If you’ve ever spent a significant amount of time with twins, you know that no other relationship compares.
My husband has twin brothers, and one of those brothers had twin daughters (busting the twins-skip-a-generation myth), so our family is quite familiar with the twin bond. Over and over, we’ve watched with amusement as one adult twin will move across the country for one reason or another, with the other twin eventually, but inevitably, following them. Twins redefine the word “inseparable,” which makes sense since they’ve literally been together since before they were even born.
Nowhere is that bond more apparent than in a video of twin babies at the end of their first day of separation ever. |
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A heroic foster dog ended up saving a sleeping family of five from a houseboat fire at the Tidewater Yacht Marina in Portsmouth, Virginia. The Cushna family first found Moose through the Portsmouth Humane Society’s program “Paws Around Portsmouth” program where people can take a shelter dog on a “field trip” for a few days to help the pet get adopted. They planned on taking care of him temporarily but he ended up making a mark unlike any other dog they’ve had.
While the family was asleep on the boat one night the fluffy white Great Pyrenees knew something was wrong and quickly urged the family members to get up. He ended up saving their lives after a fire had broken out on another boat moored nearby. “Things just happened so quickly,” Christopher Cushna, who was aboard the houseboat, told The Messenger. “It really could have been a disaster.” At around around 7:30 that morning the family woke up thanks to the alert pooch and noticed plumes of smoke on a nearby vessel. Quickly they were able to escape before their own boat caught fire all thanks to Moose! |
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Going back to complete your high school education as an adult can come with a wide range of emotions. Some might feel excited while others might feel nervous or not sure where to start.
But education is a gift that positively impacts everyone around you. Taking the first step can be hard, but as adult learner Jessica discovered, earning a diploma opened new doors for her and her family.
The Finish Your Diploma campaign, funded by the Dollar General Literacy Foundation, has connected nearly 2 million people in the U.S. with free adult education classes and resources to help adult learners take their first step. No one walks that path alone, and teachers at local centers are ready and waiting to help guide adults through the process of earning a diploma, just like Jessica did.
In honor of their 30-year anniversary, the Dollar General Literacy Foundation is celebrating the gift that lasts a lifetime—education. Watch Jessica share how that gift changed her and her family’s life for the better, and visit finishyourdiploma.org to learn more. |
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When people think about kids who are at-risk, the image of an upper-middle-class child doesn’t typically come to mind. In fact, even writing that upper middle-class children as a group are considered at-risk feels awkward. There are children who are food insecure, or are at risk of losing housing or have little to no stability at all, but the risk facing children in upper-middle-class kids, specifically, is different.
Kids in families that make around $130K or more are at high risk for “toxic achievement culture,” which can lead to increased instances of mental health conditions.
“So these kids are at-risk, meaning they are two to six times more likely than the average American teen to suffer from clinical levels of anxiety, depression and substance abuse disorder,” Jennifer Breheny Wallace, author of “Never Enough,” told CBS Mornings.
Surprisingly, the likelihood increases further among upper-middle-class children of color when compared to their inner-city minority kids with fewer privileges. |
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They say laughter is the best medicine, and it’s true. When we’re in a bad mood, it’s practically miraculous how a good laugh can lift us out of it. Giggles can help relieve stress, which is good for our overall health, and as Patch Adams taught us, raucous joy can even help our bodies heal.
However, research shows that adults only laugh an average of 15 times a day, compared to children who laugh around 400 times a day. So we can all use some ways to laugh more.
Ironically, one almost surefire way to laugh is to be in a group of people who are trying to keep a straight face when something funny happens. There’s something about trying not to laugh that makes it nearly impossible not to, especially when you’re with others.
The “Magic Flute Challenge” illustrates this phenomenon beautifully—and hilariously. |
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