The floods which struck Tennessee claimed many lives and destroyed a huge number of houses and properties.

Despite the terrifying road conditions, a man named Tyler Stanley started his car and went to check on his daughter who was affected by the rising water. He took his mother with him and hoped he would reach his girl on time. As they were driving along the train tracks, which were elevated above the water, they spotted an elderly couple and their three dogs stuck inside a nearly submerged truck.

Although he was in a rush to get to his daughter’s place, Stanley was aware that time was running out for the couple, and in case he didn’t stop and try to save them, they could easily drown.

Bonnie and Doug Whitfield, 71, noticed Stanley stopping his car. They felt relieved knowing they were now standing a chance to be saved.

Stanley threw a rope towards Bonnie and Doug and told them to hold onto it and let the current drag them near him. It was then when he managed to pull them to safety. The three pups were rescued too.

“My goodness, this guy — you know, he stopped to help us when he was trying to find his children, you know,” Doug recalled. “He was, he — he was on a mission, a, a dire mission himself, you know.”

After the successful rescue mission, Stanley managed to locate his daughter, and they were all able to get home safely.

As for Bonnie and Doug, all of their 12 properties were completely flooded and destroyed, but they were lucky to be alive. Their children got into contact with Stanley and thanked him for saving their parents from certain death. They told him that they consider him family now and will be sending Christmas presents every year.

“And the dogs, too. He saved the dogs,” Bonnie said. “I would say, I love you, 10,000 angels around you.”

Grandparents are awesome. Everyone who got the chance to spend their childhood days by their side has to be a very lucky person. These people are full of wisdom and knowledge, and they can teach us a lot about the journey called life. What they enjoy the most is spending time with their grandchildren who they get to spoil rotten. We all know that whenever the parents say no, grandmas and grandpas are there to say yes.

David Waterhouse is a retired Dallas officer and a grandpa to an amazingly sweet baby named Ty. Besides being an awesome babysitter, this grandfather whom the family fondly calls “Pawpaw” has a great sense of humor. One thing he isn’t really good at is technology. In fact, he has no clue how to use the more advanced mobile phones or other devices which is sometimes the reason for his daughter and the rest of the family to have a good laugh at his expense.

When Ty’s mom, Stephanie Waterhouse and her husband took a trip together, they asked Pawpaw to step in and take care of Ty. Needless to say, this proud grandfather was more than happy to spend time alone with the little one. He took a flight to Kentucky and was eagerly waiting for the fun time with Ty.

He had a few surprises for his daughter up his sleeve. Not only he wanted Ty to have a great time, but he also made sure for Stefanie to have a good laugh while away from home. Once you see the unique photos he took of Ty, you’re going to burst out laughing too. This is all way too sweet to handle.

What he did was print a bunch of captions while he was still back home in Dallas. He had a plan of taking all these hilarious photos even before he got to Kentucky. He could have done it using Stefanie’s printer, but having said he is a “low-tech” guy, he didn’t want to risk it not knowing how to use hers. This means he was looking forward to spending this fun time with Ty. The little guy has to be really happy to have a Pawpaw like David who loves him to the  moon and back.

Stefanie calls these beautiful photos “Memes by Pawpaw” and the interesting part is that her father doesn’t even know what meme is. He’s just goofing around with his most beloved grandson.

Actually, David isn’t so clueless when it comes to technology. He might have difficulties understanding how Facebook and other social networking sites work, but when he was younger, he initiated the creation of a database that tracks criminal information for the Dallas Police Department.

His idea was later used by the FBI and served as a model they used for creating the national database.

It looks like David is really a very special guy, both as a police officer and as a grandpa who’s doing things right.

Speaking of chefs who made a name for themselves not only because of their incredible cooking skills, but because of their heart of gold, one of the names that comes to mind is that of Guy Fieri. This man is known for going above and beyond for others when they need it the most, and his latest act made us fall for him even more.

As fire departments from all over the country, including the Murrieta Fire and Rescue Department, from Southern California, are battling the Dixie fire, the single largest fire in California history, chef Fieri did his part in helping these brave people by doing what he does best; cook.

Murrieta Fire and Rescue shared on their Facebook page that the famous chef made over 1,000 pounds of pulled pork sandwiches on Tuesday for the tireless firefighters and all the people braving the fire. With the help of 25 volunteers, the mayor of “Flavortown” prepared 2,200 meals.

