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Feb 24, 2021 Read in Browser

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Oftentimes, we don't plan to meet the people who become our greatest friends and mentors. Or for the accidents that sometimes end up shaping one's life trajectory. Yet, we often don't have access to the birds-eye-view lens of unpredictable situations, either. This week's stories conjure up the unexpected joys of togetherness that can surface in the most unlikely of circumstances -- whether as a delivery driver stranded in an icy storm, a musician facing closed concert venues, a patient going through chemotherapy alone, dolphins and manatees sharing a shoreline, and beyond.

EVERYDAY HEROES

Strangers Took In A Delivery Driver For 5 Days After She Was Stranded In The Texas Storm

Strangers Took In A Delivery Driver For 5 Days After She Was Stranded In The Texas Storm

Chelsea Timmons via CNN

"I was going down very slowly, remembering to tap my brake. I tapped more aggressively and it just still kept sliding," said Chelsea Timmons, 32, describing going down the driveway to her last home of the day as a delivery driver. Timmons closed her eyes, praying not to hit the house, and was thankful the car merely ended up in the flowerbed. Homeowners Doug Condon and Nina Richardson tried to help get her Toyota Rav4 up the driveway, but it was stuck. Timmons planned to wait in her car for a tow truck but, with the stormy weather, the couple, who had received their first Covid-19 vaccine just a week before, invited her to wait inside. "I sat with my mask in their kitchen for about two hours," Timmons recalled. When she got news no tow truck was able to safely make it that day, due to the severe weather, she thought to look for a hotel nearby to stay before her three-hour drive home to Houston. But Condon and Richardson worried like concerned parents about what situation Timmons would find herself in if she ventured out and invited her to stay in their guest room. One night turned into five, and from the unexpected situation blossomed a new friendship. The trio shared meals and conversation, and Timmons made a gourmet coconut cake to thank the couple. "She just became kind of part of the family pretty quickly," explained Richardson. We would hope that if our daughters were in a situation similar to Chelsea's, that there would be someone that would treat them like we treated Chelsea. I don't think we ever thought twice about it," said Condon. Read Full Story.

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ARTS

German Band Turn Van Into Concert Venue: Fans Rock Out, One At A Time

German Band Turn Van Into Concert Venue: Fans Rock Out, One At A Time

Reuters

"German two-piece rock band Milliarden have turned a van into a club where they stage gigs for one fan at a time as a way of reaching music-lovers during the pandemic," writes Reuters. As large group events have ceased in Germany during the pandemic, Milliarden, which translates as "Billions," found themselves driving to villages and stopping in front of people's houses to play for them. "A crisis like this one brings so many opportunities that you only recognise once you do stuff. You just have to do it." The band plays behind a plastic sheet, treating fans to acoustic versions of their songs in intimate numbers, recreating club-like ambiance with lighting, posters, and funky decor. The van is ventilated and disinfected between each 25-minute gig. "I think it's so nice that it works like this and that people respect it and accept it like that and get so emotionally connected to us here in this van. I think that is a gift," described Johannes Aue, in charge of keyboards and clapping. "And that's why it is awesome that we were able to pull it off without thinking how we could earn money with it. Because we are in an immense debt with our fans," he added. Read Full Story.

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PLANET

Nearly 200 Florida Manatees Filmed Basking In Shallow Waters With Dolphins

Nearly 200 Florida Manatees Filmed Basking In Shallow Waters With Dolphins

Iyan Darmawan | Pexels

Remarkable drone footage taken recently off of Florida's west coast shows manatees basking in shallow water with dolphins swimming through the group. The video is unusual in that it captures the species together in such high numbers and because manatees and dolphins don't interact terribly often, according to Mike Heithaus, dean of Florida International University College of Arts, Sciences and Education. As human activity continues to impact the wellbeing and survival of creatures like the manatee, we can use videos like this as an inspiration and incentive to implement more environmentally responsible habits, said Annie Reneau, author of an article on Upworthy that featured the video. Read Full Story.

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NEWS

Christians, Muslims And Jews To Share Faith Center In Berlin

Christians, Muslims And Jews To Share Faith Center In Berlin

An impression of the House of One. Kuehn Malvezzi.

"On the site of a church torn down by East Germany's communist rulers, a new place of worship is set to rise that will bring Christians, Jews and Muslims under one roof - and it has already been dubbed a 'churmosquagogue,'" the Guardian reports. After 10 years of planning, on May 27, 2020, a foundation stone will be laid in Berlin, marking the beginning of an estimated four years of construction for the House of One. "The idea is pretty simple," said Roland Stolte, a Christian theologian who helped start the project. "We wanted to build a house of prayer and learning, where these three religions could co-exist while each retaining their own identity." In the House of One, Christians, Muslims and Jews will worship separately but visit each other for religious holidays, commemorations and celebrations. It is more than a symbol. It is the start of a new era where we show there is no hate between us," said Rabbi Andreas Nachama, who is working on the project with a pastor and an imam. Read Full Story.

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COMMUNITY

'You Are Not Alone': Survivors Send Messages Of Support To Chemo Patients

'You Are Not Alone': Survivors Send Messages Of Support To Chemo Patients

hudsoncrafted | Pixabay

Pandemic precautions have made cancer treatment all the more isolating. In Los Angeles, when social worker Sydney Siegal of a University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), oncology center learned that its infusion clinics would be closed to visitors even for first-time chemo patients, she was determined to ease the isolation patients would inevitably feel. "For many people, having a loved one by your side on that first day -- whether a family member or friend -- that physical presence is so important," she said. Siegel and her colleagues invited former chemo patients topen letters for new patients who would have to receive the treatment alone during the pandemic. "Hey there, friend," Kat Cheng, 36, wrote to the unknown patient who would receive her letter, "though you're in unenviably unique circumstances, you are not alone. While the intent was that the letters could provide some solace to new patients, they also affected the writers themselves. "It's not enough to survive, you have to thrive. And that is a mental act, reflected Tulin Manjir, 70, whose life expectancy after diagnosis was 24-38 months. "For Manjir, writing the letter offered a chance to reflect on the totality of her cancer experience," reported the Los Angeles Times. She signed off as "A fellow traveler." Read Full Story.

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