It wasn’t all bad
■■ One afternoon, 4-year-old Noah
Ruiz really wanted a SpongeBob SquarePants popsicle. His mother, Jennifer Bryant, saw they only seemed to be available by the case and decided not to order. The next day she got a call from her sister notifying her of three 70-pound boxes. Turns out, Noah had ordered nearly 1,000 popsicles on Amazon, worth $2,618.85, that could not be returned. Fortunately, others pitched in to cover the costs—plus thousands more for Noah’s education—through a GoFundMe account set up by Bryant’s former classmate. “You have new friends now,” Bryant told her son.
■■ Fashion designer Linda Rowe Thomas is inspiring many through her life story and her perseverance.
When she was 2, Thomas suffered third-degree burns when a kerosene heater exploded in her Texas home. She had to get all the fingers on her left hand amputated and went through intensive surgeries and therapy sessions. Her mother introduced sewing to her as a way to help keep her hands nimble and heal. Now her creations grace the runway and red carpet, and she has a nonprofit helping other burn survivors. “I’m proud of who I am,” Thomas said. “I’m hoping that the light my mother gave me gives someone else light.”
■■ In 2016, Jess Wedel was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. After multiple cancer surgeries and months of chemotherapy she was finally cancer free—and ready for another achievement. This week Jess and her mother Valari Wedel reached the Everest base camp at 17,600 feet, hoping to become the first mother-daughter duo to get to the summit. The two have already gotten through 60 mile-per-hour winds and 43 hours of whiteout conditions. It’s a grueling effort for both; Valari is 61 and suffers from asthma. “When we say we live everyday,” said Valari, “we really do because we have been in a place where we maybe didn’t have the next day.”