The San Jose Fire Department shared a photo of chef Fieri with the firefighters with the caption:  “It’s a challenging & rewarding experience for our members. Big thanks to @GuyFieri for providing meals to crews at the #DixieFire base camp today.”

Other departments shared similar photos and expressed their gratitude to this incredible man.

Speaking of his gesture, Fieri said: “There’s a lot of first responders who can’t make it to the base camp. So we sent it to the fire lines. We sent it to a lot of the sheriff’s department and CHP that were out blocking roads.“

Last year, he did the same for the first responders of the Sonoma-Lake Napa Unit of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection by preparing 2,774 meals. Chief Fieri was there to offer free meals for the firefighters braving the Santa Rosa fires in 2017, and those participating in the Carr and Camp Fires of 2018.

The Clearwater County Sheriff’s Office received a call reporting drowning at the Clearwater River. They responded to the call together with the fire department and the ambulance, but nothing could be done as 18-year-old Raina Lynn Neeland from Bagley, Minnesota, was in the water for around 10 minutes. Before help arrived, bystanders performed CPR on her, but she was dead already.

Why Raina went into the water in the first place was to save her young siblings and cousins from drowning. According to the Clearwater County Sheriff, Darin Halverson, children love playing at the dam from which water flows over right into the river. “They use it as a big waterslide,” he told Star Tribune. “Kids like to do that…They use tubes or whatever. Lots of times they go over on their own.”

Unfortunately, they weren’t aware that due to the recent rains, the water was considerably higher that day. The moment they went swimming in the river, they got trapped by the turbulent water coming from the dam.

Without hesitating, the teen jumped in to save the young children. Witnesses say she managed to pull three children out of the water. One of her brothers was there to catch them. Unfortunately, she couldn’t save herself. The children she rescued were aged 10, 8, and 6.

Raina’s grandmother, Lenny Neeland, said of her granddaughter: “She always wanted to help people and protect people, and that’s exactly what she did. I thank God for Raina, that she saved my other grandkids, because this could have been worse than it is now.

“I think there were a bunch of angels at that dam helping them get out of the water,” Lenny added.

The tragic incident took place last year, and this year, Raina was Posthumously Recognized by Congressional Medal of Honor Society. Her family says they are honored and thankful for all the love for their daughter.

When Anne Glancey, a retired school teacher, received notice from the city that she would be fined up to $3,000 per day for code violations and repairs that needed to be made to her home, she didn’t know what do to. She did not have the money to pay for the repairs, and she had no family or friends of whom she could ask for help.

The only contact she regularly made with others was with her neighbors of five years, Adam and Kristin Polhemus.

“Until my wife and I moved in, no neighbors had a conversation with her,” Adam said. “She had no relations with anyone in the neighborhood.”

Anne showed the letter from the city of Hamilton Township to them, which explained that she needed to scrape and paint her house, remove the abandoned and rusted car in her yard, and cut the grass. These were three violations total, each with a fine of “No more than $1,000, per day, per violation,” the notice read. Anne had grown up in the house, and called the letter “very upsetting.”

“She said, ‘I don’t know what I’m going to do, I can’t do this myself.’ And I said, ‘Anne, we’ll help you get this fixed,’” Adam explained.

Her post reads, “Hamilton area friends! Are you free for a few hours this weekend? We need you!
Adam Polhemus and I could use your help for some exterior scraping/painting at the home of our elderly neighbor, Anne. As you know, she received a hefty fine from the township for having peeling paint on the exterior of her home, and she’s on a deadline to scrape and repaint her home to avoid the fine. She’s limited in funds and the physical ability to do the work, and we’d love nothing more than to show her we care.
Here’s how you can help:
1. Comment below to let us know you’re interested in helping out.
2. General hours will be Saturday 1pm – 8pm, Sunday all-day.
Stay for a few hours, stay for many; all help is needed and *appreciated*! Address below.
3. We are in need of TALL LADDERS and we’ll love you forever if you bring yours along.
Lunch and dinner for volunteers will be generously provided by Chick-fil-a of Hamilton Marketplace. Street parking available at our home:
75 Church Street, Hamilton
Thanks for RSVPing so we can reserve a meal for you! We really do need your help; we only have a few people right now and we’re hoping for about 20 volunteers to make this happen.
THANK YOU!”

Anne, Adam and Kristin were overjoyed at the response, as more than 25 kind neighbors showed up over several weekends to volunteer and donate supplies.

“To have people show up because it’s in their heart to do that, to be there and help a complete stranger, that’s truly remarkable,” Adam said.

