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Stories

Son Steals From His Mother - Years Later, She Discovers Why

It's a gorgeous day. Friends and family surround Ginni Brown. Kids laugh as they play on the bounce castles and slide on the lawn. Then all of a sudden, something appears that brings her to tears as the memories come flooding back.A Family Conspiracy Close up of a person's face Photo by Peter Forster on Unsplash "She never knew it was gone, which is amazing," marvels Casey Brown. Think about it: Four long years in secrecy. And he wasn't alone in his plot, recruiting his uncle Fred and cousin Drake, who each have one particular skill needed to pull this off with Oceans 11 precision. The whole time, Casey's mom Ginni has no clue just what they're up to -- until one lovely day that leaves her stunned and sobbing. You can understand why. I mean, stealing from your own mother?!Oh, and we're not talking about Casey taking twenty dollars from his mother's wallet (Also not cool), but her car. He, his uncles, and his cousin shrewdly swap out her car from under the tarpaulin for a scrap ride along with boxes and objects from the garage so she doesn't notice. What happens next reveals a moment that will move you to tears too.A Wild Surprise Woman wearing gray coat with hands on her face during daytime. Photo by Gus Ruballo on Unsplash When she hears the music from around the block, Ginni Brown already knows. There's her son, behind the wheel of a slick, shiny-red 1964 Plymouth Valiant Convertible. That's when Ginni's tears start.She recalls how her husband -- Casey's father -- bought her that very same car back in 1968. Oh, how she loved that car. However, he then traded it in without consulting her, leaving her very upset. To make amends, her husband bought the same model 10 years later with plans to restore it. Sadly, life sidetracked those plans, and he died before being able to.Years later, with the motivation to act, Casey resolved to finish what his father couldn't. "I promised myself I would restore that car for her and dad," he said.And so, in a plot twist that makes George Clooney and Brad Pitt look like amateurs, he teamed up with his family -- all mechanics -- to 'steal' his mother's car and restore it to its past glory. They did this meticulously over four years.So when Casey rounds the corner for his mother's birthday party, playing his father's favorite song on the radio, she can't contain herself. You can mark this caper a success.How One Son Proves That Loved Ones Never Leave Us Son Surprises Mom With Restored Vintage Car To Fulfil Late Fathers Promise YouTube/ Happily Casey says that along with honoring his father and surprising his mom, the experience paid off in other enduring ways. “I enjoyed the memories I made with my friends and family as we worked to get this car ready – and needed to make sure the surprise did it justice."Among the quotes about family, one by David Ogden Stiers reads, "Family means no one gets left behind or forgotten."The what-ifs, things unsaid, regrets, and unfinished business that linger when we lose a loved one are also rarely forgotten and can fester. For many, they remain that way. It's what makes this story about one devoted son a heartwarming reminder to honor our parents, in memory and the moment.

Gay Son Comes Out To Close-Minded Dad, Gets Shocked For All The Right Reasons
Family

Gay Son Comes Out To Close-Minded Dad, Gets Shocked For All The Right Reasons

Out in the openTo many of Levi Miles' friends at the University of Wisconsin, it was an open secret that he was gay. However, he never told the world. In a piece he penned in the Huff Post, Miles says that the positive response following him officially coming out on Facebook was heartwarming. However, visiting home, Miles was very concerned with his father's reaction. While his mother had known Miles' secret for two years, he wrote that "coming out to my father terrified me beyond all other things," fearing that he'd disown him. One day his father left the house, and Miles's mother told him “Your father saw your Facebook status when I left my Facebook up. The cat’s out of the bag."When Miles asked her for his reaction, the response was heartbreaking. "She said that he wasn’t too happy about it, mostly disappointed and kind of hurt, from what I gathered," wrote Miles."He’d even had the gall to say that if I weren’t in theatrE, I wouldn’t have ended up gay, because it wouldn’t have seemed so normal."- Levi Miles"My dad has never been open-minded on the topic of homosexuality, and I know that he was praying that I wouldn’t be gay."Things left unsaidWhen his dad returned, neither brought up the topic. Miles admitted that "I didn’t want to talk about my sexuality with my father any more than he wanted to talk about it with me, which was good."With the tense weekend over, Miles hugged his parents goodbye as he hopped on the train back to Milwaukee.A few hours later, his mother texted him."Your dad has funny ways of showing he loves you. Look in your backpack."- Levi Mile's motherInside, between two notebooks, was a picture of a young Miles and his father, smiling. On the back was a note that wrote “I will always love you, no matter what.”Love overcomes As hurtful and ignorant his 'disappointment' was to Levi, credit to his father for reflecting and realizing that Levi is his son and ultimately deciding to love him for who he is. While he didn't do it with some moving speech, he expressed it in his own way ---just like his Levi expresses who he is.Above all, hat's off to young Levi for sharing this story, and reminding us all that even the seemingly coldest and closed hearts and minds can thaw with love. More uplifting stories:Instagram Influencer’s Ridiculous Attempt At Fat-Shaming Woman Quickly BackfiresWoman Unceremoniously Dumps Toxic Boyfriend After Constant Body ShamingWoman Too Heavy For Her Scale Has Major Wake-Up Call And Loses Over 200 Lbs In 1 YearMen Get Caught Harassing McDonald’s Worker, Sparking Outrage About A Harsh Reality

