Amanda will never forget what she was doing at 4:59 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 7, 2011.
Gabe, her best friend and boss, had just given her the following day off from work.
"I was delighted to not have to work on a Saturday," she explained. "So I said, 'Wow this must be my lucky day.' And he said, 'Yes it is.'"
The following morning, Amanda got a phone call.
She learned there'd been a shooting at the event Gabe had been working — the same work event she'd been given off.
Amanda did what many best friends would have done...
...and tragically arrived at her worst nightmare.
Beyond the yellow tape, she could see Gabe's body lying on the pavement covered in a white butcher's cloth from the nearby supermarket, which someone had placed on him.
"I wanted so much to hold him, to tell him that I love him, that he means the world to me," she recalls in a video for Upworthy. "And I couldn’t."
That was the day Amanda lost Gabe. Most of the world, however, remembers it as the day Rep. Gabby Giffords was shot in Arizona.
Gabe, a staffer for Giffords, was one of the six people murdered in the parking lot of a local grocery store at the "Congress on Your Corner" event on Jan. 8, 2011. Giffords was one of 13 others injured by gunfire.
Gabby Giffords and her husband, Mark Kelly, place flowers at a memorial for the shooting victims. Photo by Joshua Lott/Getty Images.
Mentions of Gabe's death and the others who died that day were repeated time and time again, as media outlets covered the tragedy in-depth for months. But most of the nearly 12,000 murders from guns each year across America get far less attention.
As the rest of the country read headlines surrounding the tragedy near Tucson, Amanda focused on moving forward with her life.
She decided to visit the place where Gabe had been shot to make peace with his death. There, standing amongst the flowers, heartfelt notes, and teddy bears honoring those who lost their lives, Amanda saw an inspiring message from a very unlikely source.
"My head was immediately drawn down between my cowboy boots, where I saw this tiny, rectangular piece of paper," she says. "And I picked it up and it was a fortune from a fortune cookie. And it said, 'You are often unaware of the effect you have on others.'"
To Amanda, it felt like a sign — like Gabe was sending her an important message she should know:
"It felt like a communication with Gabe, that I took to mean, 'Amanda, I had no idea I impacted so many people and I was so loved. And Amanda, you have no idea how you impact and affect people, and how loved you are.' ... All of us are often unaware of the affect we have on others, and it shouldn’t take tragedy for us to let one another know that ... to say 'thank you,' and 'I love you.'"
It's a powerful reminder for any of us, wherever we are in our lives, regardless of what we're dealing with: No matter who you are, you have an impact, you are loved, and the world is a better place because you are in it.
Beaver in water. Photo by 
An actual beaver dam on the now-thriving Price River
Not just coworkers—family, friends, strangers, kids…
Imagine having to go so badly but being out of euros. 
Anything hobbit-esque can't be wrong. 
But what if you need pain meds AND mascara?!
Imagine how this would affect childcare.
Honestly…where's the lie?
A brown buddha statue sits near a green mountain. Photo by 
Urgent dash to the bathroom! 🚪🏃♂️
Ladybug unexpectedly found during colonoscopyPhoto credit: 
Close-up of bottom of ladybug found in colonPhoto credit: 
There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."