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New mom Serena Williams shares gratitude for her own mother in a heartfelt letter.

Tennis legend Serena Williams welcomed her first child, Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr. on Sept. 1. And no surprise, she is one sweet baby.

I mean, seriously? Too cute.

Biceps 💪🏾


A post shared by Alexis Olympia Ohanian, Jr. (@olympiaohanian) on

While Williams has been adjusting to her new role, she took a moment to write a letter to her own mother expressing her gratitude and admiration.

Originally posted to Reddit, Serena's letter kicks off with amazement at how her mom managed to keep such a cool head when she saw her daughters criticized and judged harshly in the media for their strong, capable, powerful bodies and commanding performances on the court. Over the years, some have even suggested Williams play with men and accused her of using performance-enhancing drugs.

Photo by William West/AFP/Getty Images.

Such jealousy, misogyny, and thinly veiled racism in response to a job well done would be enough to break anyone's spirit — but imagine if it happened to you. Or worse, your child.

"I don't know how I would react if [Alexis] has to go through what I've gone through since I was a 15 year old and even to this day," Williams wrote. "But mom, I'm not sure how you did not go off on every single reporter, person, announcer and quite frankly, hater, who was too ignorant to understand the power of a black woman."

Wiliams' mother, Oracene Price, watches as Williams plays Wimbledon in 2016. Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images.

Because women, (athletes or otherwise) should never be limited or defined by narrow standards of beauty.

Six-pack or soft rolls, fat or slim, with or without physical limitations, there is no "wrong way" for women, black women in particular, to look or feel strong. We are strong simply by virtue of existing in a world that would rather we not.

"I am proud we were able to show them what some women look like," Williams wrote. "We don't all look the same. We are curvy, strong, muscular, tall, small, just to name a few, and all the same: we are women and proud!"

Photo by Paul Crock/AFP/Getty Images.

But as confident and capable as Williams is, she's not too strong to ask for help.

Motherhood is already a tough job, and raising a child in the public eye won't make it any easier. She may be a superhero on the court, but even the strongest among us know it's OK to get support from the people we love.

"Promise me, Mom, that you will continue to help. I'm not sure if I am as meek and strong as you are yet. I hope to get there one day," she wrote.

Whoever you lean on, whoever you trust and value — it's never a bad time to let them know and say thanks.

My Mom

A post shared by Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) on

Joy

Sorry, Labradors. After 31 years, America has a new favorite dog.

The American Kennel Club has crowned a new favorite.

via Pixabay

A sad-looking Labrador Retriever

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According to the American Kennel Club, for the past 31 years, the Labrador Retriever was America’s favorite dog, but it was eclipsed in 2022 by the Frenchie. The rankings are based on nearly 716,500 dogs newly registered in 2022, of which about 1 in 7 were Frenchies. Around 108,000 French Bulldogs were recorded in the U.S. in 2022, surpassing Labrador Retrievers by over 21,000.

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via Google and Freepik

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What makes the situation even worse is that our information was put online without any of our consent.

The good news is that Google just made a big change that gives us all a little more control over our personal information. On April 27, the company announced it will allow anyone to request removals of their personal information from its Search feature.

“Open access to information is a key goal of Search, but so is empowering people with the tools they need to protect themselves and keep their sensitive, personally identifiable information private. That’s why we’re updating our policies to help people take more control of their online presence in Search,” Michelle Chang, Google’s Global Policy Lead for Search, announced on the company’s blog.

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via Pexels

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Joy

An 8-year-old snuck his handwritten book onto a library shelf. Now it has a 56-person waiting list.

Dillon Helbig's 81-page graphic novel— written by "Dillon His Self"—captured the hearts of his local librarians and their patrons.

Dillon Helbig's 81-page graphic novel captured the hearts of his local librarians.

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Dillon wrote his 81-page graphic novel, "The Adventures of Dillon Helbig's Crismis" (written by "Dillon His Self") in a hardcover journal with colored pencils over the course of a few days. He even put a label on the back of the book that reads "Made in Idho" [sic] and put an illustrated spine label on it as well. Then, without telling anyone, he brought it to his local library in Boise, Idaho, and slipped it in among the books in the children's section.

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Becca Moore and Raul Torres having margaritas.

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“I went to Coachella this weekend and I thought this guy was kinda hitting on me but then he just robbed me,” Becca says at the beginning of her three-minute TikTok video with over 3 million views. After the festival, she was left with no ride, money, or means to get in contact with friends and family. She was stranded in the desert.

Becca’s friend’s hotel called her an Uber so she could get to a local store to buy a new phone. The driver she was incredibly lucky to be connected with was a lot more than a guy with a car in a time of need, he was a guardian angel named Raul Torres from Fresno, California, six hours north of Indio.

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44 years ago he became her protector after a terrible act. Today, they've been reunited in love.

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There’s a whole genre of music and movies dedicated to the idea of someone being swept off of their feet after circumstances tried to keep them from their true love. Romance novels could single handedly keep public libraries and bookstores afloat. Everyone loves "love" and the story of Betsy and Irv just takes the cake. Betsy Sailor attended Penn State University as a business major, which was almost unheard of in 1978 and Irv Pankey attended the university while playing football. The pair’s paths never crossed, until an unfortunate incident bonded the two forever.

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