2 . Macaire Kverett, 14, and her 9-year-old brother, Camden, discovered a unique way to entertain themselves. When bored at home, they began to draw impressive, colorful and imaginary chalk art in their neighborhood. After they completed each chalk art mural (壁画), Camden would lie on the ground to become part of each adventure scene for photos. Their drawings soon grew into massive murals that attracted crowds of neighborhood onlookers. Neighbors would enthusiastically gather to view and take pictures of each new imaginary design.

Their imaginative art collaboration (合作) took their minds off world troubles and transported them to an exciting, imaginary world. Hie great adventures were brought to life through their chalk drawings, including Camden dancing in puddles, zip-lining and floating away with a bunch of balloons. The incredible drawings also had Gamden traveling to the Great Wall of China and Times Square.

Macaire enjoyed collaborating with her brother so much on the creative project that she continued it for 100 days.

“My brother and I talk about ideas a lot during dinner. He likes to ‘travel’ so it’s fun to take him to places,” Macaire explained.

Once they agree on a design, the process takes Macaire two to four hours for smaller drawings and up to six hours for larger murals.

They received such a positive response from their creative artwork that they shared their drawings on social media. Macaire then compiled the artwork into her first book, The World from Our Driveway. They have since published a second book, Cum and Hopper Travel the World.

3 . Pet adoption is the perfect way to add a new family member. But if a pet is too young to be adopted, it must be fostered (寄养) first. That’s how a puppy named Maggie that was rescued by the North Shore Animal League America (NSALA), ended up being fostered by a sweet six-year-old boy.

The animal rescue organization in Port Washington needed to find a foster home for Maggie because she needed to be trained with basic obedience (顺从) skills and to become comfortable with a home environment. NSALA put out a call for a foster family.

Roman Duncan’s family was the lucky one chosen for the job. The boy fell in love with the puppy and was able to be part of her growth during those formative months. The family always made it clear to Roman that Maggie would eventually be adopted and move to a different home.

When it came time for Maggie to be adopted, Roman couldn’t hold his tears. He decided to write letters to the puppy’s future family. He wrote letters about his furry friend, saying “Maggie is so cute and loves to play fetch. She is the best dog ever,” and slipped the notes and some photos into Maggie’s paperwork.

The rescue team were surprised and then incredibly touched by the notes they found when opening Maggie’s file. NSALA made sure that Roman’s notes reached her adopted family. The boy’s gesture is exactly what pet fostering is about.

A dog or cat that has gone through terrible sufferings such as being abusing needs to learn what it means to live in a home. Fostering helps reduce the animal’s stress and makes it trust people again. It is also an opportunity for people who love pets but can’t have them full-time due to some restrictions. Pet fosters can get to enjoy helping a pet in need. If you are interested in pet fostering, contact a local shelter or animal rescue near you.

4 . The beloved ultramarathoner crossed the finish line in Central Park less than one year after being thought cancer-free.

In July 2020, the ultrarunning community was shocked to find out that Tommy Rivers Puzey had been diagnosed with an unusual cancer. Since then, Rivers Puzey, has been fighting for his life, and it appears that he is winning.

Aside from being a well-known ultrarunner, Rivers Puzey is a father to three young girls and husband to his wife, Stephanie Catudal. He had been struggling with COVID-like symptoms for several weeks in the hospital when he finally received his diagnosis.

His condition became worse quickly, and by October, he had lost 70 pounds and was thought unsuitable for a bone marrow transplant (骨髓移植) because he was too weak. According to his Instagram posts, he spent five months in the hospital, experiencing dangerous side effects. He had to re-learn how to talk, eat, and move his arms and legs. After six rounds of chemotherapy (化疗), he was told by doctors that his cancer was in remission (有所缓解).

One year later, his announcement that he’d signed up for the New York City Marathon caused his loyal followers to raise eyebrows. He slowly made his way through the city, smiling and high-fiving people as he went, and crossed the finish line in Central Park in complete darkness. Once a confident U. S. Olympic Trials marathoner, he called completing the marathon “the single most difficult athletic achievement” he’s ever accomplished.

Rivers Puzey’s fight is not over yet. The doctors have given him a 90 percent chance that his cancer will return without a bone marrow transplant, so he is now working on building up his strength so his body will be able to handle another four to six rounds of chemotherapy, followed by a bone marrow transplant.

5 . I am not sure how many years ago it was, but I still had a cassette player (盒式磁带放录机) at the time. I was tired of television and was in the mood for music. I pulled out one of my favorite cassettes. It started to play but before long the music stopped. I opened the player and saw the tape in the cassette was all pulled out and twisted. I tried to fix it, but it was already broken beyond repair. I frowned. I didn’t want to risk another of my cassettes with a tape eating machine, but I really wanted some music.

Then I noticed my ancient record player in the corner. I walked over and dusted it off. I pulled out an old record of my mom’s that my Dad had given me after she died. I turned on the record player and gently put the record on the turn-table (唱机上的转盘). “Pop!” “Crack!” went the record for a second as I put the needle down. Then a beautiful melody from my childhood started to play. I smiled and started to do my house work. The sweet songs I grew up on touched my soul. I felt the music coming out of me. I started to sing letting my weak voice join in joyously with the music. I even dared to dance a little while I did the dishes. “This is how life is supposed to be!”

