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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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Letter from Hemingway to F. Scott Fitzgerald holds the tough love on imposter syndrome we all need
“All you need to do is write truly and not care about what the fate of it is.”
People have been struggling with imposter syndrome, or the deep fear that others will discover you’re a fraud, forever. The fear says that despite all the evidence to the contrary, you are a failure and are faking competence at all times.
Though the term wasn’t coined until the 1970s, even one of the greatest American novelists of all time suffered from severe self-doubt: F. Scott Fitzgerald.
It took Fitzgerald nine years after the release of The Great Gatsby to publish another book, and even still, he wasn’t confident in it. So, he wrote to a friend for advice: None other than Ernest Hemingway.
If you’re looking for advice on how to defeat self-doubt and imposter syndrome, look no further than the words of wisdom written between two of the greatest literary minds of the 20th century.
Hemingway gives Fitzgerald some much-needed tough love
Ernest Hemingway in 1950. Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons The Great Gatsby, today, is considered one of the great American novels. However, when it was published in 1925, the reception was lukewarm.
“Fitzgerald’s Latest A Dud,” one newspaper headline read.
Partially as a result, he fitzed and fussed over his next novel for years. He also struggled with mental health, his marriage, and alcoholism during that time. Finally, though, he followed up Gatsby with Tender Is the Night in 1934.
By all accounts, Fitzgerald was not happy with the book, even though he had wanted it to become the best American novel of all time—an awful lot of pressure for anyone to put on themselves. He worried he’d never write anything as good as Gatsby again. He asked Hemingway for his opinion, which Hemingway gladly delivered in a way that only he could:
“I liked it and I didn’t,” Hemingway writes, bluntly. He goes on for paragraphs about all the ways the book is lacking before softening. “It’s a lot better than I say. But it’s not as good as you can do.”
Hemingway’s advice to F. Scott Fitzgerald on how to ignore the critics, including himself
Though Hemingway chastised Fitzgerald for taking too many liberties with the story, “cheating,” and stuffing the novel with “good stuff… that it didn’t need,” he ultimately writes to console his friend.
Or, as some would say, his “frenemy.”
“For Christ sake write and don’t worry about what the boys will say nor whether it will be a masterpiece nor what. I write one page of masterpiece to ninety one pages of shit. I try to put the shit in the wastebasket. You feel you have to publish crap to make money to live and let live.”
It’s brilliant advice. One way of conquering imposter syndrome is positive thinking and affirmations: “I do belong.”
Another is to realize that everyone else around you is just making it up as they go, too. And that’s the point Hemingway is getting at. Even he, who had written The Sun Also Rises and A Farewell to Arms by this point, admits that most of what he writes is trash.
A wonderful, if harsh, pep talk. But Hemingway isn’t finished:
“Scott, good writers always come back. Always. You are twice as good now as you were at the time you think you were so marvellous. You know I never thought so much of Gatsby at the time. You can write twice as well now as you ever could. All you need to do is write truly and not care about what the fate of it is. … Go on and write.”
A young F. Scott Fitzgerald. Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons Modern psychologists’ advice has plenty of overlap with Hemingway
In parts of his letter, Hemingway urged Fitzgerald to stop feeling bad for himself and to channel his pain into his best work.
“Forget your personal tragedy. We are all bitched from the start and you especially have to hurt like hell before you can write seriously. But when you get the damned hurt use it.”
One evidence-based strategy for overcoming imposter syndrome is coming up with what psychologists call a “post-mistake compassion plan.” It’s a strategy for moving forward with confidence after screwing up. That’s what Hemingway was trying to help Fitzgerald do; recognize that Tender Is the Night was perhaps not his best work, but that he was more than talented enough to get off the mat and come back stronger.
No one is perfect, and falling down doesn’t mean you don’t belong.
In the end, it’s hard to say if things did get better for Fitzgerald. LitHub writes, “he ended his too-short life doing Hollywood hack work to make ends meet before dying, largely forgotten, his final novel left unfinished. His life has long been viewed as a classic tragedy—glamorous rise, brutal fall.”
