kept popping up, featuring Beavis and Butt-Head lookalikes:
@jodicelesteee wrote that one particular blooper from The Office cracks her up:
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Memories
One Threader reminded fellow Brits about a guy trying to make limoncello during lockdown:
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Another fun memory? The man whose kids kept interrupting him during a BBC News interview.
@jennknapp reminded readers, “The video of the guy on a zoom call and his toddler marches into his home office, followed by a baby in a walker, and then the mom absolutely driving the struggle bus, trying to remove them with her pants half mast. Hilarious. Every. Single. Time.”
And of course, perhaps the most wonderful moment to come out of a strange time was “lawyer cat.” People from all around the world mentioned the image of a lawyer accidentally using a cat filter during a Zoom hearing. That one is a gift that keeps on giving:
During a red carpet interview leading up to the 2026 Oscars ceremony, actor Ethan Hawke was asked to speak about unrequited love, as Blue Moon, the film that earned him a Best Supporting Actor nomination, centers heavily on the theme.
As Hawke often does, he left viewers stunned and inspired with his thoughtful, poetic answer in a now-viral clip.
According to Hawke, one needn’t feel as though they’ve lost anything when romantic feelings aren’t returned, because the act of feeling itself is the true gift of being alive.
“The one who’s in love always wins,” the Dead Poets Society star explained. “It doesn’t matter if you get your heart broken; you’re living. When you’re feeling, you’re alive.”
He added, “The sun doesn’t care whether the grass appreciates its rays, right? It just keeps on shining. That’s you.”
And to top it all off, when the interviewer, Amelia Dimoldenberg, said “I love you” in response to Hawke’s inspiring words, the actor didn’t skip a beat, replying, “I love you too,” with genuine affection.
Reactions
The message, now seen more than 13 million times, left many marveling at how Hawke was able to deliver such “insanely beautiful” and “absolutely brilliant” words off the cuff.
“That was just off the dome??”
“He freestyled that???? no script, nothing…. such heavenly Shakespearean poetic words off the top of his head?? Wow.”
“This man is always spitting pure poetry.”
“Ethan Hawke is my fave modern philosopher.”
Others couldn’t help but share that it instantly changed their mindset for the better.
“This switched something in my brain like a full factory reset.”
“It’s the most profound thing I’ve literally ever heard.”
It’s not hard to see why the clip resonated so deeply
Unrequited love is often framed in pop culture as something embarrassing or tragic. But here, Hawke reframed it as something beautiful and life-affirming. Loving someone, even without those feelings being reciprocated, becomes proof of openness, courage, and emotional vitality. Not a failure.
That perspective can feel especially radical, since we are often taught to measure success by what we receive in return, whether through affection, validation, or monetary gain. But Hawke’s words gently push against that idea, suggesting that the experience of loving itself holds inherent value, regardless of the result. His take echoes a quote by C.S. Lewis that many referenced in the comments: “Love is never wasted, for its value is not based on reciprocity.”
Moments like this are part of why Hawke has built a reputation not just as an actor, but as a thoughtful observer of the human experience. Whether through interviews, writing, or performances, he often taps into something both deeply personal and universally relatable.
If the reaction online is any indication, this brief red carpet exchange did more than promote a film. It offered millions of viewers a small but meaningful shift in perspective, reminding them that feeling deeply is not a weakness, but a sign of being fully alive. And isn’t that, in a way, the point of it all?
Roosevelt Schools Superintendent Dr. Shawn Wightman set out on an unusual journey to give his student, Alvaro Castro Velasquez, the graduation he earned.
The senior was looking forward to walking across the stage with his friends at Roosevelt High School this May. But just weeks before graduation, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained him during a random encounter. Soon after, ICE transferred Castro Velasquez to a facility in Texas. When school officials found out, it sparked a response that brought the immigration crackdown right to their doorstep.
“He wasn’t a hardened criminal or anything like that. Didn’t have any type of record. That was the moment everybody realized that this is a real thing,” Wightman told ABC 7 New York.
Wightman didn’t give up on the senior. The superintendent boarded a flight to Texas with his regalia and Castro Velasquez’s diploma in hand. It was then that he realized the task wouldn’t be so simple. He was denied a meeting with the student who had reportedly come to the United States alone when he was 16. The flight, paid for out of his own pocket, turned out to be an expensive dead end.