The volunteers brought their own supplies and tools, sanded the old paint off of the exterior of the house and repainted it, repaired broken siding, landscaped the yard, fixed the porch, and removed and donated the old and rusty unused car to the Purple Heart Foundation charity.

Estimates of the work done put the entire project at around $10,000 to $15,000, all of which was done for free by Anne’s kind neighbors.

“I’m grateful for their helpfulness, generosity and caring…They’re good neighbors,” Anne said.

Anne spent the weekends making and serving homemade orange juice and her family’s special carrot cake to the volunteers.

The Hamilton Township officials reviewed the work and confirmed that all property violations were erased.

“I appreciate their generosity,” Anne said about her kind neighbors. “They are good Samaritans, really wonderful and thoughtful. Not everyone would arise to the occasion and I am grateful for it.”

To Adam and Kristin, this is what being a good neighbor is all about.

“To see the joy on our neighbor’s face, I think the biggest thing is Anne’s happiness and her kind of restored life,” Adam said as Anne has now developed new relationships with her other neighbors. “Her outgoingness to other neighbors is based on her house being improved.”

“A little love goes a long way, and just a little scraping, primer, and light carpentry have done a world of difference not only for this little historic home, but for a neighbor’s heart,” Kristin wrote.

Anne’s kind neighbors show us how much of a beautiful difference we can make when we come together to love and help one another. If you would like to see more kindness happening in your community, consider starting a small group with some neighbors where you regularly seek out and support those who may need some help. Simple things such as home repairs, mowing lawns, taking out the trash, preparing meals and even socializing can be difficult for our older generation, and a little support and kindness goes a long way.

Be the difference in your community.

You are Loved.

For more than 21 years, Lucy Ashen lived next door to an elderly woman who was often alone and had no one to care for her. She spent years trying to be friendly and trying to connect with her neighbor, but the woman often isolated herself and was anti-social.

One day her neighbor got locked out of her house, and Lucy, a compassionate mum-of-three in West London, saw her neighbor in need and came outside to help her get back into her house.

She saw garbage, feces and mold everywhere, with upside down cushions and nearly all of her furniture destroyed. The woman was also without a bed and had sadly been sleeping on the hard floor.

“When I first saw the flat I was angry,” Lucy said. “This lady was defenseless and helpless. She had nobody and didn’t have the mental capabilities to ask for help.”

Lucy’s kind heart decided to take action. She needed help from her friends to donate some of the basic necessities which her neighbor needed to survive, so she shared the following post online:

“For those of you that don’t know the story so far……I have lived in Fulham all my life, and I’ve been in the part I am now for 21 years…..and I have an elderly neighbor. She lives on her own in a one bedroom flat and she has mental health issues. For legal reasons I am not allowed to name her, so I will call her My Lady, she calls me Lucy Locket ❤️

Up until 10 days ago this lady was living in indescribable filth and squalor. There was no food, filthy clothes, nobody to help her bathe, and just never ending loneliness and despair. I had tried on numerous occasions over the last few years to gain access to her property to help her, as I knew she was living in less than acceptable conditions, I just didn’t realize how bad. What I saw when she finally let me in will stay with me forever! It was horrific! NOBODY should live like it! So without stopping to think, I gutted her house! I mean everything went down to the toilet seat. I knew I needed help at this point, so without thinking too much of it I put a post on Facebook asking for help along with a list of what she needed.

 

I could not have dreamt what would happen next! The response has been overwhelming! I had around 80% of the list within 24 hours! The offers of help, the donations of goods and the beautiful messages of support still continue and it has astounded me.

It took me over 60 hours of cleaning to get her flat to an acceptable level for her to live in and 11 days on I’m still not finished! But with the kindness and generosity of the people who donated items I have been able to turn her house into a home.

 

Due to the outpouring of kindness from more people than I could have ever imagined, I have felt compelled to make this page to keep the people that helped us informed of our journey. People were so rightly concerned for her welfare and offered wonderful advice, so I would like to keep them updated on the progress of her care moving forward.

The idea is to try to give something back. To say thank you. It is impossible for me to mention people individually for what they have done, there are too many of you! But I will be posting pictures and updating when I can just to show everyone how far we’ve come and what can be achieved through kindness, generosity, community spirit and most importantly love ❤️
This story is so much bigger than just my lady and me. It’s about….

