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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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Two vacationing paramedics deliver a baby at 30,000 feet with a shoelace and borrowed blankets
A paramedic is never truly off the clock.
The best flights are uneventful. Timely, smooth, and relaxing. Even a little boring. However, that’s not always in the cards.
A lot of things can happen in the air, including unforeseen medical emergencies. Thankfully, this one has a happy ending thanks to the help from two selfless strangers.
Woman on Delta flight unexpectedly goes into labor minutes before landing
Ashley Blair was pregnant and due in about two weeks, but really wanted to be with her mom in Oregon when the baby arrived. So, she hopped a Delta flight through Atlanta and was well on her way when things took an unexpected turn.
Pregnant mothers are generally discouraged from flying this late into a pregnancy, and some airlines may forbid them entirely. But life happens. Sometimes, travel is unavoidable, and in Blair’s case, she still had a few weeks left before she was supposed to go into labor, making the risk relatively low.
The baby had other ideas.
CNN reports that Blair went into labor when her Delta flight was about 30 minutes away from landing at Portland International.
Two hero paramedics step up to help
A paramedic is never truly off the clock. Even though Tina Fritz and Kaarin Powell, two friends and emergency workers, were flying home from vacation in the Dominican Republic, they’d already been called to action not long after the plane took off.
Fritz and Powell were attending to another passenger when flight attendants made an urgent announcement: Was there a doctor onboard?
They rushed to Blair’s side and, with the help of flight attendants, began shuffling passengers around to make enough room to deliver the baby. Unfortunately, there were no medical tools or sterile equipment available on the plane, and the baby was coming fast, so there was no time to lose.
150-some passengers, and the crew, all pitched in to help. Photo Credit: Edgar Zuniga Jr./Flickr Passengers work together to help
Right as Blair was getting ready to start pushing, the pilots announced that the plane was about to begin its landing procedure. That usually means all passengers and crew must take their seats.
This was going to have to happen fast.
Fritz and Powell told flight attendants that they needed blankets, and lots of them. Passengers all over the plane passed theirs back so that Blair could be comfortable as she began pushing.
They also needed shoelaces, of all things. One to use as a tourniquet for an IV, and another to tie off the umbilical cord. That is, before they cut it with a butter knife, which was all that was available.
Truly an amazing MacGyver-like delivery. Just a few quick pushes and the baby was born. Some passengers barely even knew anything was happening outside of a few murmurs and folks standing up or moving around.
According to all reports, Blair and baby girl Brielle were healthy and stable when the plane arrived.
A beautiful irony in the teamwork
Airplanes and airports are notorious for bringing out the worst in humanity. Passengers berate flight attendants, fight over seats, and throw etiquette and human decency into the wind over the most minor inconveniences.
So, it’s amazing to see an example of 150-some odd strangers working together to tackle a true medical emergency. It wasn’t the smooth, convenient, and peaceful ride some passengers probably had in mind—but it’s one they won’t soon forget.
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A baby was born landing at JFK. The pilot ran with the traffic controller’s name pick on the spot.
The pilot’s “will do” came back instantly.
There’s a particular kind of magic that happens when professionals doing routine work get hit with a genuinely extraordinary situation. The instinct is usually one of two things: clinical efficiency or unexpected warmth. Sometimes, gloriously, both.
That’s exactly what happened on April 4, 2026, when Caribbean Airlines Flight BW005 was descending into John F. Kennedy International Airport from Kingston, Jamaica. One of the passengers, a heavily pregnant woman, went into labor. The pilot calmly radioed Kennedy Tower with the situation and requested a direct routing in. Air traffic control lined everything up: clearance to land on Runway 4R, ground crew briefed, medical personnel arranged at the gate.
Then, a few minutes after touchdown, ground control checked in.
An airplane pilot. talking to air traffic controller. Photo credit: Canva “Caribbean five, ground.”
“Yes sir, go ahead.”
“Is it out yet?”
“Yes, sir.”
“All right. Tell her she’s got to name it Kennedy.”
“Ahh, Kennedy. Will do.”
“All right. Have a good day.”
That was it. The audio, which CBS Mornings shared on April 6, has been making the rounds online ever since, mostly because of the timing of the whole thing. A mother had just delivered a healthy baby on a Boeing 737 mid-descent. The pilot had just helped coordinate that situation while flying a plane. And the ground controller, having calmly walked the flight through one of the more unusual arrivals at JFK that week, decided the appropriate sign-off was a dad joke about naming the kid after the airport.
