Brighten Your Day

My Airport Heroes

3,208 views | Posted by Pam M. on May 23, 2025

On May 19, 2025, I had the pleasure of meeting two football players from North Carolina Central University in the Philadelphia, PA airport as we were all headed back to Raleigh, NC. To protect their privacy, I will use only the initials of their first names – L and N. They politely asked if they could sit beside me in the...

A Rich Life

1,684 views | Posted by Joseph J. Mazzella on May 16, 2025

I grew up “poor” here in the mountains of my home. Now we always had more than enough to eat. We always had clothes on our backs. We always had a home except for a few days when my Nana’s house that I first lived in burned down. We always were rich in love, laughter, and joy. Society, however, kept showing me...

People who do things just to brighten someone’s day are the best

1,604 views | Posted by A friend on May 21, 2025

I checked in to my hotel and joked with the check-in lady that as long as my room had a bowl of M&M’s with all the blue ones removed, everything would be great. She laughed and told me about some other crazy guest request. 20 minutes later there was a knock on my door and she handed me this...

I’m so thankful for my parents’ neighbors for this random act of kindness

1,443 views | Posted by A friend on May 20, 2025

My dad has cancer. He’s 72 and didn’t want a lot of invasive surgeries and treatments, so he isn’t treating it. He isn’t in much pain and has a hospice nurse who comes by a few times a week, so overall he’s doing ok. However, his breathing isn’t great and obviously he’s pretty tired. My mom is 64 and...

A sweet physical therapist made me feel very seen and heard

1,367 views | Posted by Grace on May 17, 2025

Yesterday, I went to a physical therapy consultation I kept trying to talk myself out of. I finally mustered the courage to show up. When I got there I was informed my insurance coverage wasn't what I expected and physical therapy would be pricey to cover. I tried to cancel and they told me not to leave and got the office...

Giving feedback and the difference it can make

1,359 views | Posted by A friend on May 19, 2025

Earlier this week, I was at the grocery store and while checking out, the manager—a young goth woman with a nose ring—was helping the cashier with the register when another employee came up to her. His moms car had broken down, leaving her stranded, would it be alright if he left to get her? “Go!” She told him without...

Keepin' It Dry

1,358 views | Posted by Lisa Jernigan on May 29, 2025

My grandmother always taught me to never brag about good deeds because it destroyed the value of the deed to get attention for it, Since my niece "outed" me for this one, I figure it's okay, maybe helpful, to tell you about it. One day, I was driving in the rain and saw a woman at a bus stop getting soaked because...

Don't tell your mother about this

1,270 views | Posted by A friend on May 22, 2025

We came across this gem on a forum where someone asked, “In honor of Father’s Day, what was your ‘don’t tell your mother about this’ moment?”—and we knew it had to be shared here: "Female coworker of mine was miserable at work one day. I asked her what was wrong...she told me it was...

A simple smile is more special than you think

1,247 views | Posted by A friend on May 29, 2025

I just passed a man while walking in the park and turned back to give him a (somewhat cursory, I thought) smile and hello. After a moment, he said to me that I was the only person who looked at him with a smile—that everyone else looked at him with a mean or blank expression. I thought it was pretty remarkable how...

Saved in the Bathroom by a Stranger while Out of State

1,160 views | Posted by magstarunner on May 26, 2025

I was in a different state with my youngest son for a hockey tournament. My husband called me between games distraught: our best college friend was suddenly in the hospital and it didn’t look good. I tried to comfort my husband, then went back in and watch the last game. I didn’t really know the other parents, so I didn’t...

Grocery store clerk gave us expensive Mylar balloons for husband in long term hospital stay

1,153 views | Posted by A friend on May 24, 2025

I was decorating my husband’s hospital room with string lights, balloons, and drawings of our pets to cheer him up. He was stuck in the hospital for so long, it really helped and the doctors/nurses liked the cheery room too. I had been changing out balloons for the holidays/events. Thanksgiving, Christmas, new years,...

This lady saw my child lose 3 times playing a claw machine game

1,127 views | Posted by A friend on May 31, 2025

We went out to dinner tonight and my child got excited when they saw a claw machine game with big prizes inside. Parents, we all know how these games, especially the big prize claw machines, are rigged against you. I despise these because they often get the kids hyped up for disappointment. Anyway, after the third time...

Mom's Eyes

1,007 views | Posted by Joseph J. Mazzella on June 3, 2025

It was the middle of Summer, yet my Dad was already getting ready for Winter. He had dumped a load of firewood from his pickup truck and it was my job to put it in the wheelbarrow and move it to our winter woodpile. I was a skinny 12 year old and it wasn’t easy work. I was loading the wheelbarrow for the fifth time when I felt like I...

After 15 Years Of Homelessness, I Finally Have My Own Home!

930 views | Posted by A friend on May 30, 2025

I have up until VERY recently lived in the homeless shelter graduating their Alcohol and Drug Recovery Program! I have been HORRIBLY addicted to alcohol and began homelessness at 22 years old, I am now 35. So for over a DECADE I was either sleeping on the streets or staying in motels and drinking and doing day labor to afford it...

Anonymously gifted singing classes to a girl who can't afford them but really loves musical theatre

927 views | Posted by Lottie on June 2, 2025

There's this girl I met through community theatre a few years ago. She's in her late teens, so significantly younger than me (I'm 25 female). I've been doing musical theatre for years and she's more of a newcomer, so I've always tried to give her advice and feedback if she asks for it, be supportive, even...

A middle school science teacher taught me more than just science

903 views | Posted by HammyBurrger on June 5, 2025

This is a brief story from almost a decade ago, but it hasn’t left me and I refuse to let it. My middle school taught the periodic table in eighth grade. Looking back that’s a little old, but it is what it is. From the beginning, I fell in love with the element “Bismuth” (Bi 83). If you’ve never seen...

The World Is Your Mirror

893 views | Posted by Joseph J. Mazzella on June 7, 2025

Well it happened to me again recently. It has happened before and it will probably happen again. Let me explain. I had just finished driving my son to the sheltered workshop where he works a few days a week. I decided to stop on the way back home to pick up some more bananas and whole wheat bread. As I pulled into the...

Our cleaning lady baked this cake for our daughter’s 4th birthday

892 views | Posted by tesat on May 29, 2025

Our cleaning lady baked this cake for our daughter’s 4th birthday without us asking A homemade round birthday cake decorated with an image of Disney’s Elsa from Frozen on top and blue and white frosting, featuring her name (which I blurred for privacy reasons) and the number 4. We were honestly speechless...

Eternally Young

887 views | Posted by Joseph J. Mazzella on May 27, 2025

My family and I had stopped to eat at a fast food place before we went grocery shopping the other day. I had my daughter order while I went to the restroom. When I got back she told me the amount and I went to the counter to pay. The cashier asked for less than what she had said and I paid him. When I got back to our table my daughter...

She's right about no one talking to me unless they're mad

841 views | Posted by A friend on June 4, 2025

A few months back, my kids and I went out to eat at a fairly well known fast food restaurant. The food wasn't known for being the best, but my kids loved it, so I humored them. The food was amazing! It was hot and fresh and served quickly. The kids and I happily ate everything we ordered. As we were leaving, I...