Category Archives: Stories That Touched Me

A Letter From A Special Olympian

Posted on October 24, 2012 by russtowne

Please know that this is not intended as a partisan political attack. Quite the contrary, I find that far too many in the various parties are all too happy to make personal attacks and unkind remarks to further their time … Continue reading →

Posted in Kindness, Stories That Touched Me, Uncategorized | Tagged Down syndrome, John Franklin Stephens, Olympian, open letter, special, Special Olympian | 11 Comments

Pennies From Everywhere

Posted on October 22, 2012 by russtowne

I just read a post by Dan Lewis at Now I Know that I found interesting and thought you might too. It has been edited for brevity. To subscribe to receive daily posts from Dan: http://nowiknow.com/ Russ http://www.hopeshinesforshannon.com/Donations.html —– Forwarded … Continue reading →

Posted in Generosity, Stories That Touched Me, Uncategorized | Tagged Bob Greene, Chapaigne, Dan Lewis, Family, Los Angeles, Mets, Mike Hayes, Now I Know, nowiknwow.com, Pennies From Everywhere, Shannon Forde, UCLA, University of California, University of Illinois, Urbana, Urbana-Champaigne | 4 Comments

Whitney Krop’s Big Night

Posted on September 30, 2012 by russtowne

As most of you know, I love a happy ending. Awhile back I posted about a high school girl who had been voted onto her high school’s homecoming court but found out it had all been a big prank and … Continue reading →

Posted in Bullying, Compassion, Courage, Stories That Touched Me, Uncategorized | Tagged bullies, bully, bullying, Cadillac, game, High, homecoming, prank, pranked, School, support, suppoters, Whitney Krop | 8 Comments

Town Rallies Around Girl Pranked For Homecoming

Posted on September 26, 2012 by russtowne

A cruel hoax nearly drove a girl to suicide, but her life was saved when her town rallied around her. When bullies at her her high school voted her onto the Homecoming elite (I forget the word used in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Bullying, Generosity, Kindness, Making the World a Better Place, Stories That Touched Me | Tagged bullies, bully, bullying, cruel hoax, generosity, kiindness, kind, Michigan, Ogemaw, Ogemaw Heights High School, suicide, West Branch | 19 Comments

Loyalty That Knows No Bounds

Posted on September 13, 2012 by russtowne

I just read a most amazing story about a dog named Capitan who has kept watch over his human’s grave for six years. While that’s incredible all by itself, there’s more to this story. A LOT more. When his human … Continue reading →

Posted in Dealing with Pain & Grief, Dogs & Other Wonderful Creatures, Friendship, Love, Stories That Touched Me | Tagged Argentina, Capitan, deceased, Dog, Friend, loyal, Loyalty | 11 Comments

Rescuer Gets Rescued

Posted on August 2, 2012 by russtowne

A 17-year old boy who had recently beeen trained as a swimming pool lifeguard risked his own life to save a 12-year old boy from drowning in the ocean. He ended up getting a nearly $2600 bill from the hospital … Continue reading →

Posted in Choices, Courage, Generosity, Stories That Touched Me, Vids & Stories That Touched Me | Tagged 17-year old, boy, breakers, Eagle Scout, heavy swells, John Clark, KOIN-TV, lifeguard, ocean, trained, Vancouver | 14 Comments

A Dying Wish: BIG Tips

Posted on August 1, 2012 by russtowne

A man not quite thirty years old had an interesting last wish: After I’m gone, give BIG tips to food servers. So far, three $500 tips have been given and more than $50,000 has been collected to be given out … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Generosity, Making the World a Better Place, Stories That Touched Me | Tagged Aaron, big tips, dying wish, food servers, last wish, Seth, waiters | 4 Comments

“I Never Knew… I Never Knew…”

Posted on July 24, 2012 by russtowne

In response to the article about the beauty of sand a friend sent a message about a story he’d read about from Tom Brown of Tracker School fame. I like it and wanted to share it with you: Reminds me … Continue reading →

Posted in Beauty, Nature, Stories That Touched Me | Tagged beauty, fisherman, marveling, sand, Tom Brown, tracker, Tracker's School | 16 Comments

Like Father Like Son

Posted on July 23, 2012 by russtowne

A friend just sent this wonderful article from Flying magazine about how airplanes can help fathers and sons connect with each other. It is a bit long but includes two heartwarming stories that I found well worth my time. Like … Continue reading →

Posted in Love, Stories That Touched Me | Tagged airplanes, Fathers, Flying magazine, Lane Wallace, Love, sons, touch, wings | 8 Comments

Hawa Abdi: “Equal Parts Mother Teresa and Rambo”

Posted on July 22, 2012 by russtowne

I just read an amazing article about Hawa Abdi but it was so profanity laced that rather than subject you to it, I went to Wikipedia and found a much-abbreviated version of this amazing woman’s life. She has stared down … Continue reading →