Twins Born On Different Days, Years

That's right - A Detroit mother gave birth to twin boys on different days and in different months of different years.

Tangernika Woods and her husband welcomed their first twin, Tarrance, at 11:51 p.m., Wednesday, New Years Eve 2008. Their second twin, Tariq, made his entrance 26 minutes later at 12:17 a.m. Thursday, the first day of January 2009. (from MSNBC)

What a great story that these twins will tell the rest of their lives!

Gardening Helps Man Put Life Back Together

"A simple therapy that is down to earth yet uplifting..."

Gardening helped Gavin McCabe to rebuild his confidence and social skills after he had a nervous breakdown.

Here is my favorite quote from the article:

A garden is a sheltered environment and it builds up your general ability and general competence. Not everyone who comes here is going to want to go into work. For some it just keeps them fit and mobile and in touch with people. For me it’s been a basis for developing work skills and it’s helped to put my life back together.

> Read the Full Story at The Times

"Love" by John Lennon

This was one of the first songs I remember listening to somewhere in my pre-teens and being completely mesmerized. Covered in goose-bumps, I played it over and over.

There is something about the song's combination of beautiful words, soft piano melody, emotional singing and haunting thoughts of John's lost life (and love) that make this a sublime classic.

Close your eyes and listen:


(The song fades in so be patient...)

Reunited Siblings Were Living Only 300 Yards Apart

Amazing!

A brother and sister who have been reunited after nearly 40 years discovered they had been living only 300 yards from each other.

> Read the full story here @ Telegraph.co.uk

Snowy Surprise for Toddler

This is such a profoundly moving story.

A 4-year-old girl who is fighting for her life got her Christmas wish a little early: Despite living in Georgia, a state that doesn't get much snow, Sophia awoke to see a winter wonderland.

A cancerous tumor was found in Sophia's brain just before her third birthday.

She has gone through months of chemotherapy and radiation, undergone four brain surgeries and lost some of her sight and most of her hearing.

In October, she was given two weeks to two months to live.

Employees from a state park heard about the girl and her story and wanted to do something for her. They used a snow machine -- and 30 pounds of snow and four dump trucks -- to give Sophia a gift of snowy white.

Best of...2008

Many of the year-end articles I read in the last few weeks lament that, overall, 2008 was a year with more misses than hits. Let's look on the bright side, shall we?

This is the most comprehensive "best of" list so far - you will notice many of the "best of" compilations manage to wrap-up some of the more negative moments (just skip the "top 10 crime stories", "scandals", or "fashion faux pas" for example...and do we really need a "top 10 breakups" category?):

> Top Ten Everything of 2008 - from Time Magazine

Enjoy! I especially like the arts and entertainment lists (if you haven't seen Wall-E by now, do it! Who knew a animated movie about robots could be so touching?), top green stories, and the top medical breakthroughs.

And Republican or Democrat, it's hard not to overjoyed at the thought of finally overcoming a racial divide in America with the election of Barack Obama. He's the magazine's "Person of the Year."

How to Keep Your New Year's Resolutions

Happy New Year!

If you are like most people, the start of a new year brings a personal commitment to change yourself for the better. It can be done!

Here are some resources from the Happiness Project:

> New Year's Resolution: Four tips for writing your personal commandments

> The secret to keeping your New Year's resolutions -- is there a magic formula?

A short CNN Video:


Oh, and my proudest new year's goal realized? Quitting smoking in January of 2000....haven't smoked since.