“They have been inseparable for that entire time,” Donna Presutto said of her parents.

Laura Presutto died Sunday. Husband Joseph died Tuesday. Both were 86.

“It was definitely a love story,” said Brenda Orlando, their nurse at Mercy Franciscan at West Park, the nursing home where the couple died.

Full Article

For Lou, the reality television show turned out to be a lesson in brutal reality. The talent contest is called Go! Oriental Angel, and the 20-year-old made it through preliminary rounds to become one of 30 contestants.

In her two months on air, Lou was nicknamed the “Chocolate Angel” and the “Black Pearl” by the media. She wasn’t bothered by these names, she says.

But online, the poison pens were venomous. Chinese posting messages on the Web criticized her skin color as “gross” and “ugly”; they called her shameless for appearing on television. The worst insults were reserved for her mother for having had a relationship with an African-American out of wedlock. Lou and her mother are now suing one Shanghai newspaper for libel.

There were online statements of support as well, but the verbal attacks stunned Lou.

Full NPR Article

Yup, dogs miss those that are deployed.

Though her parents didn’t want her to know the severity of her cancer, they feel that she must have known what was happening. The tumor slowly took away her ability to talk.

But Elena was still able to write.

After Elena passed away, her parents discovered that their daughter had left a message behind for them — a lot of messages, actually.

“We started to pull out notes and they would be in between CDs or between books on our bookshelf,” Keith Desserich said.

Then the couple started finding them everywhere.

Full Article

United in what appears to be deep and profound grief, a phalanx of more than a dozen chimpanzees stood in silence watching from behind the wire of their enclosure as the body of one of their own was wheeled past.

This extraordinary scene took place recently at the Sanaga-Yong Chimpanzee Rescue Center in Cameroon, West Africa.

When a chimp called Dorothy, who was in her late 40s, died of heart failure, her fellow apes seemed to be stricken by sorrow.

As they wrapped their arms around each other in a gesture of solidarity, Dorothy’s female keeper gently settled her into the wheelbarrow which carried her to her final resting place – not before giving this much-loved inhabitant of the centre a final affectionate stroke on the forehead.

Full Daily Mail Article

Playing For Change | Song Around The World “One Love” from Concord Music Group on Vimeo.

Article

November, 1942: Five brothers, all serving on the same vessel during World War II, are killed in action as a result of said warship sinking at the Battle of the Solomons. Two months later, after hearing no word from the Navy regarding her sons’ well-being, Alleta Sullivan writes the following, deeply moving letter to the Bureau of Naval Personnel. Alleta promptly received a reply from President Roosevelt. That letter can also be read below.

As a result of the Sullivans’ plight, the U.S. military introduced the Sole Survivor Policy. The policy attempts to ensure that, should a family member be lost during military service, any remaining siblings be exempt from service.

Read both letters here.

I didn’t get to watch the Emmys this year because I was too busy not watching a Cowboys game at the new stadium.  So for those of you that missed it, here it is.

Matt is a special athlete who has Down Syndrome. He loves football and has grown up in an environment surrounded by sports. His father is a coach/ athletic director, and all his siblings play sports. He grew up at athletic events, and has always been a cheerleader. He registered as a freshman at Benton High School -Saint Joseph, MO this year, and told his mother and father he wanted to play football. The team takes good care of looking after Matt, and he is still the cheerleader on the sidelines. He puts his pads and helmet on, stands next to Coach McCamy and waits for his turn to play. Over and over during the course of the game Matt will say, “Coach McCamy, I am ready! I am ready Coach!” On this Monday night coach gave him a chance. The Cardinals were down by a few touchdowns with 15 seconds left. Coach McCamy called a timeout and asked the coach of Maryville High School if they could run their “Matt Play”. He agreed and this is where the video begins. Thanks to Coach McCamy and the freshman coach at Maryville, Matt and his family will cherish his moment forever!

MailOnline Article w/ more pics

For a nice primer, check out this NY Times story about Michael Oher.

The movie looks good, but I’m worried that southern accent Sandra Bullock is trying to pull off will become too distracting, almost like Costner’s Boston accent in Thirteen Days.

[Thanks, Jonathan!]

www.lifeadvicefromoldpeople.com

Here’s a news segment on the blog:

Coming soon: Life Advice from Clergy

As students crouched for cover in their classrooms, Santana, 34, moved toward the explosions shortly after 8 a.m. Monday. In the hallway outside the library, he saw a boy wearing a tactical vest with what turned out to be eight other pipe bombs.

Santana thought at first the youth was a student trying to run from whatever was happening. But when he noticed a pipe bomb sticking out of one of the boy’s pockets, he realized that the youth was a threat – and that he had to stop him.

Without hesitation, Santana tackled the boy in a bear hug, pinned his arms to his sides, flipped him to the ground and stayed on top of him while yelling at other teachers to call for help.

Read more: www.sfgate.com

But does the teacher consider himself a hero?

Not by this answer: “There’s one hero in my family, and he’s in Iraq right now,” Santana said, referring to his brother, who is in the military.

Article and more pics

That’s the case for Sylvester Franklin, whose career started shortly after World War II came to an end.  The only place he has ever taught is in Haskell, in Muskogee County.

Full Article

And check this out: If nearly six decades on the job isn’t impressive, Mr. Franklin has only missed two days of classes in that entire time.

Via Madeir’s Flickr page

A beautiful scene with the clouds, the sky, the sun and the ocean as the leading role players. In the background you see the islands of Desertas.

More of these pictures at www.madeiraarchipelago.com