Kindness of a Stranger That Still Resonates By CHRISTOPHER MAAG CANTON, Ohio — The event was a reunion for people who were never supposed to meet, commemorating an act of charity that succeeded because it happened in secret. Helen Palm sat in her wheelchair on the stage of the Palace Theater and read her plea for help, the one she wrote in the depths of the Great Depression to an anonymous stranger who called himself B. Virdot. “I am writing this because I need clothing,” Ms. Palm, 90, read aloud on Friday evening. “And sometimes we run out of food.” Ms. Palm was one of hundreds who responded to an advertisement that appeared Dec. 17, 1933, in The Canton Repository newspaper. A donor using the pseudonym B. Virdot offered modest cash gifts to families in need. His only request: Letters from the struggling people describing their financial troubles and how they hoped to spend the money. The donor promised to keep letter writers’ identities secret “until the very end.” That end came last week at the city’s famed 84-year-old Palace Theater, at a reunion for families of B. Virdot’s recipients. About 400 people attended. For the older people, it was a chance to remember the hard times. For relatives of the letter writers, it was a time to hear how the small gifts, in the bleakest winter of the Depression, meant more than money. They buoyed the spirits of an entire city that was beginning to lose hope. Of the 150 people in Canton who received checks, most for as little as $5, from B. Virdot, Ms. Palm is the only one still alive, and the only one to learn the anonymous donor’s true identity. “I thought about B. Virdot a lot” in the years after 1933, Ms. Palm said. “I was really surprised when I learned his real name.” His secret lasted 75 years. Then, in 2008, a Canton native named Ted Gup received a suitcase stuffed with his late grandfather’s papers, including letters addressed to one B. Virdot. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/08/us/08canton.html?_r=1&src=me&ref=general

I love this video by Brene Brown for TEDx. Dr. Brené Brown is a researcher professor at the University of Houston, Graduate College of Social Work, where she has spent the past ten years studying a concept that she calls Wholeheartedness, posing the questions: How do we engage in our lives from a place of authenticity and worthiness? How do we cultivate the courage, compassion, and connection that we need to embrace our imperfections and to recognize that we are enough -- that we are worthy of love, belonging and joy? Brené is the author of I Thought It Was Just Me (but it isn't): Telling the Truth About Perfectionism, Inadequacy, and Power (2007) and the forthcoming books, The Gifts of Imperfection (2010) and Wholehearted: Spiritual Adventures in Falling Apart, Growing Up, and Finding Joy ( 2011).

I LOVE Tim Gunn. This interview is so great: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/17/tim-gunns-advice-for-making-it-work/ Tim Gunn’s Advice for Making It Work In his role as mentor on the fashion reality show “Project Runway,” Tim Gunn listens, consoles, advises and motivates the contestants. Now the fashion guru is offering his sage advice on how the rest of us can “make it work.”

These are the people that inspire me to live my life to the fullest. These stories will make you cry and smile at the same time. Jamie, the woman on the front page and pictured below, is my cousin. She married my cousin, Mark, last year and she's the most amazing woman I have ever met and I pray for her everyday. I would do anything to help her, including donating my platelets for her recovery. I hope you enjoy these stories. I love you, Jaim. http://thecancerproject.yolasite.com