But the result was not for a lack of his friends, like Hemingway, trying to help.
“[I] was always trying to get him to work and tell the truth at least to himself,” Hemingway wrote. “Well, the hell with all of it.”
We should all be so lucky as to have someone in our lives who will, harshly if need be, insist on reminding us of our own talent and worth.
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Strangers have donated more than $125,000 to best friends who shared their heartfelt breast cancer story
“I want to pass on to others in need just how much total strangers have buoyed my spirits,” Candace Eng tells Upworthy.
When Candace Eng and Diana Prince met in college 50 years ago, they had no idea they would become besties. It’s a friendship that has been both life-changing and life-saving for them.
The friends were recently walking in New York City when they were asked whether they were best friends by Seth Clayton of Besties NYC. Candace revealed her breast cancer diagnosis and the support Diana has given her throughout it in the now-viral video. The emotional clip reached millions of people, inspiring many to donate to Candace’s cancer treatment.
“We have been overwhelmed with the outpouring of support and kind comments,” the friends tell Upworthy. “Total strangers come up to us saying how much they have been touched by our genuine friendship. It’s amazing how many people just hug [us].”
The story of Candace and Diana’s friendship
“We met in September 1976 at Manhattan Community College, in an English class,” they tell Upworthy.
They sat next to each other and exchanged numbers to keep in touch. Food brought them together after Candace and her mom invited Diana to lunch, where she was introduced to Chinese food for the first time. From there, their friendship grew.
Candace began modeling and introduced Diana to the process. With shared modeling experiences, the two decided to start a tradition of spending holidays together. They both eventually married, and Diana moved to Connecticut. Candace had her son in 1989, with Diana following with her first son in 1992. Although their lives were busy, they still saw each other for the holidays.
Diana and Candace at Candace’s baby shower. Photo credit: Image courtesy of Candace Eng and Diana Prince “As the boys aged, we started to get together more often and were always on the phone,” they share.
Candace’s breast cancer diagnosis
When Candace learned she had breast cancer, she immediately called Diana. Diana’s mom had cancer and suggested Candace get a second opinion. She learned her cancer was worse than the original diagnosis, but it was still in an early stage.
“We went to all appointments together,” they share.
After Candace’s mastectomy, she spent her time recovering at Diana’s apartment. Her treatments have included chemotherapy, radiation, and immunotherapy, and Diana has been by her side every step of the way.
“I know that if the tables were turned, Candace would be there in a heartbeat. Her love and friendship are totally unconditional,” Diana says. “Candace is a very giving person, to a fault, never thinking of herself.”
Diana supports Candace during a cancer treatment. Photo credit: GoFundMe Strangers raise money for Candace
Many people were touched by Candace and Diana’s friendship, and a GoFundMe was started by Diana’s husband, Kevin, to help cover Candace’s care and treatments.
“She is facing all of this from public housing, on government assistance, food stamps, and Medicare,” he wrote in the GoFundMe. “She has spent her life on the bottom rung, and now she’s fighting the hardest battle of that life with almost nothing in her pockets.”
Thousands of generous people donated, raising more than $125,000 to help support her.
“I want to pass on to others in need just how much total strangers have buoyed my spirits,” says Candace. “I am a changed person who has gained self-confidence and believes in herself now. If we can change people’s lives, we will be happy. The experience of strangers wanting to have or give us a hug is amazing. We both realize how important touch is and how healing a simple hug or touch on the arm is to all of us.”
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C.S. Lewis perfectly articulated how losing a friend affects your other friendships
“In each of my friends, there is something that only some other friend can fully bring out…”
When a friend dies, it can feel like a part of you died with them. And in some sense, it’s true. The parts of you that a friend brings out may not come out the same way with anyone else. Each of our relationships has its own unique dynamic, and every friendship taps into different parts of us.
Author C.S. Lewis wrote about this truth in his book, The Four Loves. But he took it a step further to explain how losing one friend in a group changes our friendships with others who knew them, too.