According to Caribbean Airlines, the flight never even formally declared an emergency. The crew handled it within standard procedures, and upon landing the mother and newborn were attended to by medical personnel and received the care they needed. Everyone was fine.
What’s stuck with people online isn’t really the medical drama, though. It’s the ground controller’s instinct to make a joke. There’s a version of this exchange that’s all clipped efficiency, and we’d never have heard about it. But this particular controller, in the middle of a shift at one of the busiest airspaces in the country, decided the moment called for a small human gesture. A pop of warmth on a frequency that’s usually nothing but headings and altitudes.
It’s nice to see that the people running our infrastructure are people. They’re listening, they’re paying attention, and once in a while they’re trying to give a stranger they’ll never meet a little something to remember the day by.
Whether the baby actually ends up named Kennedy is up to the family. But somewhere out there is a woman who can tell her child a true story that starts with “you were born on a plane, and the man on the radio who guided us in picked your name.”
Hard to top that.
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Older millennials share their biggest mistakes so you can learn from them
A lot of these comments will hit home.
It wasn’t long ago that a millennial was seen as a college kid that baby boomers chided for being entitled and Gen Xers thought were way too sincere and needed to learn how to take a joke. Today, the oldest millennials, those born around 1980, are now in their mid-40s and have lived long enough to have some serious regrets.
They also have enough experience to take some pride in decisions that, in hindsight, were the right moves. The good news is that at 40 there is still plenty of time to learn from our successes and failures to set ourselves up for a great second half of life. These lessons are also valuable to the Gen Zers coming up who can avoid the pitfalls of the older generation.
The Reddit thread that hit a nerve
A Reddit user who has since deleted their profile asked millennials nearing 40 what their biggest mistakes were at this point in life and they received more than 2,200 responses. The biggest regrets these millennials have are being flippant about their health and not saving enough money when they were younger.
They also realized that the carefree days of youth are fleeting and impossible to get back. So they should have spent less time working and more time enjoying themselves. Many also lamented that they should have taken their education more seriously in their 20s so they have more opportunities now.
The responses to this thread are bittersweet. It’s tough hearing people come to grips with their regrets but the realizations are also opportunities to grow. Hopefully, some younger people will read this thread and take the advice to heart.
Here are 21 of the most powerful responses to the question: “Millennials of Reddit now nearing your 40s, what were your biggest mistakes at this point in life?”
On health and relationships
1. “Not taking care of my hearing, not even 35 and going deaf.” – Kusanagi8811
2. “Not getting healthy earlier.” – zombiearchivist
3. “Staying too long at a job in my 20s, just because it was safe and easy. When I finally got the motivation to leave, ended up with an almost 50% pay boost.” – Hrekires
4. “Thinking that I could and should put myself on the back burner for anything and anyone else.” – lenalilly227
5. “Smoking and not dealing with my sh** the right way.” – Allenrw3
6. “Pining after the wrong person.” – runikepisteme
7. “I turned 40 this year and just started liking who I am. Why the fuck did it take 40 years for self acceptance?” – guscallee
8. “Take care of your f***ing back. Lift with your knees. Sure it’s rad when you grab a fridge by yourself and lift it in the back of a moving truck unaided, but one day that shit is going to have consequences that won’t just magically go away by resting and ‘taking it easy’ for a week.” – GuyTallman
9. “I wish I spent more time with my dad while I had the chance.” – CharlieChooper
10. “I’m 37. I absolutely could have taken better care of my body, but I’m in relatively good health. I’m starting to realize how important it is to maintain my health. I do also think I drank far too much in my 20 and early 30’s. I’m trying to rectify that now, but it’s hard. So that I guess.” – dartastic
On work, money and missed opportunities
11. “I’m not sure if people have experienced the same but when I entered my 30s I became convinced I was rapidly running out of time. Rather than using that as motivation I let it paralyze me with indecision because I ‘couldn’t afford to make the wrong choice.’ Consequently, I’m now 39 and, though I’ve had great things happen in my 30s, I regret spending so much time worrying and so little time committing to a course of action.” – tomwaste
12. “Work to live, don’t live to work. You have half your working life after you turn 40 but only 20-25 years to really live it up before the responsibilities become heavy and your joints start to ache. Live life. Really LIVE it. Experience as much you can. Every sensation, sight, sound, touch. Be open. Be brave. Live your first few decades in the fast lane. You have the rest of your life to take it easy, when you have no choice.” – MrDundee666