“It’s very difficult as a superintendent, a father, to think about if something like that were to have happened to any of my kids,” Wightman told ABC 7 New York.
But where a seed of determination is planted, setbacks can sometimes act as water, leading to a bloom. After Wightman’s unsuccessful attempt to deliver the teen his diploma, Castro Velasquez opted for self-deportation to Guatemala. Navigating the immigration system alone as a teen is likely overwhelming, which may have contributed to the senior’s decision to leave.
Wightman, however, became more determined than ever to ensure the teen received the diploma he earned. The educator took two flights and drove five and a half hours through the foothills of Guatemala to reach his former student. The pair reunited after Wightman’s long journey to the Central American country.
The unwavering superintendent didn’t just arrive with a diploma in hand. He brought his own graduation robe and hood, along with the student’s cap and gown. In doing so, Wightman brought the graduation ceremony to Castro Velasquez.
“This is amazing for me. He helped me. And he supported me, for all this time,” Castro Velasquez told ABC 7 New York. “I’m not feeling I’m alone. I know I have him and my family.”
The TV station shared the video on Instagram, and people can’t get over the lengths the superintendent went to to mark the special occasion for his student.
One person said, “Thank you sir, for demonstrating humanity.”
Another wrote, “On his own dime. He should sleep peacefully at night knowing he did something extraordinarily kind!!”
Someone else shared, “My heart is so moved by the sheer humanity and compassion of this man. He is a true educator! I pray that this young man will be inspired to keep fighting for his dreams. I pray that he be protected so that one day he can pay it forward.”
For those wondering why he went to such lengths at his own expense, Wightman’s answer is simple: “You don’t abandon people who you care about.”
If you grew up in the ’80s or ’90s, you’re likely all too familiar with those all-wooden, castle-like playgrounds complete with drawbridges, child-sized tunnels, rope mazes, PVC pipe “walkie-talkies,” cool hideaway spaces, airport towers, and tire walls.
They were the perfect place to let your imagination run wild, whether you pretended to be knights, wizards, Vikings, or simply played freeze tag without ever touching the ground.
Nowadays, those castles are like a modern-day fairy tale: no longer made, rarely seen, and mostly remembered as relics of a bygone era. What happened?
History of wooden playgrounds
As a fun Instagram video by content creator Phil Edwards explains, part of what made wooden playgrounds special was that children had a major role in how they were created.
According to Edwards, Robert “Bob” Leathers, founder of Leathers and Associates, and his partner, Tom Rockwell, consulted children during the design process. Those playgrounds were then built by volunteer community members, such as parents, in a matter of days.
Personal memories
Interestingly, quite a few viewers shared personal memories of helping design their wooden playgrounds as children.
“My parents helped built the one for my elementary school…it was pure magic.”
“I participated as a child, and I clearly remember standing up as a kindergartener and saying, what if a slide came out of a dragon’s mouth. Years later, playing in the Orange CT playground, I realized the slide came out of a dragon’s mouth, rendered in wood. I almost didn’t believe my earlier memory. Could that wild idea from the mouth of a kindergartner have become a major feature of an actual playground?? What an amazing program. ❤️”
“I remember being at planning meeting at the Waverly community house. I remember my dad building. I remember sanding wood. And I have so many memories of playing on this playground for hours a day while my mom taught dance…It was the greatest sense of community.”
“Our very small southern NJ town had one of these – Pine Cone Zone. I still remember the planning team coming to our school. We all submitted our ideas and designs. They also had a naming contest. People could donate money and their names would be engraved on the fence posts. Still remember spending the day at the rec fields while our parents built it. Was such a big deal for our little community ❤️”
Why they stopped making wooden playgrounds
Unfortunately, a study in the early 2000s found that the type of wood used in these structures contained arsenic, and that children who played on them had significantly higher levels of the toxin on their skin. The findings raised concerns about the structures’ overall safety, and major playground manufacturers eventually stopped using this type of wood in favor of other materials.
And while this didn’t seem to influence their decline, several folks recalled the wooden playgrounds as having merciless splinters.
“The splinters were ruthless,” quipped one commenter.
Still, there weren’t any documented cases of “anything going wrong from these playgrounds,” Edwards noted. That’s why they weren’t forcibly torn down, and why you might still find some of the 1,600 that were built scattered across the country.