Son Drops Everything To Take Mom With Alzheimer's On Dream Trip Around The World
Uplifting News

Son Drops Everything To Take Mom With Alzheimer's On Dream Trip Around The World

A loving son took his mom, whose health was steadily declining with Alzheimer's and who lived in a care facility, on a trip to Nepal. What happened there wowed doctors and allowed this mother to thoroughly enjoy her final years.Sad decline for a loving motherFor 44-year-old Sean O’Sallaigh, growing up in Dublin was tough, but it would have been impossible to make it through without his mother Mary.“She was the best thing in my life. Unconditional love is a thing you don’t get often, and she always gave it, even though she had a tough life," he told Good News Network.Sean eventually left Dublin for Rome, but when his mother got diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2003 at the age of 77, he made frequent trips to see her.As her symptoms worsened, Mary was placed in a care home a year later, but Sean didn't feel it was right for her. So, he decided to to take her on a trip to Nepal and escape winter. That's when everything changed.They took a transformative trip to NepalWhile in Nepal, Sean and Mary went out more than they would have in cold Ireland. “It was warm and she was able to go out so much,” Sean told GNN. “We would walk by this lake and watch the children playing. They would come and sit with us at cafes and talk to her all the time and she to them.“I would take her hair brush out with us and the children would brush her hair. They called her Grandma, and she would say ‘namaste’ to everyone. We were there during a festival called ‘Happy Holi’, where they throw colored powder up in the air. They asked me if they could throw some over her and she loved it.”Miraculously, Sean noticed his mother's condition improve.“I thought Alzheimer’s was just a decline, but when we got to Nepal she started to regain capabilities. I couldn’t understand it and the doctor there told me it was all the new stimulation. Everyone wanted to talk to her and she loved it.”Their travels continued to her last daySeeing his mother improve, Sean decided to take her to his apartment in Rome. She loved going to his favorite restaurants and seeing all the little churches, GNN reports. When the weather got too hot, they went to Umbria where Mary found the found the cows and goats with bells around their necks “hilarious.”“Everyone she met in Italy talked to her and wanted to give her a kiss,” Sean said, “she loved it.”Then, they went to South Africa where they hired a lovely caretaker named Gloria. “She used to put Mom’s hair in lovely little plaits which she loved,” he said.But while in South Africa, Mary got a chest infection and died at the age of 83 in May 2019.“I had to put my life on hold to look after her like that, but it gave me so much too,” Sean said. “People thought she would be a burden but she just never was. We had a really difficult time when I was young, and we only got through it because we had such an amazing mother.”“When I would put her into bed at night sometimes she would say, ‘you are good’ or ‘I love you’, and that was enough for me.”Make the days count As heartbreaking as the end of this story is, it's beautiful at the same. Yes, Sean may have lost his mother, but he was able to spend those critical final days with her and see her Alzheimer's improve. This story is a reminder to cherish the moments we have with our loved ones, and it's also evidence of how transformative travel can be.More uplifting stories:They Were Torn Apart By Distance – 70 Years Later, They Reconnect And Get MarriedWidowed Dad Raises 8 Kids Following 15 Rules Late Wife Left For HimDomestic Abuse Survivor Marries The First Responder Who Saved Her LifeMan Saves Up For A Year And Surprises Wife With Key To Dream Home

Appalled Mom Stands Up For Daughter After Teachers Shortens Her Name Without Consent
Parenting

Appalled Mom Stands Up For Daughter After Teachers Shortens Her Name Without Consent