#Mentalhealth
#ignorance
#negligence
#awareness
#theelderly
#communityspirit
#kindness
#thepowerofsocialmedia
#information
#fulham
#change
#determination
#love

I could go on and on as you may have realized!
I really hope this page is the right thing to do and that people will want/like it.
If you do please share

Love Lucy Locket ❤️”

After finding her neighbor living in dire poverty, without anyone there to help look after her, Lucy was able to raise more than 2000 pounds for her neighbor via a GoFundMe page. She received a new bed, new furniture and lots of food from her generous friends on Facebook, and she spent a large amount of time turning her neighbor’s apartment into a clean and cozy home.

“I think she appreciates it. I’ve been in her flat every day and my children have been in and out and other friends. She’s coming out of herself bit by bit. She’s been singing songs with my daughter Ruby.”

Lucy’s story has been shared by thousands online, and she hopes that her experience will help raise awareness of the issue of elderly people being isolated and alone.

“I think it really touched a nerve with people. This could be your mum. This could be you. It could be me in a few years,” Lucy said. “She’s lived right under all our noses.”

Thanks to Lucy’s kind heart, her love for her neighbor, and the kindness of her community, one 76-year-old elderly woman was able to sleep well in a comfortable bed. She has food in her pantry, and knows that she is loved; that people care about her and that she is not alone.

If you have an elderly neighbor, consider checking up on them from time to time just to say hi and to see if they need anything. Life is not always easy for our seniors, especially when they are isolated and alone. Don’t forget the elderly in your kindness; sometimes they are the loneliest among us and need our love.

If Lucy’s kindness inspired you, please share her story online with your friends and family to pass the kindness along.

You are Loved.

When 16-month-old Carter Jean was being her usual inquisitive self and said ‘hi’ to a businessman at the airport, he spent nearly an hour of his time saying hello, smiling with her, and kindly letting her draw on his iPad.

Carter Jean and her father, Kevin Armentrout, were waiting to board a flight at the airport when she noticed Joseph Wright sitting across from her, and she decided to say hi.

“Last night, while waiting to board our plane, Carter Jean was being her usual inquisitive self wanting to meet and say “hi” to everyone she could, until she walked up on this man,” Kevin shared.

Joseph said hello back to Carter Jean, and after a few minutes of very cute communication, he asked her if she’d like to sit with him. Together they spent nearly an hour having a truly wonderful time.

“He reached out and asked if she wanted to sit with him. He pulled out his tablet and showed her how to draw with it, they watched cartoons together, and she offered him snacks. This wasn’t a short little exchange, this was 45 minutes.”

“There were a few moments she screamed and tried to get into his work calendar, but he couldn’t care less.”

“Watching them in that moment, I couldn’t help but think, different genders, different skin colors, different generations, and the best of friends. This is the world I want for her.”

“In a country that is continuously fed that it’s so deeply divided by beliefs, I want her life to be filled with moments like this… not liberal or conservative republican or democrat, socialist or capitalist, just HUMAN.”

“Joseph from Samsung in Oklahoma, if this should happen to find you, Thank you for showing my daughter what kindness and compassion looks like. Continue to shine your light in the world.”

A few of Joseph’s friends and coworkers saw Kevin’s post and shared that this is just the type of kind person that Joseph is.

“I first met [Joseph] in school in 1976… this is exactly how he was then and throughout our years in school… beautiful human being then and now,” wrote one friend.

“He’s been that way as long as I’ve known him… truly a wonderful guy, this doesn’t surprise me one bit!” shared another.

Hundreds of thousands of hearts online have appreciated Joseph’s kindness.

“And once again, it takes a child to show the rest of us how its (life) done right…..” wrote Barbara L.

“Over 40 years ago, I was traveling cross-country with my 10 day old daughter. She was very good, but holding a child for that long can be tiring. About 2 hours into the flight a gentleman came up to me and said “let me hold her for a bit so that you can relax and have something to eat” I was hesitant so he said “I am the father of 8 and grandfather of 2, I think you need a break.” I will never forget the kindness of that gentleman! ❤️” shared Jo R.

“Kudos to this awesome gentleman. Under our skin we are all the same. But sad that so many people fail to realize that. It’s not the skin color that is good or bad it’s the person within!!!!” wrote Regina W.

“I took a screaming child from his Japanese mother on an international flight of 8 hours. Many passengers were irritated and she was besides herself with three children. He fell asleep in my arms and stayed there for 5 hours. I carried him off the plane and gave him back to her at customs. She was in tears with gratitude. Very humbling time for me and I was honoured that she let me help,” wrote Roy B.

