Welcome to Mamamia’s good news post.
The world can seem pretty bleak sometimes and we’ve decided to create a happy place where you’ll receive nothing but the awesome and lovely things people are doing from around the world.
Enjoy!
This is a photo of a couple, John Allen and Linda Alexander, sitting in Starbucks. It's just like any other date, except John is helping Linda to relearn the alphabet. Linda lost much of her memory when she suffered a major stroke and brain damage, and John is determined for her to regain her skills. Six mornings a week, the couple head to Starbucks for a drink and a reading lesson. Fellow customer, Matthew Ballestero, was so moved by this display of love and dedication that he decided to share this image and their story on Reddit. Unsurprisingly, it has touched the hearts of thousands.
Comments
66 Comments so far
I also have a son Caz, who has always preferred cats to dogs. We gokt him a cat for his birthday 18 months ago and then a friend for his cat and both my kids absolutely adore them. They are beautiful companions.
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This little boy has such a kind heart and seems to be part of a kind family.
Cats are so underrated and have much to teach us and it looks like this little boy is already listening.
My husband and son (and daughter) are potty about cats and so are most of the men in our family & group of friends.
I know that dogs are often presented as the ideal pet for little boys ( you never hear about “a boy and his cat” do you ?) but it takes a little more patience & sensitivity to care properly for a cat.
I hope we get to see an update one day as to the kind of man he turns out to be.
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Well I’d like to boast a little about my 14 year old daughter. While most girls her age and at her school (she goes to a private school) are into the best iPhones, getting their hair streaked and Tiffany bracelets, my daughter joined Amnesty International and the Environment Club as her extra curricular activities. She conducted a Save the Bilbies campaign almost single handedly (and she had to speak in assembly in front of the whole school which terrified her) and gave $25 of her birthday money to the cause. This Christmas, she asked if her relatives could donate to a charity or buy her piglets for a village through World Vision instead of a gift (which was duly done). She struggles with friendships as she is so different to most of her peers but I wouldn’t swap her for the world.
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Be proud, you’ve got yourself a leader there, not a follower.
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We saw “Beasts of the Southern Wild” when it was first released and found it to be both joyful and disturbing.
This is set in a world that few of us even realised existed or cared about – a world of “forgotten” people who barely survived the hurricane that devastated New Orleans. These are part of a fragmented community scratching out a life beyond the supposed security of those levies designed to keep the water out of that ruined city.
The little girl’s performance is managed by a director of amazing sensitivity and skill, but I’m not sure that she was aware enough of her efforts artistically to be considered for an Oscar.
This is one of those movies that features a beautiful little girl in an extraordinary situation who’s personal safety during filming must have had any parent watching it saying “please don’t touch that” – but I’m positive that all was actually well on that set each day.
This is a movie that will educate you and change you. … Another one that features an adorable little girl in an unusual setting is the beautiful-looking “The Fall” directed by Tarsem Singh – her performance would also be considered “award-worthy” but again, I’m not convinced that she was artistically aware of her performance either.
There’s a place for all kinds of films and these two have a “special place”.
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I fail to see how it is good news that a nine year old is being thrown into the world of Hollywood fame. To me it’s blatant opportunism and publicity-seeking from Hollywood.
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I don’t think a six/nine year old should be awarded an Oscar for just being herself.
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I still can’t view the galleries.. but I can see the first image. And I will state here and now that someone is welcome to break into my home and clean it!
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FYI Tanner and Blair were adopted as a pair to a family with one other dog
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So happy to hear this!
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Good work to all concerned.
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Nurses are truly amazing. Sometimes i feel like that becomes a glib, ‘obvious’ thing to say, but everyone i know who’s been to hospital always says – god, the nurses were great/amazing, or some other variation. They’re saving someone’s little heart and soul, and they do it every day – just beautiful.
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I can’t look at the nurse and the baby. It makes me feel ill and angry that the babies and nurses were put in this position. I’m an engineer and my newborn baby spent their first day on a respirator. I really want to know what went wrong with the generators that led to this being necessary.
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In a “once in a lifetime” natural disaster of this magnitude anything can happen. Including the failure of generators in a major hospital. One has to be grateful for the skillfulness, professionalism and amazing dedication of the nursing staff who ensured the safe evacuation of each of those most fragile of patients, the NICU babies.
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I’m not the least bit ungrateful. Her hands would be feeling very painful the next day and she shows amazing dedication and skill.