It may look like a math story problem at first, but stick with it: “If, of three friends (A, B, and C), A should die, then B loses not only A, but ‘A’s part in C,’ while C loses not only A but ‘A’s part in B.’”
“In each of my friends, there is something that only some other friend can fully bring out,” he explains. “By myself I am not large enough to call the whole man into activity; I want other lights than my own to show all his facets.”
Then he gives an example to illustrate. (The word Caroline might be confusing—it’s a formal adjective meaning “Charles-like.”):
“Now that Charles is dead, I shall never again see Ronald’s reaction to a specifically Caroline joke. Far from having more of Ronald, having him ‘to myself’ now that Charles is away, I have less of Ronald.”
Group friendships can sometimes suffer from perceptions of favoritism or jealousy, but Lewis tosses that idea on its head.
“Hence true Friendship is the least jealous of loves,” Lewis wrote. “Two friends delight to be joined by a third, and three by a fourth, if only the newcomer is qualified to become a real friend. They can then say, as the blessed souls say in Dante, ‘Here comes one who will augment our loves.’ For in this love ‘to divide is not to take away.’”
Is C.S. Lewis right about friendships and jealousy?
The idea that different friends bring out different parts of us and the effect of friend loss on a friend group’s individual relationships feels pretty spot on. But what about friendship being the “least jealous of loves” part? Is that true?
We’ve likely all seen or experienced the reality of group friendships, which can sometimes involve some feelings of jealousy. Maybe two friends hang out more with each other than they do with others in the group. Perhaps one friend makes a new connection with someone outside the friend group and starts pulling away. Jealousy can creep in when friendships shift.
In an ideal world, Lewis is right that to divide love doesn’t take anything away, but that doesn’t mean jealousy never happens. And though it can pose problems, jealousy in friendship isn’t always a bad thing.
In fact, a study from Arizona State University, Oklahoma State University, and Hamilton College found that feelings of jealousy can actually be a useful tool in maintaining friendships.
“Getting jealous can sometimes be a signal that a friendship is threatened, and this signal can help us jump into action to invest in a friendship that we might have been neglecting,” said Athena Aktipis, assistant professor of psychology at ASU and author on the paper.
Friendships are good for us, even if we don’t technically need them
Lewis also wrote in The Four Loves, “Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art…. It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival.”
C.S. Lewis (top right, standing) with his University College classmates in 1917. (Photo credit: unknown/public domain Modern science agrees. Greek researchers conducted a meta-study of adult friendships and well-being, analyzing 38 research articles published from 2000 to 2019, and found:
“Although individuals could reap the benefits of friendship from other social sources as well, it became evident that friendship is a special type of relationship, with a unique contribution to wellbeing. As a result, friendships have survived through the years and, in our days, are considered as vital to psychological flourishing.”
Here’s to the friends who bring out the parts of us we might otherwise never see and who contribute to our psychological flourishing.
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Sally Field shares her favorite memory working with Robin Williams on ‘Mrs. Doubtfire’: Playing ‘Zelda’
She played with Robin and now plays with her grandsons.
Mrs. Doubtfire has been a comedy favorite for Millennials and many other generations since 1993. The movie starred Robin Williams and Sally Field as divorced parents, with Williams dressing in drag as the older Mrs. Doubtfire to work as a nanny and spend time with his children.
Given the wacky hijinks of the film, many fans have wondered what it must have been like for the stars when the cameras were off. It turns out they fired up a Nintendo to play The Legend of Zelda between takes.
Field was interviewed to promote the film Remarkably Bright Creatures alongside her co-star Lewis Pullman. The interviewer, Jake Hamilton, asked Field about her favorite memory working on the set of Mrs. Doubtfire with Williams. Field answered that one of her favorite memories was Williams coming to her rented apartment to play The Legend of Zelda together.
Playing games, making movie memories
Williams was known to be a Zelda enthusiast. What wasn’t widely known is that Field became just as big a fan. In fact, she currently has a Nintendo Switch 2 to keep playing the games.