While their reign has ended, wooden playgrounds leave behind a wonderful legacy. As Edwards put it, they were built “by parents who wanted to share their love with their children” and make something “amazing.” Imagine what could be possible if there were more opportunities for that kind of thing.
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
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.
In a compilation that has resurfaced and gone viral (yet again) on social media, a 101-year-old woman named Alice is seen meeting a gaggle of young children, all eager to see the world through the lens of her long life.
The group is called HiHo Kids, and they’re part of an online content platform that features children learning and playing. Their Facebook page emphasizes the importance of embracing youth: “Every kid – including the one inside each of us – needs imagination and curiosity about the world. HiHo promotes empathy through play.”
No question is too big, too silly, or too small for Alice. The young tikes are, as children tend to be, truly earnest, and Alice seems happy to share what her life has been like for more than a century. In a montage, various children sit across from her. One asks, “What are we here to talk about?” Alice answers with honesty and humor: “Well, I think it might be how old I am.”
This is, of course, followed by the question, “How old are you?” Alice replies, “I’m in my 101st year.”
After a brief discussion about where Alice grew up, a boy named Micah asks about life back in the old days. Alice answers, “We didn’t have radio. No television. We didn’t have telephones when I was a little girl. There were not any trucks. They had wagons, and horses pulled them.”
What was the world like?
One young girl asked whether the world was in such turmoil. “Back then, did you see any wars?” Alice maintained her honest approach. “I did, and I was in a war. I was in the Second World War. We worked on decoding and encoding machines. Very secret work. The officers had guns, and they said if you told any of the secrets, they would shoot you dead.”
Micah looks a bit nervous, so Alice reassures him. “But nobody got shot.” He seems relieved. “Good,” he says, smiling and nodding.
To lighten things up a bit, a young girl asks, “What did you do for fun?” Alice fondly recalls, “I had dolls and blocks. But I really liked ‘boys’ things.’ Marbles and tops. And I thought boys were much luckier than girls. We had to wear skirts and stockings, even in the coldest weather.”
Clara questions this: “Girls couldn’t wear pants?” Alice affirms, “That’s right.” Clara concludes that it’s simply not fair.
Favorite insect
Though Alice is now retired, she lights up when talking about her past work as a biology professor. “If you look at my shirt, you’ll see some of the things I taught about.” She points to a few insect brooches on her pale blue button-down, including a spider. When asked about her favorite insect, Alice doesn’t hesitate: “Ants. I did research on ants.”
Clara could talk about ants all day. She explains that although they’re tiny, they’re incredibly strong. “They can carry something big, like a banana. Even three of them can, even though they’re this tiny.” Alice is impressed by her knowledge. “You’re very good—and you’re only six years old!”
Micah asks what Alice likes to do for fun. “Well, right now I’m watching the Olympics. I write books, and I do puzzles. I enjoy email. I write to a lot of my friends. I even play Scrabble. Also, I try to get exercise every day.”
She tells the kids she’s grateful to still have a working mind and body. “Some old people aren’t very well anymore. Some of them can’t remember things. Some of them have to have somebody help them. But I can do everything myself.” Micah exclaims, “That’s good! That means you’re really old, but you’re really good at it.”
The rest of the conversation is quite moving. Alice is asked what the hardest part of getting older is. “You miss people. And especially when you live over 100 years. Most of the people I ever knew, and in my family, are dead.”
Not afraid of dying
This leads to a beautiful question: “Are you afraid of dying?” Alice is most certainly not. “No, I’m not afraid of dying. I feel very healthy and happy. My doctor said, ‘Maybe you’ll just die in your sleep.’ So I’m not afraid, because I have a good life.”
Finally, quite possibly the most important question of the session: “What is the secret to living a long life?” Alice answers, “Being happy, working hard, getting exercise, doing things for yourself, not expecting other people to do everything for you. Those things help you live a long time.”
The comments under the Facebook reel, where this was also posted, are full of praise.
One commenter wrote, “As a geriatric nurse, Alice’s brain is freaking amazing for 101. Shoot, it’s amazing for most of my 70-80 year olds. Amazing.”
Another agreed with Alice’s life: “She was a freaking decoder! These kids don’t even know the titan they’re sitting across from them. This is so cool!”
And of course, people loved Alice’s interactions with the sweet children. “You can tell she loves to teach,” a commenter wrote. “She’s absolutely magical with the children. What a gift to introduce these kids to Alice.”