The hospital admin and those generators are a failure. It’s too early to point fingers, I get that, but lives like this are fragile and seeing them being put at risk by faulty technology burns me.
But I’m ‘in the business’ so to speak. The main generator and backup generator are there to cover the ‘once in a lifetime’ natural disaster and they didn’t do the job. It’s a success for the nurses, but I’m also seeing a failure of engineering.
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It happens, despite the regular checks.
I worked in ICU in a large regional hospital in Australia and the power went out (storm) and the generator didn’t kick in. We had to hand ventilate all the patients till it returned. The wards men and a few nurses ( who had driven in to help) had to go to the basement and carry large oxygen cylinders up about 20? Flights of stairs for each patient.
It’s a precarious situation and all staff are well trained for the event. But it’s all the hands on deck that make it successful.
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Why do you think we have nurses?
It’s definately not just to clean bedpans & do sponge baths.
They became nurses to save lives & in these circumstances, this is exactly what they did. Bless them.
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Why do you think we have engineers and backup generators?
I love nurses. Mum’s a nurse. I’m not saying a word against the nurses.
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In a “once in a lifetime” natural disaster anything can go wrong, including the failure of generators in a major hospital. One has to be grateful for the skillfulness, professionalism and dedication of the nursing staff and other personnel to ensure the safe evacuation of these most fragile of patients, the NICU babies. Amazing work by all!!
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I heart this post so much. It never fails to make me smile every time I click through the gallery….
Sometimes, people (and animals) are awesome.
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Im at work reading this tears pouring down my face. Beautiful
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I wish I could view these news items from my mobile but all I can see is the first part in the caption, can this be fixed so we can see what’s written?
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Loved reading all these stories, very inspiring
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AWESOME. Really? How old are the staff at Mamamia? Neither the juvenile defiance of two straight women sending the message that sexuality can be ‘chosen’ nor the joy derived from feeling superior to people with a different opinion to your own is ‘awesome’ IMHO. Yes, I’m gay and I’m sick of being the current cool fad of the hipster wannabes.
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I really don’t get why you believe that supporting the right of people of any sexuality to enjoy the same rights as as everyone else is a ‘fad’. Would you prefer that straight people didn’t support gay rights?
I’m not even sure what a hipster is – but I’m pretty sure I’m not one!
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I’m with Zelda. Without the support of the straight community nothing will change. These two girls didn’t harm the cause, they helped it.
I really hope you are the minority voice in your community because most of my LGBT friends are very thankful of the support of straight people who actively support gay marriage.
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And what, the way to support gay friends is to pretend to be gay yourself. Weird twisted logic.
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I don’t think pretending to be gay supports the cause. There are other ways to do it. Write letters, petition a member of parliament, talk to people. Can you imagine the reaction if you pretended to have cancer to support cancer charities? Doesn’t make sense does it.
Attention seeking behaviour, making it about them rather than the issue.
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Oh please! This is not juvenile defiance.. it is two people sticking their finger up at a bunch of facist homo-phobes in a symbolic and fun way. Lighten up.. no one is trying to rain on your parade or ‘pretend to be gay’. It’s a light hearted show of support without words.
And you are sick of being the ‘cool fad of hipster wannabe’s’ whooaaa..! There are just so many things wrong with this comment – I honestly don’t know where to start. Time to stop the name calling…! This isn’t a highschool school yard. Its about human beings showing support for other human beings. It is that simple.
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Nope. Two straight girls kissing to get a reaction *is* insulting. I’m with Awful, not awesome on this. It’s not supportive, it’s childish and embarrassing. As a gay woman in my 40s, I don’t need or ask for undignified ‘support’ from kids who think they’re being cool by championing a cause just because it’s the latest craze.
Don’t you think it a bit rich to demand an end to name calling after you’ve referred to people as ‘fascist homophobes?’
The whole gay marriage debate has become a joke by roping in people like these two girls. Grating, immature demands and the constant, vile abuse of those who disagree has put the debate back decades. Civil, reasoned, adult discussion is always impossible when the children of the left hijack an issue, make it their cause célèbre and use it to defend their high moral ground by insulting everyone who disagrees with them.
Some gays want the right to marry. Most of my friends don’t. It’s not the most pressing issue in my life, actually. Thanks all the same.