“We’d play the early games of Zelda together. Zelda, the computer game, that I still play with my grandsons,” said Field. “Even when my grandsons aren’t there, I pretend they are there. I play them.”
Field then asked her younger co-star Pullman whether he played the games. She playfully chastised him when he admitted he was missing out.
“What the hell is the matter with you?! It’s so fun,” she said with a laugh.
Williams’ connection to The Legend of Zelda
The Legend of Zelda is a Nintendo video game franchise that has released 21 games in the main series. Most of the games focus on the young warrior Link as he battles monsters and solves puzzles to rescue Princess Zelda. The series has continued to produce new entries since its debut in 1986.
Williams became a fan of the original game when it was released in North America in 1987. He enjoyed it so much that he named his daughter after the titular character. When the developers of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time released the game for the Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo had both Robin and Zelda Williams star in heartfelt commercials for the game together.
After his death, fans of the games found a possible reference to Williams in the The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom games. While it hasn’t been confirmed by Nintendo, gaming fans believe that the non-playable character Dayto is a tribute to him because of the facial and vocal resemblance between the two.
Video games are a medium for all ages
Field’s connection to the The Legend of Zelda franchise reinforces how video game fandom is becoming increasingly cross-generational, with many older people picking up a controller to play with their families and on their own. In the end, you can never know what a person is into based on appearances. As many gamers just discovered with Field, you don’t know what you might have in common with someone unless you ask.
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Kitten named Duck learns to run on two legs and she looks like an adorable velociraptor
It hasn’t slowed her down one bit.
Babies are really adaptable, and the same can be said for baby animals. It’s likely because they just don’t know any other way of life, so they just go with what they’re given and, miraculously, make it work. Even knowing that, however, it’s still hard to imagine a kitten getting around without their front legs.
Cats essentially use everything from their whiskers to their tails to balance, so how would one walk without two of it’s four legs? The answer is, carefully at first. Duck is a rescued kitten who, unfortunately, had to have both of her front legs completely amputated. While she was wobbly at first, she quickly adapted.
Meet Duck, the wonder cat
Duck’s human, Cody, shares her daily shenanigans on his Instagram page aptly named Purrasic Duck, which has amassed over half a million followers. In 2020, he told Duck’s story to The Dodo, revealing how she was rescued and how, against all odds, she developed her agile moves. If you’re having a hard time picturing a two-legged cat on the run, it looks a lot like a furry velociraptor chasing a laser pointer.
“I ended up naming her Duck because she kinda waddled. She’d kinda take it slow, she waddled trying to figure out her balance,” Cody told The Dodo.
Before long, Duck was off to play with her much larger dog brothers. Her pug brother even offers her a little assistance in the face cleaning area since Duck doesn’t have paws to do it herself. She returns the favor by cleaning his face too. It’s an adorable relationship, but if you want to see a furry velociraptor chase after cat toys, you’ll need to watch the video below.
How Duck and Cody found each other
Cody met Duck when she was found and brought into his sister’s animal clinic. “She was probably chilling in a car engine and her legs got caught up, and she survived that!” Cody can be heard saying as a voice over in the video. At first, Cody’s sister brought her over as a potential foster, but after just one day, Cody decided to keep her for himself. “When I met her, I just fell in love immediately,” he said.
Duck has no shortage of friends to play with at home, either. In addition to her dog brothers, Cody rescues and either keeps or fosters plenty of baby animals, from chickens, turtles, and opossums to a raccoon, a squirrel, and of course, more dogs and cats. Duck also has a sister named Goose, who’s an adorable gray kitty with just one eye. Here they are hanging out together:
Duck is thriving, and so is her family
Today, Duck is no longer a baby and has gotten this two-legged life down pat. She’s living happily with dad Cody and her many, many, many animal siblings and friends. On her social media pages, Cody includes a useful link for other pet parents, rescuers, and fosterers with recommended products to help make the rescue and rehoming process easy for everyone. Check it out here.
Cody has got quite the rescue menagerie going and it’s so inspiring.
This article originally appeared three years ago. It has been updated.