These days all my music is on CDs. My daughter says I am behind the times. She says I should buy a cellphone and download all the music I want. But instead, I think I will dust off those old records again, put them on that record player and start to sing along.

We all have music within us just waiting to get out. Don’t let your music die within you then. Share your song with the world. And don’t forget to dance a little too.

6 . Timothy is a 5-year-old boy with autism(自闭症). In October of 2018, doctors told his parents that he suffered   brain tumor(肿瘤).

Two thieves who specialized in stealing packages from people’s front gates had no idea that one of those packages contained a WWE wrestling belt belonging to Timothy. At the time, the belt was on the front gate of Sergio Moriers’s house, whose job was decorating stuff. “Timothy’s father doesn’t make a lot of money. But he wanted to give his son an amazing gift, and I told him I would do everything for free. I said, ‘Just ship it over and I’ll do everything you want on the belt, and he’ll have the belt of a lifetime.’” He said.

When the belt was taken, Sergio was extremely disturbed, “I want them to know they took hope from a 5-year-old boy who is looking forward to that item coming back to him… You stole that from him. You broke a child’s heart.” Timothy’s father shared what that belt meant to his son, “Timothy would not go anywhere without that belt… Most kids have balls, while he had a belt.” All hope was lost.

Then something unexpected happened. “I saw two women appeared at the gate. They put down the bag there. My guard went over and I realized what was happening. That bag contained the stolen wrestling belt,” Sergio said. The two women apologized to Sergio. They said that they were thrown out of a friend’s apartment after the friend saw the news report of the theft on TV. In fact, they were trying to kick a drug habit. They cried with guilt and shame.

Seeing the returned belt, Timothy’s father said, “It’s one of those things you always hear about, those crazy stories about people, but you never think it’ll happen to yourself. I’m still taken aback, to be honest.”

9 . Janae Littlejohn worked as a secretary by day and in the food-service industry by night to support her dream of becoming Miss America. Then she lost her car in an accident on her way to work. Shortly after that, Littlejohn began to feel sick. Struggling to breathe and unable to work because of COV-ID-19,she faced homelessness. But then,Littlejohn said,“Giving Kitchen brought hope back into my world.”

“Giving Kitchen is an organization that was designed to provide stability to food-service workers in crisis,” says Naomi Green, Giving Kitchen’s senior director of field operations.

Giving Kitchen was born out of crisis in 2012. On December 21 of that year, Ryan Hidinger was diagnosed(诊断) with cancer and given six months to live. He and his wife, Jen, had moved to Atlanta, Georgia, with a dream of starting a restaurant. They had hosted a supper club for a few years as a way of bonding with their new community. After Ryan’s diagnosis, that community made all the difference. A fundraiser set up to support the Hidingers was meant to raise $25,000 but accumulated nearly $300,000! At the time, Ryan said he felt he “had already won in life”.

Then, the couple heard “so many more stories” of other food-service workers who had gotten hurt or sick and were unable to work. “We immediately shared that money with other people in need,”Jen says.

Ryan and Jen founded Giving Kitchen to give back to their community. Today, Jen continues the work that she and her late husband began, enlarging Giving Kitchen to serve more people in more ways. Since devoting herself to the effort full-time in 2019, Jen has helped Giving Kitchen expand beyond Georgia. She helped set up a program in Nashville, Tennessee, with the goal of helping people in need throughout the nation.

10 . As a child, Fischer loved going to the beach and riding bikes along the coastline with his father, Karl Fischer. So when he lost his dad to pancreatic cancer, he turned to the healing power of the ocean.

At the start of this year, Fischer wrote his father’s name on his surfboard and took it out to sea in Newport, Rhode Island. His father’s name shone in the sun on what felt like a shared adventure. Inspired, Fischer made a video and posted it on social media the same day. “If you love the ocean, or you know someone who loves the ocean, or maybe you lost someone who just loved being outdoors..., you can comment on this video with their name and a bit of their story, and I’ll put their name on my board here, just like I’ve done with my father’s name,” he said in the video. “And I’ll take them out in the ocean for you.”

Names poured in from thousands of strangers grieving (悲伤) the loss of loved ones. And with that, the One Last Wave Project was born, the aim of which was to exchange stories with a community of people going through the same pain. They were essentially healing together. About two months later, Fischer had received over 5,000 names and written most of them on two surfboards. The first two surfboards ran out of space — he’s working on getting more. He wrote the names in neat letters on the surfboard and put a clear acrylic (丙烯酸) coat over them so they didn’t wash off.

Though a lot of people have been struggling with grief in the pandemic, Fischer was amazed by the responses that have poured in. “If I am able to help one person or one person shares their name, that is enough for me,” he said. “But I am blown away — by not just the number of people sharing, but the depth of stories and love that they are sharing.” And he plans to take his project around the world and connect with even more people — through shared grief and the power of the ocean.