WRAL: 100-year-old woman describes surviving COVID-19. “On a muggy summer day, the back door creaked as Lena May Shaw gripped her walker. Nice and easy, she stepped toward the chair under the pecan tree to tell her story. Loud and clear, she began, saying, ‘Yes sir!’ She feels alright today.”
Washington Post: Meg’s choice: She could reopen her diner. But what about the hungry people she’s feeding?. “In the heart of this pandemic summer, some restaurants have yet to reopen, still struggling to find a workable way forward with diminished capacity or takeout only. Others tried to restart, only to shut down again as cases surged. And many more are gone forever — more than 20,000 restaurants have closed nationwide since the start of the pandemic, according to the National Restaurant Association, with tens of thousands more expected to close. In Lawrence’s downtown, nearly a third of the restaurants have either delayed reopening, reopened and then scuttled indoor dining — or closed all together. [Meg] Heriford faced an agonizing choice — should she try to reopen Ladybird Diner as it was, and if so, what about the people she’s feeding — the newly destitute families who come shyly, pushing their […]
BBC: Letter from Africa: How African generosity dried a crying teacher’s tears. “In our series of letters from African journalists, Kenyan Joseph Warungu looks at the acts of generosity helping ordinary people through desperately trying times.”
CNN: They have been married 46 years and just overcame Covid-19, cancer and chemo together. “A Texas couple is feeling extra blessed after beating the coronavirus, cancer and finishing chemo. Robert and Janice Beecham have been married for 46 years, and this year they are happy to be recovering after a spring full of turmoil.”
CNN: One of the original ‘Rosie the Riveters’ is now making masks to help defeat coronavirus. “Mae Krier, 94, worked in a Boeing factory during World War II, where she helped make warplanes. Now, she’s helping fight a different battle — coronavirus.”
Jewish Telegraphic Agency: Abe Foxman’s next act: Raising $28 million to feed thousands of struggling Holocaust survivors. “Since retiring from his post as national director of the Anti-Defamation League in 2015, Abraham Foxman has had plenty of opportunities to take on other projects in the Jewish world. Until now, he’s almost always said no. But now the 80-year-old is coming out of retirement with an ambitious goal: to raise $28 million to feed Holocaust survivors during the pandemic.”
Today: Wife takes job as dishwasher to see husband in nursing home during COVID-19 pandemic. “[Mary] Daniel explained that she tried visiting her husband through a window, but said he just cried and could not understand what was going on. Later on, she came up with a creative idea and reached out to Rosecastle staff and asked if she could volunteer or get a job at the care center just for the opportunity to see her husband of 24 years in person again. ‘They said, “Let’s wait to see what happens,”‘ Daniel recalled. ‘Then, out of the blue two weeks ago, they called and said, “Do you want a job?” When I found out it was as a dishwasher, I thought, “Well, okay! I guess I’m a dishwasher now.”‘”
Washington Post: The retired inventor of N95 masks is back at work, mostly for free, to fight covid-19. “Peter Tsai retired two years ago, but the materials scientist says he’s never been busier. When the novel coronavirus began gripping the globe in March, Tsai was summoned from his short-lived retirement. He was in urgent demand because he is the inventor who, in 1995, patented the filtration material used in disposable N95 respirators. The coveted masks are in short supply and are desperately needed by health-care workers and others who require protection from the highly contagious coronavirus.”
BBC: Anonymous letters providing solace in the pandemic. “When the letter arrived at Daniel Guzmán’s doorstep, it provided him with a glimmer of hope during one of the hardest moments of his life. ‘Keep going, when this is all over, you will walk out of the house with your head held high and your heart willing to give the best of you,’ it read. It was signed simply ‘Niña Peregrina’ (Spanish for ‘Wandering Girl’) Niña Peregrina’s was one one of hundreds of letters that have been exchanged by complete strangers in the Colombian city of Medellín during the country’s months-long quarantine.”
New York Times: With Flights Banned, Son Sails Solo Across Atlantic to Reach Father, 90. “Days after Argentina canceled all international passenger flights to shield the country from the new coronavirus, Juan Manuel Ballestero began his journey home the only way possible: He stepped aboard his small sailboat for what turned out to be an 85-day odyssey across the Atlantic. The 47-year-old sailor could have stayed put on the tiny Portuguese island of Porto Santo, to ride out the era of lockdowns and social distancing in a scenic place largely spared by the virus. But the idea of spending what he thought could be ‘the end of the world’ away from his family, especially his father who was soon to turn 90, was unbearable.”
Washington Post: She was furloughed from her job. So she became ‘Lasagna Lady’ and made 1,200 pans of free lasagna for those in need.. “First a retired neighbor showed up at her house, then an out-of-work friend came for a pan. After that, so many people started showing up, including strangers, that [Michelle] Brenner lost track. Nearly three months and 1,200 pans later, Brenner is still at it, boiling noodles, cooking ground beef, mixing up tomato sauce and layering mozzarella, ricotta and Parmesan. About eight hours a day, seven days a week, she helps feed people in her community — from hospital workers and first responders to single parents struggling without paychecks.”
CNN: He was a Covid-19 patient. She cleaned his hospital room. Their unexpected bond saved his life. “They are sometimes called ‘invisible’ workers, the custodians and housekeepers who clean and restock hospital rooms. But while we often don’t see them, they see us. Doctors, nurses and chaplains have rightly been hailed as heroes for their brave efforts during the coronavirus pandemic. [Chaplain Melinda] Plumley jokes that spiritual healers haven’t gotten this much press since the Reformation. But the work of hospital housekeepers has been just as vital, said Dr. Neil Prose, a pediatric dermatologist and professor at Duke University’s Global Health Institute.”
New York Post: Kid throws socially distant prom after babysitter’s was canceled. “A big-hearted kid named Curtis Rogers went the extra mile for his nanny, Rachel Chapman, and not just by being on his best behavior on her watch. Curtis learned that Rachel wouldn’t have a senior prom this season over COVID-19 concerns, so he threw one for her.”
Alton Telegraph: This 7-year-old goes online to ‘spread my hope’ to children with medical issues during pandemic. “Sarah Rose has spent most of her 13 years fighting back from terrible things. First, it was a brain tumor when she was 5, with persistent complications she continues to battle. Then, a few months ago, Sarah Rose fell off a horse and fractured her right hip. She walked around for six weeks with that broken bone before doctors took X-rays. She still feels flashes of pain. It crashes in like thunder. She closes her eyes, tosses her head back, and her sweet smile twists into a pained grimace. Just in time, 7-year-old Molly Marks, sitting on her full-size bed with a canopy decorated with yellow and purple daisies, pops up on the screen and smiles.”
LADbible: Dad Builds Huge Stage On Driveway So Daughter Doesn’t Miss Out On Graduation. “Many US student have been given the upsetting news that their graduation ceremonies have been cancelled, but one kind-hearted dad made sure that his daughter wouldn’t miss out by setting up this incredible stage in his driveway so she still got to enjoy her special day.”
