Good People Doing Good Things — A Reprise And An Update

I briefly considered skipping the ‘good people’ post this morning, for my energy seems to have flown the coop and I just really want to go to bed.  But then … I saw a post from our friend Bee Halton and something about it looked familiar.  The light bulb in my head came on!!!  I wrote about these people!  So, I searched my archive and sure enough … I wrote about them in 2018, a quirk of fate brought them together, and today, they still spend every Thanksgiving together!  So, I decided to redux my original post with an update from Bee’s!  This is truly one of the most heartwarming stories …


From my 2018 post titled Saturday Surprise — A Nice Story And A Cute Video …

Every now and then it happens that Saturday Surprise collides with Wednesday’s Good People and the result is … awesome, heartwarming and fun!  Today is one of those times!

The story begins at Thanksgiving 2016, when Wanda Dench made a text-a-boo-boo … or an erroneous text sent to the wrong person.  The story is told in the following text messages … the recipients of the original text inadvertently included Jamal Hinton, a complete stranger …

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Wanda DenchJamal HintonAnd so it happened that 17-year-old Jamal went over the river and through the woods to grandma’s house for dinner! Wanda-JamalSince the heartwarming story first broke Dench has named Hinton as her ‘honorary grandson,’ which is quite fitting.  The two stayed in touch, and last year, he was invited back for Thanksgiving 2017.   In an interview with the Arizona Republic last year Dench said, “It was really nice having everybody here, we got to laugh about last year and reminisce about how it all blew up on our phone and how I had to change my number. We had a laugh and a good time.”

The two have stayed in touch, and ‘Grandma’ Wanda even sent Jamal a couple of gift cards at Christmas last year.  And this year … well of course Jamal was invited back and his girlfriend too!

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text-6Hinton finds the dinners and his newfound family meaningful. “The world is becoming a better place than it used to be. With all the Donald Trump going on and all the racial comments going on, it’s kind of good to see there’s still good people out there.” Dench gave her new ‘grandson’ an open invitation for all future Thanksgivings at her house, so this is a tradition likely to live on for a lifetime.

A small thing?  Perhaps, but … seems to me that a whole lot of these “small things” add up to a whole lot of good in the world, a whole lot of heart, a whole lot of love.

Okay, so that was nice and heartwarming, but the holiday season has now officially kicked off and I think we need to start the weekend with something funny, don’t you?  So, you know what that means … a funny animal video!!!  I considered taking the cute animal video out for this reprised post, but thought, what the heck … we can all use a bit of a smile anyway, right?

Have a great weekend, folks, and don’t let the crowds crush you if you go shopping!  I went shopping from the comfort of my own chair, in my jammies, while sipping coffee last night!  Keep warm & safe!


And the update from Bee’s Good News TuesdayI Absolutely Love This Story!  Thank you, Sweet Bee!!!

Greta ‘n Giggles!

Well, folks, it’s here — the day we’ve all either looked forward to or dreaded, depending on your level of optimism/pessimism.  And I, for one, cannot write another word about the election at the moment.  Last night, my home was attacked by local street urchins, damaging the front door, a window, and nearly giving me a heart attack, as if the current political situation wasn’t enough to do so!  The police were called, they showed up, drove around for all of 90 seconds, and left without even getting out of their cruiser or knocking on the door where at least two of the urchins live.  Need I tell you that the county Sheriff is a Trumpeter?

You’ve either voted by now, or have firm plans to go to the polls today, else you’ve firmly decided not to vote, and at this point, there is nothing I can say to change your mind.  My angst level is high and I don’t want to write about the election and the fools in this nation any more for right now (that’ll probably change by this afternoon, though).  A couple of days ago, my dear sweet friend Bee Halton, who knows of my deep admiration for young Greta Thunberg, sent me the following video of an interview with Ms. Thunberg ahead of a book she has coming out in February 2023.  This interview started with many giggles, and then morphed into some serious discussion about the planet, our environment, etc.  As always, Ms. Thunberg is a delight!  She has matured greatly and it’s only when she mentions her Asperger’s syndrome, a form of autism, that I remember it, for she is as well-spoken as anyone I’ve ever heard.  So do yourself a favour … set the political scene aside for just a few minutes and share in the fun, the laughter, and yes, the talk of the most serious issue facing the world today!  I promise you won’t regret it and that you will chuckle!  Thank you, my dear Sweet Bee!!!