🎂 RSVP “Heck Yes” To This Party

🎈 RSVP: Yes! Steven Buck was nervous. His son William was turning three, and he was palpably excited for his birthday party like never before. Unfortunately, due to illness and circumstances, attendance from William’s friends at his beach party looked grim.

As they sat in the sand awaiting guests unlikely to arrive, a quizzical and oblivious William persistently asked where everyone was. Gut-wrenching. Nothing brings a tear to dry eyes faster than the thought of a crestfallen child realizing nobody’s coming to his birthday party.

But Steven wasn’t about to let that devastating fate befall his son’s party. He took to social media, explaining the situation and inviting Wellington locals to come join them in a celebration of William’s birthday. Not only did he receive thousands of well-wishing birthday messages, but the locals showed up to the beach in droves ready to play with the birthday boy himself.

Communities still count. They just need a worthy cause to rally around and a rallying cry. In pleading for the help of his community, Steven Buck not only saved his son’s third birthday, but he also restored his own faith in humanity. That’s a wish worth blowing out the candles for.

🛳️ Saved at sea. The Coast Guard had given up after searching 14,000 square miles of Pacific Ocean to no avail. A missing sailor was presumed lost at sea.

That is, until Canadian fishermen spotted a bright orange fleck on the horizon.

That fleck was a raft where the sailor had taken refuge for the last 13 days without food or water. No resources and barely any hope. Things were grim, but the sailor persevered, catching salmon to sustain himself until that fateful moment of unlikely rescue 70 miles off the coast of Washington.

His fellow sailor remains missing, but this rescue has renewed hopes and inspired plans for a potential resumption of the search. And that wasn’t even the only miraculous ocean rescue in the last month.

Last weekend, a passenger on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship fell overboard not long after the ship left Barcelona. Perhaps that doesn’t sound like a dire situation - they can just turn the ship around and go get the person right?!

Believe it or not, such situations apparently result in a successful rescue just one-third of the time. Those cities on the sea don’t turn around very quickly, and by the time they do, it may be too late. To complicate matters, the fall happened at 11PM.

But they did turn the ship around, lit spotlights, and deployed rescue boats. Miraculously, the overboard passenger was recovered from the sea, joining the one-third of outcomes that end happily. Though people can’t literally move mountains to save a life, turning a cruise ship around just might be the next best thing.

🤗 Emergency hugs welcome. Most know that 9-1-1 is to be dialed only in case of emergency. Children, though, must learn that lesson at some point. Usually a friendly officer’s school visit preempts the awkward folly, but one young boy in Hillsborough County, Florida must have been out sick that day.

A deputy responded to a disconnected call from a local residence to find a confused mother who quickly formed suspicions about the call’s genesis. She asked her son if he called the police, and sure enough, he quickly came bounding through the door to wrap the deputy in a hug, beaming with pride at his knowledge of the uniformed man’s phone number.

Look, I get it. I beam with delight at the arrival of Dominos when I successfully order delivery, sometimes even fighting the urge to wrap the driver in an eager embrace. But the young boy’s prize was no $5.99 two-topping pie; it was the hug itself that inspired his call.

The hug was warmly reciprocated….and fittingly followed with a lesson about appropriate use of emergency services. That mom is in for an interesting couple of weeks when the young fella learns the number for Dominos or, better yet, figures out how DoorDash works.

🎶 Now and then, 60 years later. How many life-changing songs have never danced from the speakers to enchant awaiting ears?

Whether from frustration, waning inspiration, or circumstance, our favorite artists have likely terminated the musical journey of thousands of songs before we could enjoy them. Some became crumpled pieces of paper in a wastebasket. Others became unfinished recordings. Others never became more than an idea in the artist’s brain, forgotten like that thing you meant to grab when you went upstairs.

Triumphantly, the ranks of the unfinished decreased by one song last week.

46 years after John Lennon recorded some new vocals and piano, The Beatles were reunited through song with the release of Now and Then. That’s right: in the year 2023, The Beatles - who broke up in 1974 - just dropped a new single.

Thanks to artificial intelligence (not a favorite phrase of this newsletter), Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr were able to record a completed song around the vocals and guitar of their passed bandmates, Lennon and George Harrison. The song is hailed critically not for the technological advances but for just how human it sounds, a haunting and emotional experience for adoring Beatles fans.

In the past, death would be enough to preclude the reunion of such an act, but we live in an incredible time, when the impossible is possible, and the Beatles can once more enchant the ears of the world with new music.

🪄 Strike up the band. On this day in 2005, the fourth Harry Potter film Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire premiered in theaters. The fourth book was my favorite, and the movie didn’t disappoint. It was the highest grossing film of the year and the third-highest grossing Potter movie, trailing only the two-part finale.

It’s most memorable movie in the series for a few reasons. First, it’s a whirlwind of new experiences in the wizarding world, from the Quidditch World Cup, to the Triwizard Tournament, right through (spoiler alert) Voldemort’s return. Sorry, I mean He Who Shall Not Be Named. You know you’re a bad mamma-jamma when sheer terror restrains your very name from leaving people’s lips.

Second, there’s Daniel Radcliffe’s hair. Outrageous. Ridiculous. Preposterous.

And finally, there’s the absolute, complete, and total lack of feel for the moment from the Hogwarts Marching Band.

