【推荐1】A quick-thinking Facebook post has made this grandfathers upcoming 98th birthday one he’ll remember forever.

Ever since Alfred Birch’s wife passed away over a decade ago, he’s lived with his daughter and granddaughter. The incredibly close family, who come from Manchester-by the-Sea in Massachusetts, were shocked when their beloved Alfred was admitted to hospital with heart failure earlier this month.

Fearful he might not make it to his 98th birthday on March 28, his family decided to post a photo of Alfred in his hospital bed holding a sign which read: “My daughter does not think I can get 98 likes for being 98 years old. Can we prove her wrong?”

Well, the Internet took on the challenge with enthusiasm and the inspiring image has well and truly exceeded the family’s expectations. At present, the photo has 27,000 likes and has been shared over 30,000 times.

“It just blew my mind. I told my grandfather and I told him he made it all around the world and he goes,’Are you kidding me!?’” Alfred’s granddaughter Julia Geswell explained to The Huffington Post.

“We kind of did it to give him something to look forward to, put a smile on his face and get him out of that dull hospital feel. ”

And it looks like the exciting turn of events is just what the doctor ordered! Alfred has since left hospital and is back in the comfort of his own home.

“It’s really boosted his spirits. He’s getting a kick out of it,” Julia added.

Since the photo went viral, Alfred has left hospital and is looking forward to celebrating his 98th birthday at the end of this month.

【推荐2】Most of us travel with our parents as children and teenagers. For some of us, during the travel, our parents are our inspiration. These trips are normally full of rental cars, beaches, and hamburgers. My family would go to Galiano island every summer, and we did a week in Mexico in 1995, and then we did two different trips to Anaheim to experience the magic of Disney, Universal, and Knott’s Berry Farm.

But all of these are childhood experiences and memories. I didn’t really truly travel with my parents until I was an adult when I got the chance to travel with mom and dad.

I was in New Zealand for a study abroad, and invited my parents to come down for a 2-week road trip around the North Island and then 10 days in Fiji. Why not? They said, as if this was something they were invited to do every day. I didn’t really plan anything, but my mom had done some reading and I knew some highlights after living in New Zealand for 5 months.

I had booked a hotel for their first night in Auckland. The only other preparation I had done was to book a rental car. My parents immediately reached an agreement that I should be the driver, for the whole two weeks. The main reason for this, understandably, was that neither of them had ever been in a country where you drive on the left hand side of the road and on the right hand side of the car. This led to me driving my parents around the entire North Island of New Zealand for 2 weeks! But still, everybody had jobs. Dad had the maps, and mom had the guidebook, and I just took them where they told me to go.

Sometimes, I was asked who I was traveling with. When I said “my parents”, the response was, “Ohhh, older people.” Actually, I have some tips on travelling with parents happily.

【推荐1】In winter, intense cold in China’s Jilin Province can turn tripping water into ice within seconds. Yet, 63-year-old Ren Jianguo gets up early every day to spread corn on the riverbank to make sure thousands of migratory birds(候鸟) have food to go through the cold days.

Ren lives in Jilin City which is built on the banks of the Songhuajiang River. Over the past 26 years, he has been one of the many volunteers protecting migratory birds on the river’s Changbai Island. Local residents label him as “Uncle Bird”. Winter is the busiest time for Uncle Bird as it is the season when large amounts of migratory birds fly here to avoid the biting cold days in Siberia, Russia.

On the upper reaches of the Songhuajiang River is Northeast China’s largest artificial lake. The temperature of the water stays at around 4-10℃ all year round. This allows Changhai Island to welcome countless migratory birds.

“As long as they choose to stay in this city, there should be people to take care of them. When it becomes difficult to find food in winter, I call for donations or sometimes pay for the food myself to secure their survival during the winter,” Ren said.

Jilin City, which is part of the migratory passage of birds in East Asia, is one of the few warm wetlands in northern China suitable for migratory birds to rest. To improve the environment here, the Chinese government has invested about 26.6 billion yuan for water pollution control and prevention along the Songhuajiang River since 2006.

For Ren, a small house near the riverbank has almost become his “second home”, a place from which he can patrol(巡逻) along the banks, observe birds, educate the public about bird conservation and, after a long day of work, light a fire and enjoy a warm meal.

“I simply want this to be a warm and welcoming place for birds when they choose to stay here for a temporary rest,” he said.