We often hear that words have power, but so do names. When people forget our names, mispronounce them, or give us nicknames we don’t like-- it can have a devastating effect on our self worth. This is what one New Zealand mother refused to let happen to her young daughter.Pronunciation Pitfall Paris Tautu spoke out after receiving the news that her daughter’s nursery had shortened her daughter Mahinarangi Tautu ’s name-- a traditional Maori name -- to simply “Rangi”. Citing the excuse that they found her birth name “too difficult to pronounce” the nursery alerted Paris of this change without consulting her first. As any mama bear would be, Paris was furious. Not only was the nursery disrespecting her daughter’s Maori heritage, their disregard towards her given name had a profound effect on Mahinarangi’s self-confidence. Following cues from the nursery administrators, classmates of Mahinarangi made no effort to pronounce her traditional name and even went so far as to cruelly laugh at her. Young people are malleable, and incidents like this can have a lasting and traumatic effect on children. After Mahinarangi’s unpleasant experience at her nursery, she became so distraught and embarrassed she stopped trying to correct her peers or her teachers as to the correct pronunciation of her name. The beauty in her name risked being forgotten.The importance of cultureAs Paris explains, her daughter’s name has deep significance, going back generations. Her Ngāti Raukawa heritage has a deep line of descent, known in Maori culture as whakapapa, which often shows where someone is from. In fact, the significance is so important in the culture of New Zealand that Mahinarangi’s nursery used Maori resources in their syllabuses. "Can you imagine your child being too embarrassed to say their name because people won't make a decent effort to pronounce it properly?"- Paris TautuThis unfortunate situation is not unique. In fact, Paris told New Zealand Herald that her ancestors lived through similar experiences and that made her even more determined to make sure her daughter's name is pronounced correctly and respected. The first step, according to Paris, is education. She taught her daughter to stand firm and break down her name into single syllables to help instruct people on how to properly, and respectfully, pronounce her name. Naming our valuesSociety is so fractured, and the values of respect and kindness are instrumental in coming together. If all you can do is make and effort to remember and properly pronounce someone’s name, that alone will go far towards making someone feel important and seen. We should all strive to make our peers feel that way. More uplifting stories:Fierce Mom Tackles Man Peeping Into 15-Year-Old’s Daughter’s Bedroom11-Year-Old Genius Passes Up Higher Learning And It’s A Lesson For All ParentsMom Tells Son Not To Share With Other Kids And She Makes A Powerful Point11-Year-Old Receives ‘Fat Letter’ From School Officials – Mom Has The Best Response

Budget-Conscious Mom Gets Brutally Lunch-Shamed, Moms Step In To Defend Her
Parenting

Budget-Conscious Mom Gets Brutally Lunch-Shamed, Moms Step In To Defend Her

One industrious woman caught flak from fellow moms for packing too many sweets in her kid's lunch. Lunch laborAny mom will vouch that the daily lunch-making routine can be a grind.According to one study, most parents responded that packing lunch "tops the list of stresses for parents as their children head into the new school year."In addition to juggling numerous other morning tasks, mothers have to consider the reloading of the pantry, all while packing a balanced meal for their kids. The pressure has some moms going to crazy lengths to pack the perfect lunch.Kia Bradford Oswald can certainly relate. One day, she decided to find a smart and sensible solution once and for all. Amazingly, she managed to pick up enough goodies to last her little ones an entire school term, all at an unbelievable price.A proud Oswald decided to share her coup with fellow moms on the ‘Aldi Mums’ Facebook page."Did my back to school shop today! $228 and it will last me almost all term."- Kia Bradford OswaldMindful of the potential blowback at some sugary snacks being on display, she was quick to follow up."Before anyone gets mad about it my kids do NOT get everything every day and they get plenty of fruit and a sandwich as well as junk!"Too little, too late-- criticism quickly followed. "Nice, but mine won't be having processed stuff," replied on parent.Strong responseOswald was quick to defend her selection of snacks."I couldn't care less what your kids do or do not have. My kids have this in their lunch and I'm not going to deprive my kids of snacks just because your kids aren't having any!"Oswald then gave a swift run-down of her menu for her remaining critics."Here’s a picture of the cupboard," she said, going on to explain, "I stack it all and alternate snacks each day. They get 3-4 bars, a cheese dip, a rope or gummy shapes and a pack of chips or cookies. They also get 2-3 pieces of fruit, a container of chopped up cucumber and a sandwich daily."Her reply attracted the support of other commenters, including one asking people to give Oswald a break"She is feeding her kids so WHY ON EARTH DOES IT BOTHER YOU? Good on you sweetie, I'm sure your kids eat organic food! Grow up and stop shaming mums for what they feed their children, at least they're fed!"Facebook commenter Let's be kind to momsI mentioned it earlier but it bears repeating: being a mom is a tough task. When you think of what mom do daily -- often on an empty tank and a shoestring budget -- you realize that they're the real superheros. That includes supporting their kids as they take on an ever demanding world and providing them fuel to the best of their abilities. Let's pack lunches with less shaming and more love and thank yous. More uplifting stories:Fierce Mom Tackles Man Peeping Into 15-Year-Old’s Daughter’s BedroomAppalled Mom Stands Up For 6-Year-Old Shamed By Teacher For Her PaintingMom Tells Son Not To Share With Other Kids And She Makes A Powerful PointWoman Finds Missing Child Using Tik Tok Hack All Parents Need To Know

