🎈 Thanks for the adventure…

🐶 Great Dane, great friends. When one elderly couple encountered Kernel the Great Dane on a Massachusetts trail, it was friendship at first sight.

The dog made the couple laugh during frequent run-ins on their hikes. Sadly, one day when Kernel and his owner saw the woman on the trail, she was alone, sharing the news that her beloved husband Cal had passed away. She had gone for a hike in hopes of seeing her dear friend Kernel, who could surely lift her spirits as dogs have a unique way of doing.

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Kernel’s owner, Alyssa Berkowitz, suggested they exchange contact info, and the pair were soon meeting for weekly hikes. Now, the woman is known to an adoring TikTok audience as “New Grandma” (or just “Grandma”) for her role in Kernel’s life. New Grandma and Berkowitz have forged a beautiful friendship too, even sharing special occasions together.

The companionship of a dog is an incredible thing, but just as incredible is their ability to act as connective tissue for humans, who sometimes have a little trouble breaking the ice. Next time someone giggles at your dog when you’re out for a walk, don’t forget to offer a warm greeting. You never know, your dog could end up with a “New Grandma” or “New Grandpa,” and you could end up with a new friend.

🫀 Better to be lucky than fast. Tom Pham was two miles from the finish of the Long Beach Half Marathon, and he was feeling great. In just two more miles, the 47-year-old would see his son at the finish line and celebrate another shared achievement.

And then he nearly died.

Pham suddenly collapsed and went into cardiac arrest. The lights went out. But while Pham wouldn’t set a new PB or even finish the race, this was the luckiest day in his life. Because just as he was stumbling to the pavement, Dr. Ryan Chiu, a cardiothoracic surgeon, was leaving brunch and approaching the side of the road to watch the runners.

Pham didn’t have a pulse, so Chiu immediately administered CPR, rescuing life from the jaws of death. At the hospital, doctors discovered Pham had coronary artery disease, which was never identified at physicals where he appeared in good health. He required triple bypass surgery.

Guess who took Pham under the knife?

His guardian angel, Dr. Chiu. Not only did he fix his heart, but he presented him with a medal from the race, which was offered by a fellow runner and Good Samaritan who thought Pham might need it.

When the Mega Millions or the Powerball jackpots get large, we might all wish for that boatload of money. Really, heaven forbid we need it, but we might be better off hoping we win the same lottery as Tom Pham.

⏳ At the last minute. Roman Balassaitis entered the foster care system at 11 years old. Nearly seven years later, he had spent time in 19 different homes. As he neared his 18th birthday - when he would age out of the system - time was running out for Roman to officially find a permanent family.

But Brad and Renee Balassaitis had chosen Roman to become a part of their family, which included their two biological children and seven adopted children. Though they crossed paths when Roman was 13, it was on Christmas morning of 2022 when they told him they’d be adopting him; basically, they’re the opposite of the MacAllister parents in Home Alone.

After months and months of working through the process, they made it official in Florida court mere hours before he turned 18.

The gravity of the moment was not lost on a relieved and grateful Roman. Finally, as the page turned on his childhood in the eyes of the law, he had found his family, the people he could turn to for support when confronted by the harsh truths of adulthood. After Roman lived through his formative years without that permanent support, we’ll be hoping he and the Balassaitis family are well-equipped to handle whatever comes next together.

👟 Reunited and it feels so good. Between the ages of 3 and 10, children’s feet can grow about a half inch per year. New shoes are quickly outgrown as toes crowd the toebox like the crew from Willy Wonka in the shrinking, dead-end hallway.

When financial means are limited, this is a significant problem, leaving children in pain or - even worse - barefoot.

American charity Because International has devised an ingenious solution to this problem: The Shoe That Grows. It’s an adjustable shoe that can expand up to five sizes, with one model serving children aged four to eight and another for those eight to twelve. The adjustability alleviates the need to acquire new shoes as the child grows, removing some of the significant financial burden that comes with healthy development.

The idea for the Shoe That Grows was hatched by Kenton Lee while working in a Kenyan orphanage in 2007. An estimated 20 million children in sub-Saharan Africa walk barefoot, leaving them vulnerable to sharp objects, harmful bacteria, and parasites. Thanks to donations from Because International, schoolchildren in Kibra, Kenya will no longer face those problems.

Is there anything more satisfying than an invention that very simply solves a very real problem plaguing so many people?

🎪 Ladies and gents, this is the moment you’ve waited for. On this day in 1873, P.T. Barnum’s circus - “The Greatest Show on Earth” - debuted in New York City. While maybe we could do without the circus, we sure as hell can’t do without The Greatest Showman. Barnum walked so Hugh Jackman could run…in a top hat.

The Greatest Show? Banger. Never Enough? Enchanting. This is Me? This is fire. From Now On? Absolutely slaps.

Listen to any one of those songs and enjoy a mood that soars higher than Zendaya on a trapeze. The world seems to agree: each song has tens or even hundreds of millions of views on YouTube.

