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This mom is making her sick 6-year-old smile — with an elephant's behind.

Kim’s daughter Violet is a 1 in a million kid — literally.

The 6-year-old has not one, but three incredibly rare neurological diseases.

Screenshots via Starlight Children's Foundation.

The diseases affect Violet's ability to do basic things most of us take for granted. “They describe it as having cerebral palsy, autism, ADHD, epilepsy, and Parkinson’s all wrapped up into one disorder,” Kim says.

Violet works with a physical therapist and occupational therapist to help her walk and eat and even breathe. Yet, she's one of the happiest and sweetest kids you'll ever meet.

“She loves to go to the grocery store,” Kim says, “because then she can say ‘Hi’ to everybody and ‘I love you.’”

People often say “I love you” back, which makes Violet happy and warms her mother's heart.

“You can’t resist her,” says Kim.

The proud mom wanted to do something to make Violet’s hospital visits more enjoyable.

Enter the Starlight Foundation’s Design-a-Gown contest.

#MyStarlightGown - Violet's Story
She's one in a million. ❤️ (via Starlight Children's Foundation)
Posted by Upworthy on Friday, April 20, 2018

The Starlight Foundation, co-founded by Steven Spielberg, aims to “bring joy and comfort to hospitalized kids and their families.” And they do that through programs like Design-a-Gown.

Hospital gowns are notoriously awful. For one, they’re embarrassing, opening in the back so patients’ rear-ends are exposed. And two, they’re sooooo bland.

As Kim says, “They’re literally like prison wear.”

No one wants to see a kid dressed in a sterile-looking hospital gown — and what kid would want to wear one?

Starlight created a gown that ties up the side, not the back — a simple fix for the butt-baring problem. Then they asked people to send designs to make the gowns fun — something kids would actually want to wear.

Kim says she wanted her gown design to bring Violet some laughter.

Kim’s design features an elephant holding a rainbow lollipop on the front, and the same elephant's backside on the back.

The clever-but-subtle allusion to traditional, butt-showing hospital gowns aside, Kim says, “I wanted something that would make my daughter laugh. And what’s more amusing than a little elephant butt?”

Starlight received more than 6,000 gown design entries along with stories from kids and families. Some celebrities, including Martha Stewart and “Weird” Al Yankovic, even took part in the contest.

Photos via Starlight Children's Foundation..

Kim’s design was one of three finalists.

The winning design will be made into gowns for kids at Starlight’s network of more than 700 hospitals and community health partners. Donors can provide a gown to a kid by donating $25 to the foundation.

What a fun way to help kids who have no choice but to spend time in hospitals. Anything that makes a sick child like Violet happier is a winner in my book.

Note: Nope, we weren't paid to promote The Starlight Foundation — we'd tell you! We just think this is a great story about what they're doing to make the world a bit better.

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Facebook group brings people together IRL to make meaningful friendships

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Making new friends as an adult is challenging. While people crave meaningful IRL connections, it can be hard to know where to find them. But thanks to one Facebook Group, meeting your new best friends is easier than ever.

Founded in 2018, NYC Brunch Squad brings together hundreds of people who come as strangers and leave as friends through its in-person events.

“Witnessing the transformative impact our community has on the lives of our members is truly remarkable. We provide the essential support and connections needed to thrive amid the city's chaos,” shares Liza Rubin, the group’s founder.

Despite its name, the group doesn’t just do brunch. They also have book clubs, seasonal parties, and picnics, among other activities.

NYC Brunch Squad curates up to 10 monthly events tailored to the specific interests of its members. Liza handles all the details, taking into account different budgets and event sizes – all people have to do is show up.

“We have members who met at our events and became friends and went on to embark on international journeys to celebrate birthdays together. We have had members get married with bridesmaids by their sides who were women they first connected with at our events. We’ve had members decide to live together and become roommates,” Liza says.

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Members also bond over their passion for giving back to their community. The group has hosted many impact-driven events, including a “Picnic with Purpose” to create self-care packages for homeless shelters and recently participated in the #SquadSpreadsJoy challenge. Each day, the 100 members participating receive random acts of kindness to complete. They can also share their stories on the group page to earn extra points. The member with the most points at the end wins a free seat at the group's Friendsgiving event.