Son Brings Parents To Tears By Revealing He Secretly Paid Off Their Mortgage
Uplifting News

Son Brings Parents To Tears By Revealing He Secretly Paid Off Their Mortgage

It's a struggle to hold back tears while watching the special moment when a son gave his parents one of the best gifts imaginable.A wonderful giftIn a viral video posted to YouTube, a son is sitting with his parents on a couch as they give each other Christmas presents. While filming, the son — app developer Joe Riquelme — presents his mom with an envelope. She doesn't seem like she's expecting too much until she sees what's inside. In the envelope, there's a statement from Bank of America and a note that says, "Your house is paid off. Merry Xmas. - Joe."Bringing his parents to tearsAs soon as she saw the note, Riquelme's mother starts to bawl her eyes out with tears of joy. "I love you. Thank you," she said before hugging him.Riquelme had earned enough money from an app called Videoshop to pay off their mortgage.Without saying a word, she passed the letter to her husband who looked choked up as well."Hijo," he said, in disbelief.A thank for you being his parentsIn the corner of the note declaring the house was paid off, Riquelme drew a box with a list of three things his parents had done for their family with checkmarks next to each one: raising kids, college loans, and now, mortgage.The family proceeded to hug on the couch for a while in the video, which has now hit over 11 million views since it was posted in 2014."Sometimes the best gifts come in the lamest packages. Merry Christmas everyone! — feeling happy," Riquelme later wrote on his Facebook page, according to the Daily Mail. Appreciate those who've helped us along the wayDespite being several years old at this point, this video is just as touching as the day it was posted — I don't know about you, but I definitely got choked up watching it! While Riquelme has himself to thank for becoming a successful app developer, he didn't forget who helped him get there, and that's what makes this moment so special.More uplifting stories:They Were Torn Apart By Distance – 70 Years Later, They Reconnect And Get MarriedWidowed Dad Raises 8 Kids Following 15 Rules Late Wife Left For HimDomestic Abuse Survivor Marries The First Responder Who Saved Her LifeMan Saves Up For A Year And Surprises Wife With Key To Dream Home

Amazon Driver Rescues Baby Abandoned On The Side Of The Road By Carjacker
Everyday Heroes

Amazon Driver Rescues Baby Abandoned On The Side Of The Road By Carjacker

Thanks to an alert Amazon driver with a helping heart, one mother can sleep better tonight.A startling discoveryIt was an ordinary Monday when Amazon driver Juan Carlos Flores was doing his rounds through Houston's Sunnyside neighborhood. Little did he know the police was responding to a carjacking in the same area. As he drove by the location of the carjacking, he made a shocking discovery."When I saw that baby, I wanted to cry"- Juan Carlos Flores Flores was in disbelief when he saw a baby in its carrier on the side of the road. "I noticed a baby seat. I never imagined that a baby was there until I passed next to it" he told ABC.Toddler gets to safetyFortunately, the baby was unharmed. Flores immediately covered it and brought it to a nearby home, where he called the police. A few minutes later, officers arrived and reunited the child with its distraught mother.The true danger revealedPolice believe the driver who dropped the baby on the side of the road was the perpetrator of the Sunnyside carjacking. According to police audio, the worried mother was trying to track an iPhone left in the vehicle in hopes of finding both iPhone and her beloved child. Neighbor Mirna Garcia told sources that her surveillance footage showed that the vulnerable child went virtually unnoticed until Flores drove by. "The baby was there for about 20 minutes, and there were about six vehicles that drove by, and nobody saw"- Mirna Garcia, neighborThere's no telling what would have happened to the child if Flores hadn't taken action. Fortunately, he spotted the tot and brought it to safety. Stay alertRegardless of the circumstances, Flores still can't wrap his head around what happened. “How could someone have the heart to leave the child on the side of the road?”He's fortunate to have been in the right place, at the right time."I feel lucky to have found the baby"- Juan Carlos FloresMost importantly, Flores was alert enough to sense that something was wrong when others weren't. Community safety is everyone's responsibility. Keep your eyes open as you never know if help might be needed just around the corner. More uplifting news:Homeless Man Risks His Life To Rescue Shelter Animals From Devastating FireLandlord Saves Family From Homelessness After Father Lost His JobDomestic Abuse Survivor Marries The First Responder Who Saved Her LifeMan Writes Touching Note To Hospital Staff Who Saved His Wife’s Life