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Okay, but actually finally, who can forget the acting performance from the dude that played Cedric Diggory’s dad?! My man knew he had one shot at major acclaim on the big stage, and he milked it for all it was worth. MY BOOOOY!

🥾 The Hi-Vis Hero. We’ve all heard the saying “he’d give you the shirt off his back” to describe the kindness and generosity of a special person. But one Australian tradesman is a near-literal embodiment of the phrase.

On a train commute home, Bobby Nelson was approached by a homeless man who struck up a conversation when Nelson noted the man’s bare, cut, and blister-ridden feet. Nelson asked the man’s shoe size, and upon learning it serendipitously matched his own, he gifted him the boots off his feet.

A bystander witnessed the act of kindness, capturing a photo of Nelson in just socks which quickly went viral. While the post would inspire thousands, the bystander, named Markus, was so immediately inspired he tried to offer Nelson money to offset the cost of new boots. Nelson politely declined, noting he didn’t need it and suggesting he bless someone else. Markus reportedly paid for another person’s groceries, multiplying the impact of Nelson’s kindness.

One act may feel like it makes an isolated and small difference, but you never know how its impact might multiply.

🏃‍♂️ Ultra is an understatement. For some, 26.2 miles of pounding pavement is the cruelest punishment imaginable. For others, a marathon isn’t grueling enough.

Those people pursue events called “ultra” marathons, which span some laughably long distance greater than 26.2 miles. For those with a few more screws loose, a mere ultra also fails to scratch the endurance itch.

Those twisted individuals - the top ultra runners in the world - take on Big Dog’s Backyard Ultra. The unique event tasks runners with completing a 4.16 mile loop through hilly trails every hour. Once complete, they have the remainder of the hour to rest and refuel. The last man standing wins.

Cincinnati teacher Harvey Lewis was that last man standing, winning the event in world record-setting fashion by running 450 miles over four and a half days.

He nearly fell asleep while running on several occasions, and there were hours where he’d return with 4 or 5 minutes to spare, sleeping for one solitary minute before heading back out on the trail. I need to pretend I ran Big Dog’s Backyard Ultra next time I’m staring at the ceiling on Sunday; if it can put you to sleep while actively running, surely it can combat my scaries.

Lewis returned to school to thunderous applause from his students, who will now need a damn good excuse to explain why they fell asleep in class.

🍿 Get your popcorn ready. Professional athletes often gift admiring young fans with jerseys, but they rarely expect anything in return. The enduring fanhood and the world’s widest smiles are enough.

One young fan was eager to reciprocate the gesture after Real Sociedad winger Takefusa Kubo gifted him his shirt. He happily trotted up to the Sociedad bench, bag of popcorn in hand, and presented his idol a snack for the bus ride home.

We need to normalize this!

No, not just giving snacks to sports stars. Giving snacks to everyone! Who doesn’t appreciate a bag of popcorn as a show of gratitude?!

Covered my shift? Boom. Bag of Goldfish. Gave me a ride? Pow. Box of Cheez-Its. Saved my spot in line? Pop pop. Can of Pringles.

This young fan may be inspired by Kubo, but I say it’s the fan who’s the inspiration. Now please pass the Smartfood.

⚽️ Libertad Para Papa. Last weekend, Liverpool winger Luis Diaz’s life was shaken to its core upon learning that both of his parents had been kidnapped in his native Colombia. While his mother was successfully rescued, the whereabouts and well-being of his father remain unknown. With a heavy heart and his mind likely thousands of miles away, Diaz chose to be included in Liverpool’s squad for yesterday’s match against Luton.

With his team trailing 1-0, Diaz was substituted into the game, and in the minutes before the final whistle, he scored a crucial equalizer. As teammates rushed to embrace a man experiencing an impossibly broad spectrum of emotions, Diaz lifted his shirt, revealing the words “Libertad Para Papa”. Freedom for my father.

With the global football community aware of his plight, it was a goal for all to celebrate - the kind of feel good moment only sports can deliver. Wherever his father may be, Diaz sent him a glorious message, channeling all of his hope, fear, optimism, love, and anguish into a leaping header that brought the world to its feet in support.

Let’s hope for a timely and safe resolution equally as uplifting in its outcome.

🏑 Star on the sideline. “You know a lot of people go to college for seven years.”

“I know, they’re called doctors.”

Unlike Tommy in Tommy Boy, Erin Matson has a pretty great reason for sticking around campus after most of her classmates had moved on. No, she’s not studying to become a doctor, but if it were possible to hold a PhD in field hockey, we’d surely be calling her Dr. Matson.

Matson enjoyed one of the most decorated field hockey careers in collegiate history for the North Carolina Tar Heels. She was so good that the school didn’t just retire her number or induct her into a hall of fame (perhaps that’s coming). Instead, they handed her the keys to the whole program.

She was named the head coach at age 23, just a month after she graduated.

How’s it going for a 23 year old head coach leading a team comprised mostly of her peers and former teammates? The Tar Heels are ranked No. 1 in the nation and recently won an ACC Championship. It’s hard to imagine the amount of professional maturity, confidence, and expertise required to not only hold a role typically reserved for those with decades of experience (in sport and in life), but to flourish.

Do what you love, and you’ll never work a minute in your life. Matson breathes life into that fanciful saying. It seems some people really do exactly what they’re meant to.