This is a great story. It's from two years ago, but it's so unusual I thought it was still worth sharing! There are good people out there. A Victim Treats His Mugger Right Julio Diaz has a daily routine. Every night, the 31-year-old social worker ends his hour-long subway commute to the Bronx one stop early, just so he can eat at his favorite diner. But one night last month, as Diaz stepped off the No. 6 train and onto a nearly empty platform, his evening took an unexpected turn. He was walking toward the stairs when a teenage boy approached and pulled out a knife. "He wants my money, so I just gave him my wallet and told him, 'Here you go,'" Diaz says. As the teen began to walk away, Diaz told him, "Hey, wait a minute. You forgot something. If you're going to be robbing people for the rest of the night, you might as well take my coat to keep you warm." The would-be robber looked at his would-be victim, "like what's going on here?" Diaz says. "He asked me, 'Why are you doing this?'" Diaz replied: "If you're willing to risk your freedom for a few dollars, then I guess you must really need the money. I mean, all I wanted to do was get dinner and if you really want to join me ... hey, you're more than welcome. "You know, I just felt maybe he really needs help," Diaz says. Diaz says he and the teen went into the diner and sat in a booth. "The manager comes by, the dishwashers come by, the waiters come by to say hi," Diaz says. "The kid was like, 'You know everybody here. Do you own this place?'" "No, I just eat here a lot," Diaz says he told the teen. "He says, 'But you're even nice to the dishwasher.'" Diaz replied, "Well, haven't you been taught you should be nice to everybody?" "Yea, but I didn't think people actually behaved that way," the teen said. Diaz asked him what he wanted out of life. "He just had almost a sad face," Diaz says. The teen couldn't answer Diaz — or he didn't want to. When the bill arrived, Diaz told the teen, "Look, I guess you're going to have to pay for this bill 'cause you have my money and I can't pay for this. So if you give me my wallet back, I'll gladly treat you." The teen "didn't even think about it" and returned the wallet, Diaz says. "I gave him $20 ... I figure maybe it'll help him. I don't know." Diaz says he asked for something in return — the teen's knife — "and he gave it to me." Afterward, when Diaz told his mother what happened, she said, "You're the type of kid that if someone asked you for the time, you gave them your watch." "I figure, you know, if you treat people right, you can only hope that they treat you right. It's as simple as it gets in this complicated world." See the story on NPR: http://www.npr.org/2008/03/28/89164759/a-victim-treats-his-mugger-right

Nigerian Man with Neurofibromatosis to Give WSU Commencement Address....
DETROIT (WXYZ) - Victor Chukwueke suffers from Neurofibromatosis which caused a benign tumor on the right side of his face as a young boy.
Growing up in Nigeria, medical facilities were not available to fix Chukwueke’s tumor as it grew, leaving him with a severe facial deformity.

Chukwueke, however, considers his disease a gift. It was the reason he came to the United States.

Ten years ago a local missionary nun from Daughters of Mary Mother of Mercy saw Victor in Nigeria and arranged for him to live in Michigan and undergo facial surgery.

Six painful surgeries later, one that included the loss of his right eye, progress is being made. However Chukwueke’s improvements have come at a price; he hasn’t seen his family since the day he left Nigeria 10 years ago.

"I don’t know know anything... I don’t know how they look. I I don’t even know if I would recognize them… it’s been a long time," said Chukwueke.

Chukwueke has recently been selected as a speaker at the Wayne State University Liberal Arts and Sciences commencement this coming May. It’s an honor bestowed upon him due to his excellent grades and inspirational story.

It’s an honor he wishes his family members could witness.

You can help bring Chukweke’s mother and sister to WSU’s May commencement by donating at your local Fifth Third Bank. All donations will go toward their travel expenses.

http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/news/region/wayne_county/nigerian-man-with-neurofibromatosis-to-give-wsu-commencement-" target="_blank">http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/news/region/wayne_county/nigerian-man-with-neurofibromatosis-to-give-wsu-commencement-

Poor Jane's Almanac
Cambridge, Mass.

THE House Budget Committee chairman, Paul D. Ryan, a Republican from Wisconsin, announced his party’s new economic plan this month. It’s called “The Path to Prosperity,” a nod to an essay Benjamin Franklin once wrote, called “The Way to Wealth.”

Franklin, who’s on the $100 bill, was the youngest of 10 sons. Nowhere on any legal tender is his sister Jane, the youngest of seven daughters; she never traveled the way to wealth. He was born in 1706, she in 1712. Their father was a Boston candle-maker, scraping by. Massachusetts’ Poor Law required teaching boys to write; the mandate for girls ended at reading. Benny went to school for just two years; Jenny never went at all.