13. “I should have paid more attention to my parents telling me to save money and less attention when they were teaching me about purity culture.” – Arkie_MTB
14. “If I could tell my 18 year old self one thing, it would be to save 10% of every paycheck I ever got.” – PutAForkInHim
15. “Thinking that I have time to do everything I want only to find myself loosing time, and the endless energy I used to have in order to purse them.” – ezZiioFTW
A man with a regrettable sunburn. Photo credit: Canva 16. “Not wearing sunscreen.” – blueboxreddress
17. “Not recognizing the importance of work/life balance earlier in life. My late teens, all 20’s, and early 30’s were spent pulling 60-100+hr weeks because I thought it was what was required to succeed. How wrong I was. Others stabbed me in the back and reaped the reward.” – [Deleted]
18. “When you get out of college, keep your friends. No matter how hard it is. Hold on to them.” – mpssss22
19.“Should have bought a home. We qualified 20 years ago for enough to buy a small 2 bedroom but I didn’t think we could afford it. That 2 bedroom would be worth nearly 3Xs and paid off by now. We pay nearly double in rent what our mortgage would have been. Gotta love the SF bay area cost of living.” -Thelazywitch
20. “Always ask for more pay. Starting, yearly, before leaving, whatever. Get that money.” – SensibleReply
What younger generations can take from this
Reading through these responses, one thing becomes clear: most of these regrets aren’t about big dramatic failures, they’re about the small, quiet choices that compound over time. The good news is that the same principle works in reverse. Small, quiet choices toward health, connection, and financial security add up, too.
This artice originally appeared five years ago. It has been updated.
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Pass down the crown, Labradors. America has a new favorite dog breed.
After 31 years of Lab dominance, the American Kennel Club named a new top dog.
The dog world shifted in 2022 as the sweet-faced, loveable Labrador Retriever was toppled as America’s favorite dog breed. The breed best known for having a heart of gold was replaced by the smaller, more urban-friendly French Bulldog.
According to the American Kennel Club, for 31 years, the Labrador Retriever was America’s favorite dog until it was eclipsed in 2022 by the Frenchie. The rankings were 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.
How the Frenchie took over America
The French Bulldog’s popularity has grown exponentially over the past decade. They were the #14 most popular breed in 2012, and since then, registrations have gone up 1,000%, bringing them to the top of the breed popularity rankings.
The AKC says that the American Hairless Terrier, Gordon Setter, Italian Greyhound and Anatolian Shepherd Dog also grew in popularity between 2021 and 2022. As of 2025, Frenchies are still America’s top dog three years running.
The French Bulldog was famous among America’s upper class around the turn of the 20th century but then fell out of favor. Their resurgence is partly based on several celebrities who have gone public with their Frenchie love. Leonardo DiCaprio, Megan Thee Stallion, Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, Reese Witherspoon and Lady Gaga all own French Bulldogs.
The breed earned a lot of attention as show dogs in 2022 when a Frenchie named Winston took second place at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show and first in the National Dog Show.
Stars love them too
The breed made national news in early 2021 when Gaga’s dog walker was shot in the chest while walking two of her Frenchies in a dog heist. He recovered from his injuries, and the dogs were later returned.
They’ve also become popular because of their unique look and personalities.
“They’re comical, friendly, loving little dogs,” French BullDog Club of America spokesperson Patty Sosa told the AP. She said they are city-friendly with modest grooming needs and “they offer a lot in a small package.”
They are also popular with people who live in apartments. According to the AKC, Frenchies don’t bark much and do not require a lot of outdoor exercise.
The French Bulldog stands out among other breeds because it looks like a miniature bulldog but has large, expressive bat-like ears that are its trademark feature. However, their popularity isn’t without controversy. “French bulldogs can be a polarizing topic,” veterinarian Dr. Carrie Stefaniak told the AP.
The downside of having a Frenchie
French Bulldogs have been bred to have abnormally large heads, which means that large litters usually need to be delivered by C-section, an expensive procedure that can be dangerous for the mother. They are also prone to multiple health problems, including skin, ear, and eye infections. Their flat face means they often suffer from respiratory problems and heat intolerance, and Frenchies are also more prone to spine deformations and nerve pain as they age.
While they’re friendly, they can also be stubborn and may require more training than the average dog. Overall, however, the AKC says that French Bulldogs are good for families with children due to their laid back, social nature and lack of aggression.
Here are the AKC’s top ten most popular dog breeds for 2022.