Admittedly though, finding out the actress playing Jenny Lind wasn’t the one who sang Never Enough was like finding out the tooth fairy doesn’t exist. Not totally surprising, but disappointing nonetheless and not without an acute sting of betrayal. That would be like finding out Zac Efron didn’t belt Troy Bolton’s vocals in High School Musical…

🚔 Role reversal. There are many stories of police officer heroics or even kindness in the community, but it’s rare to see officers on the receiving end of care. For Officer Santiago Vizcarra, it was the difference between life and death.

Vizcarra was shot in the line of duty while responding to a domestic dispute. Wounded and bleeding, he staggered upon the house of Joshua Rael. Rael and his wife brought the officer inside and began applying care at his instruction, stopping the bleeding and saving his life. Last week, they were reunited, with both sides effusive in praise of the other’s actions.

Rael gushed with gratitude for Vizcarra’s selfless willingness to put his life on the line to protect the community’s families, while Vizcarra voiced his sincere appreciation for their willingness to help that night. Nobody can protect an entire community on his or her own; we all have to look out for each other, and we can find inspiration in a pair of good Samaritans and a police officer in San Antonio.

Not to mention, we can’t have anybody missing the start of the Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama era. Not on the Raels’ watch.

🥾 Grand achievement for a grandfather. Alfredo Alisha and his wife Ingrid were partners in adventure for nearly 40 years, hiking and cycling in some of the world’s most beautiful and iconic locales. But in 2006, Ingrid died of ALS.

First it was New Grandma and Cal. Now it’s Alfredo and Ingrid. We didn’t expect to be revisiting the first five minutes of the movie Up twice today, but that opening sequence is utterly devastating due to its heartbreaking truth, and here we are, utterly destroyed once again.

Alfredo was lost.

Eventually, to ease the pain of his loss, he made a plan to return to the places he had been with her. The Grand Canyon was one such place, and it’s since become a frequent destination. At the age of 92 years old, Alfredo just became the oldest person to hike rim-to-rim, hiking for 21 hours over two days.

In the process, he became a Grand Canyon celebrity, with friendly hikers constantly stopping him for a photo op and to praise him for his inspiration. For others hoping to be as active as he is at his age, Alfredo shares three tips: 1) eat healthy food and drink water with it, 2) walk 30 minutes a day, and 3) sleep eight hours a night at consistent times. Simple, but quite effective.

Ingrid would be proud. We’re all proud of Alfredo, the Grand Master of the Grand Canyon.

🎙️ A taste of his own medicine. The job of a sports journalist is desirable but challenging, and the relationship with coaches and athletes is often strained thanks to its duties. They’re often tasked with being critical where merited and asking questions likely to chafe coaches already under immense pressure and scrutiny. At the relationship’s best, reporters and coaches maintain collegiality, cognizant of the realities of the other’s job.

Notre Dame football coach Marcus Freeman’s relationship with the media can be characterized amongst the best.

After dutifully answering Tim O’Malley’s questions at a presser last week, Freeman turned the tables. It turns out Freeman isn’t the only coach in that exchange; O’Malley coaches Freeman’s son in flag football, and the Notre Dame head coach playfully took issue with some of his playcalling.

In the midst of a competitive season, it’s refreshing to see two often adversarial parties put away their swords (or in this case, their needling questions and canned answers) for some good old-fashioned ribbing.

👕 From agony to ecstasy. One young Aston Villa fan went to a match in Alkmaar in the Netherlands with two goals in mind: 1) see his beloved Villans secure a win in the Europa Conference League, and 2) personally secure star winger Moussa Diaby’s game-worn jersey.

He didn’t travel empty-handed. He had hand-painted a gigantic banner asking for the shirt in Diaby’s native French. Stadium stewards - AKA the fun police, the type that would take candy from a baby - confiscated the young fan’s banner, leaving him devastated and his dream in jeopardy. We’re being harsh on the stewards, who were likely just adhering to arena policy and warmly comforted the shattered boy afterwards.

Thankfully for all, that’s not where the story ends.

After a 4-1 Aston Villa triumph, the fan was invited onto the pitch to meet Diaby, who happily gifted him his jersey. Now Diaby has a fan for life, and the boy has a story he’ll tell until his dying days, with the evidence in hand.

✂️ Rock, paper, scissors. When soccer teams are awarded a penalty kick, players often squabble over who gets to take it. The stakes? A cherished opportunity to pad one’s goal total. Those are cringeworthy moments, and they seldom end without a sullen and scorned teammate.

It’s refreshing, then, to see two strikers settle such a squabble like real men through a fierce battle of pure wits.

Mario Balotelli and M’Baye Niang dueled for the honor in a bout of rock, paper, scissors, Niang’s paper trumping Balotelli’s rock. Niang coolly scored the penalty, and quickly found Balotelli to celebrate, harboring no ill will or hard feelings in a moment reserved for smiles.

The outcome is further evidence that sometimes we’re best served not resisting but instead embracing our more childlike inclinations. Want to settle a dispute? Put up your dukes, it’s rock, paper, scissors time.

Just remember, no flinching, no hesitating, and no begging for a best-out-of-nine series when you’ve already lost best-out-of-three, five, and seven. Have a little honor.