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I think we must mix in the same circles. I feel exactly the same as you do and thank you for expressing it. I’m also over the young lefties ‘championing’ the cause. Those of us old enough to remember the Vietnam war know how easily manipulated and immature the rent-a-crowd are. Until the Mardi Gras is a distant memory, I don’t expect gay marriage will be treated as anything other than a teenage tantrum. I think we’ve lost ground and lost respect in the last few years and this stupid photo doesn’t help.
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Awful not awesome, Angp and Anonymous you make me so angry with your self- righteous indignation around how and who supports your right to marry. ‘People Power’ is the only way this ’cause’ as you put it will influence those who can change this inequality yet you don’t seem to want or appreciate this! Talk about being ungrateful. Sorry, but you, the minority here don’t get to choose who supports you – Its these ‘young lefties as you so derogatorily refer to, are the ones who will eventually bring about change for YOU whether you want their support or not. You need all the help you can get as far as I’m concerned. I have lots of gay friends who DO want to marry so I will ‘champion their cause’ however way I can as I also believe these girls are, as I believe this is such an important people issue not just some latest craze to follow. At least if you do choose to marry in the future you will at least have the choice, bought about by anyone and everyone fighting for it now.
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As a 22 year old straight person who has grown up with gay relatives, I find this hard to read. I have always- ALWAYS- fought for (be this in discussion or by participating in events etc) their right to be treated equally in society. Most of my friends feel the way toward the cause- it is in no way a bandwagon that any of us have jumped upon. I agree that there are unnecessary and (in some cases) immature goings on in reaction to the cause, however I feel, as do many of my friends and family that attention is a good thing. Problems such as homophobia and inequality can never be solved if they are swept under the rug. Sensible talk is always a good thing, some times it just takes something a little extreme to kick start the conversation.
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OMG that little dog is just the cutest thing ever! I’d be so petrified of stepping on it though.
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Cute pics of the girl who dresses up as a new historical figure each day, but I think Aung San Suu Kyi might object to being consigned to history – she’s very much alive and politically active!
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the dog who lost his nose makes me cry. Amazing soulful creature. Incredible.
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I Just adore this…my daughter used to love dressing as a princess…now its all shorts and t shirts…infact we can barely get her into a dress..mind you she is excited about Halloween where she’s dressing up as one of the girls from Monster High for better or worse
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Love love love this post!!
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Great news zoo keeper, Lucy Melo is awake and on the mend !
Hopefully, she’ll be back at Taronga sooner rather than later
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hello, just wanted to say i love all these stories and heartened by them all. please keep up with the good news stories
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I’m so glad to hear about the zoo keeper.
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News Topic – The Budget
For anyone buying into the media-generated hype (outrage) about the reduction of the Baby Bonus from $5K to $3K for 2nd/3rd etc. babies born, did you know that the Parental Leave Pay is $10917??
You just have to have •worked for at least 1
0 of the 13 months before the birth or adoption of your child and •worked for at least 330 hours in that 10-month period (just over one day a week), with no more than an eight-week gap between any two consecutive working days.
… Ahhh – maybe that’s the problem? No more $5K for every baby they have on welfare?
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I dont think thats totally fair…..Most mums I know who have second and third babies arent working and they most certainly are not relying on welfare either. They have hard working husbands supporting their family – who also happen to pay tax.
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And they also have the stuff that babies need – change table, nappies, cot, clothes, etc etc. I don’t know anyone who just chucked any of that stuff out straight away.
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I think you missed my point. Whats good for the goose is good for the gander….why should one mum have priority treatment over another? All children are valuable citizens, however it seems that their parents are only worthy of recognition if their mother works.
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Working women pay tax. That should be rewarded.
Fathers are also able to take the leave.
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I’m a business owner, not eligible for paid mat leave. Im certainly not rich, and I pay tax. Why should I be disagvantaged?
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Are you sure? Unless you earn over $150K, you should still be eligible
http://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/enablers/centrelink/parental-leave-pay/eligibility-for-parental-leave-pay#Worktest
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AlyssaKT – if you have to keep working after you have a baby (or have to keep income splitting because that’s how your business works) you don’t get paid maternity leave.
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very true chillax. the idea of the bonus is to buy the big ticket items like pram, cot and car seat. once you buy those once you typically reuse. i think it was a good way to make some savings
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Well my work does offer maternity leave payment so that baby bonus was set aside as an income so i could stay home with my little one.
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While I agree that the costs of subsequent children are not as high as first borns due to the outlay for the big items, I have to disagree with you in general as not everyone meets the requirements for the PPL.