1 French Bulldogs
2 Labrador Retrievers
3 Golden Retrievers
4 German Shepherd Dogs
5 Poodles
6 Bulldogs
7 Rottweilers
8 Beagles
9 Dachshunds
10 German Shorthaired Pointers
Part of the reason the 2022 list was so noteworthy was the change at the top, as these lists don’t tend to change much year to year. In fact, the 2025 Most Popular Dog Breed list looks very similar to 2022, with only minor movement. The biggest change was the Dachshund moving up to #5, nudging the Poodle out of the top five for the first time in years. Beagles came in at #6, Rottweilers at #7, German Shepherd Dogs at #8, German Shorthaired Pointers at #9, and Bulldogs at #10.
So congratulations, Frenchies for keeping your top dog spot for the fourth year in a row.
This article originally appeared three years ago. It has been updated.
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Woman goes to great lengths to adopt baby from husband’s ex-wife to save him from foster care
“At the time, it just made sense.”
Christie and Wesley Werts have taken the idea of a blended family to the next level. When the couple fell in love and married, they brought together her children, Megan and Vance, and his children, Austin and Dakota.
The Ohio family became five children strong after officially adopting Levi in January 2023, when he was nearly 2 years old. Levi is the son of Wesley’s ex-wife, who passed away four days after the child was born. The ex-wife had the boy prematurely, at 33 weeks, and died soon after from drug addiction and complications of COVID-19.
When Levi was born, he was a ward of the state with no first name or birth certificate.
“When I heard about Levi, without hesitation, I said we should take him,” Christie said, according to The Daily Mail, and her reason went far beyond the fact that the child was the half-brother to two of her recently adopted children. “I myself was a foster kid and, although for the most part, I had a great experience, I did not want him going to foster care,” Christie said.
She’d been dreaming of him before he arrived
Before the family knew of Levi’s birth, Christie had a recurring dream about a blue-eyed, blonde-haired boy.
“Before Levi, we had wanted to try to have a child of our own,” she told Newsweek. “I’m in my forties, so we knew that we would probably need fertility treatment, so I thought let’s just think about it and what will be will be.”
The problem was that Levi was in Texas, so the family sold their house and moved to the Lone Star State to go through the arduous adoption process. The situation was further complicated because Levi’s biological father had parental rights even though he had substance abuse problems. The family couldn’t move out of Texas until his rights were legally terminated.
But after a 16-month process, in January 2023, Levi became a legal family member. Christie understands that adopting her husband’s ex-wife’s baby may seem unusual to some people. “It’s a lot to process for a lot of people, but honestly, it seems a lot crazier than it was. At the time, it just made sense,” she said.
She had doubts, but love won anyway
Even though Christie knew in her heart that she must adopt Levi, she wasn’t without reservations. “’If I said I did not [have concerns beforehand], that would not be honest,” she told The Daily Mail. “This was different. I was going to walk into a child I never met and was worried the circumstances would hinder this instant love. But […] he stole my heart. I also felt this intense need to protect him.”
These days, Levi fits right in with the family, and the rest of the kids are happy to be back to living an everyday life without any caseworkers or inspections.
“He’s great, he is the king of the house! We are all very close. He won’t understand the journey right now, but someday, I will let him know we fought for him!” Christie said.
Christie has continued to share her family’s journey on TikTok and has since published a book called Life’s Sad Story, God’s Love Story: Transforming a Child’s Adversity into a Tale of Love about her experiences as a foster child and Levi’s adoption story.
This article originally appeared five years ago. It has been updated.
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Jimmy Fallon asked people to share their wildest stories from their bad summer jobs
Is it ever worth that paycheck?
Call it a rite of passage, a baptism by fire, or simply a necessary evil, but a terrible summer job is pretty much a staple of young adulthood. Those concert tickets aren’t gonna pay for themselves, after all. Some summer jobs are heinous by the sheer amount of manual labor involved. Others are just plain weird. I remember one year working as a “live strolling table.” Yep, just walking around attached to an elaborately dressed table offering hors d’oeuvres and champagne. A human-furniture hybrid. How do you put that on a resume?
No matter the role, there is one thing all summer jobs have in common: they teach us humility in one way or another … especially once we see that first paycheck. There’s simply no way to prepare for seeing two weeks worth of hard work equate to a (usually) paltry sum. Hopefully that experience alone makes generous tippers of us all.
Back in 2022, during one of his popular “hashtag” bits, Jimmy Fallon asked people to share their own “funny, weird, or embarrassing story about a bad summer job” as part of his iconic #hashtags challenge.