Their lives tell an 18th-century tale of two Americas. Against poverty and ignorance, Franklin prevailed; his sister did not.
Read the rest here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/24/opinion/24lepore.html?_r=1" target="_blank">http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/24/opinion/24lepore.html?_r=1

Mike Rowe says we have a dysfunctional relationship with work. Watch his video here: http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-609023?hpt=Sbin He makes me smile. I totally get where he's coming from and I've never been afraid of a hard day of work, especially if you're going to get dirty. He's an inspiration to me...

This dog crawls home on broken legs after the Alabama tornadoes
This little guy makes the animals from Homeward Bound look like they achieved nothing.

Almost three weeks after deadly tornadoes ripped through Alabama, this dog finally returned home. With two broken legs.

Mason, as WAVY-TV 10 refers to the dog, was blown away during the storms. He had been hiding in a garage when the storm picked him up and blew him away on April 27th.

Perhaps most astounding was the extent of Mason's injuries.

To watch the video and see Mason for yourself:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/25/tornado-dog-crawl-home-alabama-storm_n_867125.html" target="_blank">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/25/tornado-dog-crawl-home-alabama-storm_n_867125.html

While many consumers are increasingly drawn to companies that are trying to make a difference, some are willing to take on some of the world's biggest problems themselves. They are social entrepreneurs. Take Lauren Bush, co-founder of New York City-based Feed Projects. As a student ambassador to the United Nations' World Food Programme (WFP) while in college at Princeton in 2006, Bush was shocked by what she learned. As an honorary spokeswoman, she traveled to various countries and learned about the realities of poverty. "The program I was most in awe of was their feeding program, which provides nutrient-rich school lunches to impoverished children," says Bush, 27. "Although it only costs about $20 to $50 per year to feed one child in school through the program," she says, "there are still so many children suffering from hunger in the world. It was eye-opening." When Bush returned to school from her ambassadorial duties, she was determined to do something about what she saw. Given her work as a part-time model at the time, Bush turned to fashion for inspiration and set her pencil to paper. Soon, she had the concept for the Feed 1 Bag sketched out — an eco-friendly bag that would help feed one child for a year with each purchase. Keep reading: http://yourlife.usatoday.com/mind-soul/doing-good/story/2011/07/Feed-Projects-line-of-bags-helps-feed-hungry-kids/49468942/1

Portrait of a Lady - Photographer Refuses to Take Senior Pictures of Bullying 'Mean Girls'

Every high school yearbook has them. Senior portraits of those beautiful girls who major in humiliating and harassing others at the bottom of the pecking order. Books (Queen Bees and Wannabes) and movies (Mean Girls) have made the concept a household word. Yet few if any adults ever intervene until things go too far as they did in the case of Phoebe Prince, the Massachusetts girl who killed herself after months of bullying.

That's why one small act of courage on the part of photographer Jennifer McKendrick is making national headlines. It's the story of a small business owner who chose principles over a paying gig and taught us all what it means to "do the right thing."

McKendrick, a portrait and wedding photographer in Southwest Pennsylvania, posted the following to her Facebook page on August 16:

Read on:http://womensissues.about.com/b/2011/08/22/portrait-of-a-lady-photographer-refuses-to-take-senior-pictures-of-bullying-mean-girls.htm?r=facebook

My note: I struggled where to place this. But I ultimately decided here, because I think Jenny sharing is inspirational to everyone who struggles with depression. The fight goes on. by The Bloggess http://thebloggess.com/2012/01/the-fight-goes-on/ If you follow me on twitter you already know that I’ve been battling off one of the most severe bouts of depression I’ve ever had. Yesterday it started to pass, and for the first time in weeks I cried with relief instead of with hopelessness. Depression can be crippling, and deadly. I’m lucky that it’s a rare thing for me, and that I have a support system to lean on. I’m lucky that I’ve learned that depression lies to you, and that you should never listen to it, in spite of how persuasive it is at the time. When cancer sufferers fight, recover, and go into remission we laud their bravery. We call them survivors. Because they are. When depression sufferers fight, recover and go into remission we seldom even know, simply because so many suffer in the dark…ashamed to admit something they see as a personal weakness…afraid that people will worry, and more afraid that they won’t. We find ourselves unable to do anything but cling to the couch and force ourselves to breathe. Click the link to continue reading