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Map represents the value of 100 dollars.

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The Tax Foundation addressed many of these shortcomings using the most recent (2015) Bureau of Economic Analysis data to provide a familiar map of the United States overlaid with the relative value of what $100 is "worth" in each state. Granted, going state-by-state still introduces a fair amount of "smoothing" into the process — $100 will go farther in Los Angeles than in Fresno, for instance — but it does provide insight into where the value lies.

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Every night around 5:30 p.m., she stood up and told the staff at her Ohio nursing home that she needed to leave. When they asked why, she said she needed to go home to take care of her mother. Her mom, of course, had long since passed away.

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Images courtesy of Kelly Cervantes

Kelly Cervantes wrote her way through grieving the loss of her daughter, Adelaide.

Kelly Cervantes begins the Introduction to her book with five words: "Grief sucks. It's also weird." It's a concise truth that anyone who has lost a loved one knows all too well.

Grief is a universal experience—none of us get through life without loss—but it's also unique to each person. Most of us are familiar with the popular "stages of grief" theory, but denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance (along with guilt and a host of things) are less like sequential rungs on a ladder and more like pools you fall into at various times as you stumble your way through the grief process. Grief is not linear and it's not neat and tidy and it's not predictable.

Take it from someone who's been there. Kelly Cervantes lost her daughter, Adelaide, to epilepsy just shy of her 4th birthday. Using writing as a therapeutic tool to help her process Adelaide's medically complex life, death and everything that came after, Kelly created the book she wished she'd had as she was trying to navigate her own grieving process.

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This mom is making her sick 6-year-old smile — with an elephant's behind.

Kim’s daughter Violet is a 1 in a million kid — literally.

The proud mom wanted to do something to make Violet’s hospital visits more enjoyable.

Kim says she wanted her gown design to bring Violet some laughter.

Your purchasing power can swing by 30% from state to state.

"What if we design an environment that looks like outside?" he said. "What if I can have a sunrise and sunset inside the building?

92-year-old Norma had a strange and heartbreaking routine.

Confusion is common in Alzheimer's patients, but Makesh knew there had to be some way to minimize these conflicts.

Instead of rooms or units, each resident gets a "home" on a quiet little indoor street reminiscent of the neighborhoods many of them grew up in.

Instead of a boring panel ceiling, residents look up and see a digital sky, which grows dimmer late in the day to help keep their biological clocks in tune.

Throughout the day, nature sounds and fresh aromas like peppermint or citrus are piped in.

For Makesh, this isn't just about making patients comfortable, though. He wants to change how we think about the endgame of severe dementia.

Of course, we're a long way from a cure for Alzheimer's.

The school assignment was intended to spark debate and discussion — but isn't that part of the problem?

Trameka Brown-Berry was looking over her 4th-grade son Jerome's homework when her jaw hit the floor.

The school assignment was intended to spark debate and discussion — but isn't that part of the problem?

The assignment was real. In the year 2018. Unbelievable.

The shockingly offensive assignment deserved to be thrown in the trash. But young Jerome dutifully filled it out anyway.

"You, white friend, need to speak up and say something when I can't."

1. You're going to have to get uncomfortable.

2. "Your black friend would like to say something to the racist lady, but doesn't want to appear to be that 'angry black man.'"

3. We are constantly monitoring our surroundings and adjusting our clothes, hair, speed, and speech to maintain white comfort.

4. "Your black friend wishes you'd play more than Beyoncé. There are more black performers than Beyoncé."

5. Speaking of which, performative blackness is really uncomfortable.

6. "Your black friend feels like a man without a country."

7. We would love it if we could stop talking about our anxiety and frustrations regarding racism. But right now, that's impossible.

The billionaire passed away on November 28 at the age of 99.

After losing her almost-4-year-old daughter to epilepsy, Kelly Cervantes created a "grief companion" that meets people wherever they are in their grief journey.