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Millennials struggling to buy a home want ‘out of touch’ Boomer parents to get their reality
Some advice for Millennials dealing with parents who won’t listen.
Millennials trying to buy homes in today’s economy are up against a rock and a hard place. Unlike for their Boomer parents, the dream of buying a home continues to feel further away.
According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), Millennials “continue to be fenced out of homeownership.” The organization reported that in 2025, the average age of first-time homeownership rose to 40 years old, up from 38 just the year before, with the share of first-time buyers falling to a record low of 21%. “The historically low share of first-time buyers underscores the real-world consequences of a housing market starved for affordable inventory,” said Jessica Lautz, NAR deputy chief economist and vice president of research.
Millennials are venting on Reddit
Millennials are airing their frustrations amongst each other in the Reddit thread r/Millennials, sharing their stories and experiences with their Boomer parents, with many calling Boomers “out of touch.”
One Millennial wrote, “This topic is like hitting a dead horse, but I just needed to rant. Back story, I work out at a gym with people who are our parents age, and of the boomer generation. I overheard them saying, ‘we bought our first home for $65,000. I’m sure kids these days are only paying $125,000 for that same house’. When they said that, I burst out laughing. How are they so out of touch? It drives me nuts.”
Another Millennial replied, “Willful ignorance. Takes four seconds to go on Zillow and find out that’s bullsh*t .”
And another shared, “I’m not kidding… when I showed my dad actual data on itemized COL inflation, he said that ‘the data just says that but that doesn’t mean it’s real’…. This is a guy that I would normally consider smart and with it. When it comes to these kinds of topics of societal degradation, he can’t accept it. He is willfully ignorant to things being worse now for me than they were for him at my age.”
The Zillow experiment that actually worked
Others explained how they attempted to explain to their Boomer parents how expensive homes currently are. Another shared, “Last Christmas, the sibs and I collectively managed to remember all the addresses we had lived in in our childhoods and Zillowed all of them to show our parents. All are still standing. All were built in the 70s. All are rural or suburban/small towns. Parents were astounded at what these 50+ year houses are going for today, especially compared to what they paid for them 30-40 years ago.”
Millennials added their conversations with parents who got defensive. One wrote, “I legit just had this same conversation! They say ‘complain when it’s 14% interest’ excuse me, your house was 60k and dad was making 40, don’t piss on me and tell me it’s raining. That fancy 250k house is now like 600k…get a grip, average house is 438k.”
Another shared, “My dad still gives me a hard time about renting, constantly tells me how I should invest in a house. I sat him down one day and opened up a mortgage calculator, showed him how with the current interest rates it just wasn’t gonna happen- he seemed to get it. For a little bit anyways haha. I saw him last month and he told me again how rent is wasted money yadda yadda.”
How to talk to your Boomer parents about housing
Millennials can have healthy and productive conversations with their Boomer parents when discussions about buying a home become tense or uncomfortable, Aly Bullock, LMFT, a licensed marriage and family therapist with Paired, tells Upworthy.
Here are three things Millennials can say to their parents during these tough talks:
Phrase #1: “I understand that we have different views on this, and that’s okay with me.”
Bullock explains, “This acknowledges that you understand their POV and you are still willing to stick with your own opinion. It is a very gentle way of setting a boundary and letting them know you are comfortable having different opinions.”
Phrase #2: “I would love to hear you out, and my request is that in return you respect my right to make a personal decision even if it does not align with what you’ve shared.”
“Even when their kids are grown, parents still love the chance to influence their children,” says Bullock. “This phrase lets your parents know that you would love to hear their opinion, you welcome it, AND reminds them gently that you are grown and they should offer you similar respect.”
Phrase #3: “This conversation seems to keep causing tension between us, and I’d rather focus on something we have in common right now. Can we set it aside for a bit?”
According to Bullock, “This acknowledges the tension without placing blame. It gives the adult child an opportunity to stop the conversation before it deteriorates further, while emphasizing the positive pieces of the relationship.”