When Jimmy Fallon asked, people delivered
Here are 15 that might make your own summer job memory feel a little less dreadful:
“I planted trees for the US Forest Service one summer in HS. Our foreman would go through our lunches, eat our cookies and chips, and take bites out of our sandwiches. We were all about 15 so too afraid to tell.” – @dumpster_diva
“One summer I worked at Taco Bell during lunch and Furr’s cafeteria during dinner. People would see me at both and ask if I was twins.” – @kerrikgray
“As a young comedian I was hired to MC an event for a furniture store. The owner paid me 5 bucks for every time I would fake trip and fall on my way to the mic. He said he was a 3 stooges fan.” – @Brentfo4242
“I applied for a job while in high school at a toy store. I called back days after the interview asking if they had any news for me. They told me I got the job, and they forgot to tell me. They had me scheduled for that day and was told ‘you’re late.’” – @RockerSam91
“In high school, I worked at an insurance agency…let’s just say the bus ride to and from work was the best part of the job.” – @SharonZurcher
“In high school I worked at a bounce house company. My first day working was an elementary school field day and the huge inflatable slide starting deflating and collapsing with kids at the top…angry parents staring at me like I had an answer for this at 16 years old.” – @calamari_carly
“In middle school my friend and I got paid to fill, lick and seal about 500 envelopes with documents for a lawyer – a penny per envelope. 3 hours later, we asked for 2 cans of soda from his cooler. He said sure, and took $2 each from our pay. We made a dollar.” – @CameronFontana
It gets weirder from here
“I worked at a dog kennel. A guy brought in 2 dogs to stay a month. He told me to give a pill every morning to dog #1. So, I did for the month. When he returned, I brought out dog #1 and he said, ‘Hi, dog #2!’ My face turned so red. Oh, well. The dog survived.” – @TheTomeWebster
“I babysat identical twin boys where one constantly screamed and got into mischief but potty trained early while the other was quiet, well behaved but always blowing out diapers. They never did anything ‘identical’. I’m shocked that I still wanted kids after that!” – @overbaughs
“Worked at Crumbl in high school. One coworker had the exact same shifts as me, and she was a theater kid. Like MAJOR theater kid, was cracked out 24/7, randomly performing theater at work. I am not proud to say I memorized 10 Shakespeare monologues because of her.” – @itstherealmeboo
“I held human hearts with a white cotton glove during open heart surgeries, so they didn’t ‘slip’.…No pressure! That’s why l am now a planetary medium and asteroid deflector. Much less stress.” – @rosamalvaceae
“I worked for a local sweet corn farm. I had to sort the corn into boxes for their stands around the state or local grocery stores. It came off the truck onto a conveyor belt by the 1000s. I literally saw thousands of corn cobs in my dreams at night.” – @jdianemiller
“In high school my mom got me a job working with the city to clean an island in the local lake that ducks lived on. Everyday I had to fight a duck, and everyday I needed a bandaid after getting bit by a duck. It was a nightmare and I still hate ducks 30 years later.” – @KingSergioS
“Hired at an amusement park for the summer, taking summer college classes at the same time…Show up for my 1st day to a supervisor who says ‘Oh, the girl who didn’t show up!’ Proceeds to show me the previous week’s schedule where I had 40 hours during my class time. He rolls his eyes when I explain and gives me every crappy task he can find…….I left after the 2nd day, never picked up my check, but kept my employee ID & got in for free all summer!” – @trixiebelle47
What bad summer jobs actually teach us
While certain summer jobs, like the ones above, sound like a total nightmare, there have been studies that indicate they may lead to better school outcomes, similar to other out-of-school activities such as sports and clubs. That said, recent reporting from CNBC and other outlets confirms that low-wage, entry-level positions are among the first to be compromised by the rise of artificial intelligence. So unfortunately, not as many heart-holding gigs will be available.
This article originally appeared four years ago. It has been updated.
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Couple shares photo of cherry tree they planted as teens has now ‘mirrored’ their pregnancy
The cherry tree they planted as teenagers never sprouted a single offshoot. Then she got pregnant.
In 2007, Wes Dixon gave his teenage girlfriend Kelsey Dixon (@kelseyrileydixon) a cherry tree sapling for their first anniversary. They planted it in his mother’s backyard in Pennsylvania and did what seemed like a sweet but slightly impractical thing: they decided to take a photo with it every year.
They kept that promise for nearly two decades. Through high school graduation, through moving 3,000 miles away, through marriage, through the year they forgot and had to make peace with the gap in the series — they kept coming back to that tree. The annual photo became a living timeline of their relationship, the tree growing taller and wider behind them as they changed too.