“This is the world we live in, we’re just being told it’s not. This is how most of us want it,” wrote Julie S.

You are Loved.

When a kind couple learned how ignored and lonely a homeless man in their community was, they decided to help him and ended up reuniting him with his family who he hadn’t seen for more than 20 years.

For the homeless, life is not easy. They sleep on the hard concrete in both hot and cold weather, they constantly feel both hungry and thirsty, and the brief bit of interaction they have with others is a mix of passers-by trying to ignore and avoid them. Yet when Randi Emmans-Bailyn walked by a homeless man one night, her heart had a different response; it was tenderly broken.

As she was walking she heard a man saying, “Why do people just stand and look at me or laugh at me? I’m an extremely educated man. Say hello to me. Do not ignore me and give me these looks.”

Randi started a charity in 2014 called Project Backpacks which delivers backpacks filled with essential items to the homeless. She and her boyfriend, John Suazo, fill and distribute these backpacks during the holidays to help the people living on the streets of Los Angeles.

“I was so touched by what he was saying and it absolutely broke my heart,” Randi said. “I run a program for those experiencing homelessness during the holidays and knew I wanted to help Pedro in some way. I came upstairs to my boyfriend, John, and told him how touched I was by what [he] was saying.”

Randi and John prepared a backpack for the homeless man, and as they were giving it to him, they started a conversation and learned that his name is Pedro, and that he hadn’t seen his family for more than 20 years.

“[John] came downstairs with me and we were giving [Pedro] one of the backpacks from my charity, Project Backpacks. The backpacks are full of food, water, socks, etc. and while giving this to him we really got to talking. He told us his story and how tired he was. How he hadn’t actually slept in 8 years because the ground was so hard and how he never felt comfortable sleeping in case someone took his only belongings. We asked him in that moment what he really wanted and he said he just wanted to be reconnected with his family. We asked him for any details he could remember (he hadn’t seen or spoken to his family in 20 years) and the piece that helped the most was him remembering his Grandmother’s address.”

The kind couple decided to see if they could help this lonely man by finding any possible relatives he might still have. Incredibly, one of their calls ended up connecting with Pedro’s uncle, Pierre.

“John and I got to searching the internet and John was able to find numbers linked to the address. After calling many wrong numbers he received a call back from his Uncle Pierre. He immediately knew it was his nephew after saying how intelligent this man was. His uncle broke down crying and was ecstatic to be reconnected with Pedro. Pierre said he would fly out immediately to come and see his nephew and take him home with him. We got to connect with his Uncle, Cousin, his mother and multiple aunts.”

Pierre said that they had been trying to find his nephew for more than 20 years.

“For over 20 years, we had been praying and believing that one day we would find him, and the day finally came. This is a miracle,” he said.

Pedro’s cousin said that she too was also definitely going to fly out to meet him.

“When I heard the news, I decided I was definitely going,” she said. “Randi and John are godsent people. I don’t even have words for the heart they have to stop and speak to him and then find us.”

Randi and John setup a fundraiser for Pedro to try and house him in a hotel until his family’s flight could arrive. They not only were able to get him a hotel, but they provided food, new clothes, a phone and they paid for his family’s airline tickets.

“I ended up posting about it on social media and began raising money to at least get Pedro a couple of nights in a hotel to get some good rest,” Randi shared. “Within 72 hours we had raised about $6500. We got Pedro in the hotel for the week, provided food, new clothes, a phone and essentials. We were able to pay for his Uncle and Cousin’s trips to LA, their rental car home, and their hotel. We also gave the family the remaining money to help get Pedro back on his feet.”

Once Pedro’s family arrived, they had an emotional meeting and everyone went out to dinner together.

“I believe I can help a lot of people that are still in the position that I was in,” he said.

Pedro is also so very thankful for the kindness he received from Randi and John.

“Their names will forever be etched on my heart,” Pedro said. “I’m indescribably thankful that they cared enough to get me home.”

Randi hopes that others will also be inspired to acknowledge the homeless in their communities.

“Please, when you see someone on the street, don’t look away if they say hello,” she said. “It’s what he said made the difference to him every day: the people that acknowledged him kept him going and made him feel like someday, he wouldn’t be so lonely.”

All of our homeless deserve a second chance at life. Thanks to the kindness of Randi and John, Pedro has his.

You are Loved.