Finally, she notes that it may take placing boundaries around these conversations. “Remember that you don’t have to tell your parents everything. Some things are better left unsaid,” says Bullock. “The truth is that parents change as they age and may or may not be able to cope well with generational differences or unmet expectations. Try to have compassion for them as you decide which things to keep to yourself in order to protect your own mental health.”
This article originally appeared one year ago. It has been updated.
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An old male bald eagle who adopted a rock as an egg finally got his own real foster baby
Murphy became a real dad after he spent weeks nurturing his “RockBaby.”
On March 8, 2023, a keeper at World Bird Sanctuary in St. Louis County, Missouri, noticed something odd. A male bald eagle named Murphy was guarding what appeared to be a large depression in the ground. “The spot was sparsely but carefully decorated with leaves and branches, and featured a simple rock right in the center,” the nature preserve shared on its Facebook page.
Murphy began sitting on the rock, nudging it and becoming fiercely protective of it, as if it were an egg. People visiting the sanctuary would inquire about the bald eagle just sitting there, wondering if he was okay. The keepers finally put up a sign that read:
“If you see an eagle lying down in the back left corner under a perch, that’s Murphy! Murphy is not hurt, sick, or otherwise in distress. He has built a nest on the ground, and is very carefully incubating a rock! We wish him the best of luck!”
Murphy took his rock duties very seriously
In case you’re wondering if this is unusual behavior for a 31-year-old male bald eagle, the answer is “not really, but….” Male bald eagles do share equally in nesting and baby-raising, so the paternal instinct part is normal. Murphy’s channeling of that instinct onto a rock…maybe not so much. And at 31, he’s more like a great-granddad than dad, as bald eagles usually live 20 to 30 years in the wild (though they do live longer in captivity).
Murphy takes fatherhood seriously, though. Soon he began screaming and charging at the four other eagles in the aviary if they came anywhere near RockBaby. (That’s the official name the keepers gave Murphy’s…well, rock baby.) Naturally, the screaming and charging caused a fair amount of stress for all involved, so Murphy and RockBaby were moved to their own enclosure for everyone’s protection.
People who saw this unfold started suggesting sanctuary staff replace Murphy’s rock with a real egg or get him a mate, but 1) Eagle eggs aren’t just lying around waiting to be given to wanna-be dads, 2) hatching a different kind of bird’s egg would be potentially dangerous for it, and 3) Murphy had two females right there in the aviary, and none of them were interested in each other. Alas, the heart cannot be forced.
Then a real eaglet needed a dad
However, a different opportunity presented itself in late March when an aerie with two chicks in it was blown down by high winds. One chick didn’t survive the fall, but the other was brought to World Bird Sanctuary’s Wildlife Hospital.
A bit bruised, but otherwise healthy, the chick was given a good prognosis. Staff began feeding it while wearing a camouflage suit and holding an eagle stuffy to prevent the eaglet from imprinting on humans. What the baby really needed was a foster parent: an adult eagle who would feed and care for it.
“Murphy’s dad instincts were already in high gear,” the sanctuary wrote on April 11, “but at 31 years old, he had never raised a chick before. It’s definitely a gamble, but also the chick’s best chance.”
Introducing an eaglet to an adult eagle isn’t as simple as dropping it in the enclosure. First, the eaglet is put into what the sanctuary refers to as a “baby jail,” which is a heated, comfy cage made of wood and wire that protects the eaglet but still allows some interaction between the birds so they can get used to one another. Once the desired bonding behavior is observed, then they try out some direct one-on-one interaction without the cage.
On April 12, World Bird Sanctuary announced, “IT’S HAPPENING!!!!”
The eaglet (referred to as Bald Eaglet 23-126, they don’t name foster babies at the sanctuary for superstitious reasons) was released from baby jail, and after an hour or so Murphy approached it with curiosity. Was he wondering if his RockBaby had hatched? Maybe. Would he be the nurturing dad everyone hoped he would be? It appears so.