I am a pregnant PhD student on a stipend who tutors classes at University (and therefore pays taxes) while I am studying. However I am not eligible for the PPL because the work I do for my PhD doesn’t count, and the hours I teach, even when marking is taken into account, are not officially enough to meet the 330 hour requirement. One of the restrictions of my PhD is that I am not allowed to work more than 8 hours outside of it. Therefore, teaching at University is a nice compromise – the pay is a lot higher so I have to work ‘less’ hours to get the same amount of pay as if I did an 8 hour shift in retail for example. But the workload and investment is a lot more. I can’t teach more than 2 or 3 classes, because then the workload and unofficial time investment is way more than 8 hours. Yet this is not recognised when it comes to the eligibility for PPL.
Therefore I will only receive the baby bonus, not the PPL. As I am currently pregnant, I can tell you that the baby bonus will really help us financially – it takes that pressure off. My husband works full time, but because I am not on a full time income, I cannot afford to take a lot of time off from my PhD after I give birth.
The whole point of the baby bonus and PPL is to assist parents with the big item costs and caring for their children after the birth. From a societal perspective, it is necessary. But please remember that not everyone who is having children and getting the BB are on welfare – some, like me, are just trying to make ends meet while continuing an education and career.
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I was going to be exactly in your situation, however I was lucky that i was able to work enough hours in the year prior too.
I just want to say i agree that it sucks that your PhD, which is effectively MORE than a fulltime job usually, doesn’t count for hours, especially when the stipend payment is so crappy.
Enjoy the rest of your pregnancy and the 12 weeks you get off goes SOOOOO fast so ‘enjoy’ every second of it – Mine’s up in 2 weeks and I’m devastated.
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There’s another group that is going to miss out as well – the full-time self-employed women who CAN’T take leave. When I have a baby, I will have to reduce my workload somewhat, but mostly, I’m just going to have to take my baby to work with me. Where our business is now, there is no way I could take 18 weeks off. (although, if I did take 18 weeks off, even with the parental leave payment, I would still be worse off, because I would have to pay someone else to do my job and that is higher than a minimum wage.)
Now, I don’t EXPECT to get any money from the government at all. The payments will not affect my decision on if/when to have children.
But it does make me feel a bit miffed that I would be missing out, when all the other working mums could get the paid 18 weeks off.
(Oh, and I will not be having children until I know that I can easily afford all of the items I will need to buy, as well as the ongoing costs of raising children, independent of the baby bonus and family tax benefits…)
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Most people I know in that are self employed still get the PPL and work. (plus a lot whose husbands are self employed and they work in their husbands business) They just pretend they dont and manipulate the pay systems accordingly.
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I agree entirely,Alyssa. I don’t expect any hand out when becoming a mother – I shouldn’t be doing it if I can’t afford it – but I’m really sick of missing out on just about any benefit because it’s means tested. For example, we bought second hand school uniforms due to budget restrictions but weren’t eligible for any uniform tax benefits. Because my husband and I both work full time (due to a major financial hardship) we are considered privileged. Finally, a system that rewards those who are contributing to the economy instead of penalising them.
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OMG to the story about the boy who knew the emergencynumber because of Fireman Sam.
How many Aussie kids would dial 911, do you think, in an emergency because of TV shows?
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Plenty of kids, I’m sure. But I’m also pretty sure that in Australia, 911 redirects to Emergency Services for that exact reason.
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I have it on good authority that 911 does not automatically divert to 000 in Australia. The only solution is to educate your children.
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Firstly, most Australian children if they watch TV would see Playschool, Wiggles or similar Australian produced TV, who promote 000 as the emergency number (they have episodes where they talk about emergencies and each episode is repeated many times!). Secondly most parents do talk about this stuff with there kids from a young age! For example when my children were younger if we saw an ambulance/fire engine we talked about when and why you would call an ambulance or the fire brigade and how to use the phone to do so.
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isnt there some different number for mobiles?
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Dialling 112 will also get Emergency Services from a mobile.
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Wonderful news. Best wishes to Sally and her beautiful family. xxx
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FABULOUS NEWS! Love her to bits! Xxx
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Woohooooooooo Sally!!! This has just made my week!!
And way to go Microsoft and its employees! Bill Gates is a legend.
A huge THANK YOU to Mamamia for starting this. I can already tell this will be one of my favourite features on here.
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Great to hear !
Always a pleasure to learn that someone has kicked this most insidious of all diseases right in the backside and yelled, “You’re not gonna beat me” !
Sally, we always knew that you would beat it !
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