Then came the pregnancy photo. Kelsey was expecting twins, and her mother-in-law was keeping an eye on the tree back in Pennsylvania. That’s when she noticed something she’d never seen before in 17 years.
The cherry tree had sprouted new shoots from one of its roots. Basal sprouts, sometimes called suckers, a cluster of small new growth emerging from the base of the original tree. In nearly two decades it had never done this. It did it the year the Dixons were expecting their first children.
“My mom sends me a picture,” Kelsey narrated in a video posted to her Instagram, “and there’s a little baby tree growing. She pointed out that it’s growing from one of the roots of the main cherry tree.”
The video hit 48 million views. Kelsey and Wes appeared on ABC News and the TODAY show to tell the story. The comment that seemed to capture what people were feeling: “We’re so much more connected to these beautiful living beings on earth than we can even fathom.”
There’s no scientific reason to think the tree knew. Basal sprouting is a normal form of vegetative reproduction for ornamental cherries, triggered by stress, root disturbance, or just the right conditions underground. The timing was coincidence.
But it was a very good coincidence, and the Dixons are not inclined to overthink it. Kelsey has since written a children’s book called “Roots and Wings,” inspired by the tradition and the sprout, and partnered with plant retailer The Sill on a line of trees meant for marking meaningful moments — anniversaries, births, new beginnings.
They also, for the record, skipped 2019. Kelsey said she’s made her peace with it. “I kind of love it now that we missed it,” she told Newsweek. “It’s a good demonstration of imperfection being part of life and relationships.”
The tree is still in the backyard. The baby branches are still growing.
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A school counselor comforted her crying student new to the United States. Her tender response is an emotional lesson in empathy.
“I’m always happy to be a safe space for my students.”
Korynn Patterson, an elementary school counselor and social worker in Maryland, knew exactly what she needed to do when a brand new student walked into her office “sad” and “scared”—she took her into her arms for an empathetic embrace.
Patterson shared the sweet interaction with the young student who recently moved to the United States from a Spanish-speaking country. And with the help of a fellow female student to translate, she was able to comfort her.
“Our new student doesn’t speak any English and I paid my translator in fruit snacks ☺️,” she wrote in the caption.
Ms. Patterson models empathy with emotional student
In the viral video shared with her followers on TikTok, Patterson hugged her student and asked her student translator to say, “I know you must be very scared, but can you tell her you’re very brave? You’re a very brave girl.”
The student is crying and tells Ms. Patterson that she misses her mom and doesn’t want to go to class. Patterson responds, “Tell her I am going to sit in class with you for a little bit, okay?”
Patterson offers her a fidget toy to help her with anxiety and more reassurance that she “knows she is scared [and] that she is there to help her.” The three keep things light talking about Paw Patrol. Ms. Patterson then tells the upset student that they can spend time at lunch and recess together as well.
In the video overaly, Patterson explains more about the girl’s story.
“At her age, school was optional in her country,” she shared. “She is experiencing HUGE culture shock…I’m always happy to be a safe space for my students. Being that her whole world is changing, she needs to feel some sense of safety. I affirm them just as they affirm me.”
Ms. Patterson reacts
In an interview with Upworthy, Patterson shared, “I am overwhelmed in the best way by all the love and the support that we have gotten from all of you! I am so grateful to be in position to touch so many lives of all ages, races, and walks of life.”
She created an Amazon Wishlist for those looking to support her students.
Patterson also created two follow-up videos (here and here) that updated viewers on the student. In one video, the girls are back in Ms. Patterson’s office eating lunch and chatting with each other. They tell her they are now “best friends.”
Ms. Patterson shared that the student was moved down a grade to help her “catch up” with English, and the young girl notes that she is trying to learn English through her schoolwork. Ms. Patterson continues to pick up Spanish through her students.
Viewers respond
The emotional video garnered an overwhelming response from viewers, who praised Ms. Patterson for her tenderness towards the student as well as her translator:
“the baby who’s translating is such an empath i’m crying rn🥺.”
“She is not only translating words, she translates empathy. That girl did an amazing job.”
“As a future school counselor, I am CRYING 🥺 kids are so precious.”
“All of us immigrant kids are crying coz we know exactly how that lil girl feels 🥺🥺”
“I cried for this whole interaction. My heart breaks for baby girl but you guys are awesome.”
“The fact she felt SAFE with you speaks volumes!!!!! Great job Queen 👸🏽.”
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