As the sanctuary shared:
“This morning, Murphy got his chance to be a full parent as 23-126 left the nest to go be closer to Murphy. The food is being dropped through a blind drop tube into the nest and baby appears unable to be able to get over the lip to get back into the nest to get the chopped food. When we checked back, we found that baby was still out of the nest and all the chopped food was still in the nest. However, Murphy’s whole fish had been removed from the nest and baby had a full crop. 23-126 is not yet old enough to tear food which means MURPHY FED THE BABY!!!!”
Murphy’s second eaglet, 24-159, was successfully released into the wild on January 31, 2026, at Audubon Center at Riverlands in West Alton, Missouri: a fitting final chapter to Murphy’s legacy.
The comments on the update, of course, were pure gold as people became fully invested in this story and even gave the eaglet a real name—Dwayne, as in The Rock:
“I can’t believe I’m crying over eagles!”
“Murphy’s going to be giving a TedTalk: Manifest The Eaglet You Need In Your Life.”
“So happy for Murphy & eaglet Dwayne (the rock Johnson).”
“‘Rock, I am your Father.’”
“Omg I’m crying! Murphy never gave up on his rock and now has a baby of his very own
The wonders of nature never cease. Ty, WBS, for making this possible. These two are saving each other 
.”Many people lamented that there is not a live cam at the facility so people could watch this pair as their relationship developed, but staff reminded everyone that the sanctuary is out in the middle of the woods and they don’t have a strong enough signal for a live stream. But WBS staff posted regular updates on social media on how Papa Murphy and “Dwayne” were doing.
Murphy was honored on Father’s Day for his stellar fostering skills as he returned to the aviary:
“We’d like to thank Murphy for his service and applaud his outstanding job in raising 23-126,” the sanctuary wrote. “Murphy may have had a few moments in his parenting duties where he regretted choosing to sit on that rock, but we believe that the overall experience has been very enriching for him. We know that Murphy has enriched 126’s life. Thanks to Murphy, 23-126 has grown up knowing that he is a Bald Eagle! 126 has learned so much from Murphy and, thanks to his efforts, will have a much greater chance of thriving in the wild after he is released. Happy Father’s Day Murphy, and thank you, we couldn’t have done this without you.”
Rest in peace, Papa Murphy
Sadly, Murphy passed away at age 33 on March 15, 2025, after suffering head trauma during a severe storm, having fostered two eaglets in his final years. He lived a long life for a bald eagle and the World Bird Sanctuary offered a beautiful tribute to this extraordinary bird.
“His resilience, spirit, and dedication as a foster dad touched the hearts of millions of people throughout the world, leaving an especially profound impact on those fortunate enough to have worked with him. While Murphy has delighted guests along Avian Avenue for years with his distinct vocalizations and charismatic personality, it wasn’t until 2023 when he decided to incubate a rock that he gained an international following. Murphy’s transition from rock incubating to rockstar foster dad of an injured eaglet brought daily joy to thousands as we watched their journey together. As Murphy’s eaglet grew so did our love of him. Their journey together taught thousands about eagle growth and development, the bonds between eagle parents and their young, and the critical work that goes into wildlife rehabilitation. Murphy’s eaglet continued to grow strong under his watchful gaze and went on to be released back to the wild. The following year, Murphy fostered a second eaglet in need with the same dedication he gave the first. His second eaglet is still in our care, but is making good progress toward release and we expect he will be ready by mid summer.
We could not have asked for a better ambassador and role model. We are incredibly grateful for the community that came together as a result of his heartwarming story. We are devastated by this loss and know that the community mourns with us. Murphy’s foster eaglets were the first ones our hospital received in over a decade and we learned a lot about their care and space needs from observing Murphy with them. With what we learned from this, we’ve designed a series of special aviaries to serve the specific needs of injured and orphaned raptors, including an aviary specialized for eaglets. In honor of Murphy’s legacy, we plan to name the eventual eagle fostering aviary Murphy’s Manor, so that we can continue to remember him for decades to come. Murphy will be deeply missed, but his legacy will live on in the memories of those who loved him.”
Murphy’s second eaglet, 24-159, was successfully released into the wild on January 31, 2026, at Audubon Center at Riverlands in West Alton, Missouri: a fitting final chapter to Murphy’s legacy.
This article originally appeared three years ago. It has been updated.
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People born before 1990 are sharing their now-useless (but 100% nostalgic) skills
For instance, recording songs on tape from the radio while yelling at the DJ to shut up during the intro.
Hey there, millennials! Welcome to the “Holy crapoly, I have real-life memories from 20 years ago!” club. It’s a strangely disorienting milestone to reach when you find yourself starting sentences with, “When I was young…” or, “Back in my day…” isn’t it? Your Gen X elders have been here for a while, but even we have moments of incredulously calculating how the heck we’ve arrived at this place. Time is a tricky little jokester, isn’t it?
To highlight how much has changed for middle-aged folks since we were young, a user on Reddit asked people born before 1990 what useless skills they possess that nobody has a need for anymore. It’s both a hilarious trip down memory lane and a time capsule of life pre-Y2K. (Do kids these days even know what Y2K was? Gracious.)
If you’re down for some good-old-days nostalgia, check out people’s responses:
Making brown paper bag book covers
“I can cover a textbook with a brown paper bag.” – sourwaterbug
Oh goodness yes. And there was always that one girl in class who had the art of the brown paper bag book cover perfected. (They’re probably Pinterest influencers now.)
Maps on actual paper
“I can re-fold a map correctly.” – JungleZac
“Man remember actually using maps…I had an atlas with the road system in my car to navigate other states during road trips. Crazy.” – jagua_haku
How did we ever figure out how to get anywhere before GPS and Google Maps? (Two-inch thick road atlases in our car and stopping at gas stations to buy local maps while traveling, that’s how. Positively primitive.)
Memorizing phone numbers and answering the house phone
For real, though, kids these days don’t even know.
“Remembering phone numbers.” – greatmilliondog
“Not only that, having to speak to your friend’s parents for a few minutes when you call their house.” – Logical_Area_5552
“How to take a message when the person they want to talk to isn’t there.” – Amoori_A_Splooge
How about dialing on a rotary phone, using a pay phone and making (or taking) a collect call?
“Using your shoulder to hold a telephone up to your ear while doing multiple other things at once. Now, the phones are so damned small I drop them.” – Regular_Sample_5197
“100 ft phone cords ” – mrch1ck3nn
“I got in sooooo much trouble for stretching the phone cord into the bathroom for some privacy. Accidentally clotheslined Grandma She laughed about it but Mom was pissed!” – AffectionateBite3827
Recording songs off the radio was an art form
I don’t think kids these days fully grasp how revolutionary Spotify and the like are for those of us who spent hours in front of the radio with our cassette tape recorder queued up at just the right spot waiting for the song we wanted to record to come on. And they will never, ever know the frustration of the DJ yapping right up until the lyrics start.
“Record to tape from the radio. Trying to make sure to not get the DJ/presenter talking sh-t or an ad” – Gankstajam
“‘Shut up, shut up, shut up!!! I’m trying to record my song!!!’” –tearsonurcheek
“Having the first side be tempting enough that they’d flip the other side to continue listening. That’s before continual playback machines existed. Had to flip the cassette.” – CrunchyTeaTime
“Haha yeah and trying to tell others so they don’t make random noise or knock on the door.” – anonymous
“How about making cassette-based mix tapes, trying to figure out to the second, how many and which types of songs in which order, that would still fit perfectly on the length of tape per side.” – anonymous
“People who make digital recordings do not have to worry about running out of tape.” – anonymous
And there were many more, from rewinding a cassette tape with a pencil to writing in cursive to tearing the sides off of printer paper without tearing the paper itself. (Oh and, of course, the ability to count out change and understand what you’re supposed to do if something costs $9.91 and someone hands you $10.01.)
Gotta love it when the things that used to be totally normal now sound like historic artifacts found in a museum. Kind of makes you wonder what normal things from today we’ll be laughing about in another 20 or 30 years.
This article originally appeared three years ago. It has been updated.
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