STRICTLY POSITIVE

I had a crap week. In fact, I'd pretty much decided there was no way I'd be able to put this post together and I'd just skip this week. Then I got a link from Julie. Then one from Elizabeth. And before you know it I was feeling uplifted and here's the longest SP post we've had yet. I started doing this post because doing so makes me feel better about the world around me and I was hoping it might be nice for others to read as well. My wildest hope was that it would turn into a community of crowd-sourcing goodness, and this week it did just that. Huge thank yous to everyone who has sent ideas my way. Please keep it up, this isn't my post, it's all of ours.

Exhibit A:  I already had this post written when I came across the below video of Luis Antonio, and I had to rework the whole thing to make this first item in line. Luis looks about what, 2-years-old? Three, maybe? His mother has fed him octopus, gnocchi, and rice and he quizzes her about the octopus on his plate. Where is its head? It was cut up? Why? He doesn't want it to be dead. Why would he eat it, it's an animal? He explains if we eat animals, they'll die and he prefers his animals standing up. Be sure to hit the 2:15 mark when he asks his mother why she's crying. Thanks to Farm Sanctuary for sharing this video from the page of The Best Video You Will Ever See. As FS says, "You're never too young to engage in a mindful connection with animals.":

The most adorable child you will ever see…
This kid is Luis Antonio and his mother left with no words...This is the original video:youtube.com/watch?v=NX4O6smZrLE
Posted by Best Video You Will Ever See on Saturday, June 1, 2013

Exhibit B:  Well, Pop Culture Nerd, you got me with this one. In October of 2013, 16-year-old Davion Only stood in front of a church in St. Petersburg, Florida with one request— for someone to adopt him. His request to find a family was picked up by a local news station and more than 10,000 people from around the country responded. Unfortunately, none of those homes worked out, and Davion was still without a home. He finally called the woman he'd been asking to be his mother since he was 7, his case worker, Connie Bell Going. Connie had always felt there was a better home out there for Davion, but this time, she said YES. Says Connie, “In adoption there is a ‘claiming moment,’ when you know [someone is] your child. When he called me to ask, in that moment, I just knew.” Happy endings are the best:

Exhibit C:  Hat tip to Julie for shining a light on this awesome lady. Ashley Jiron owns a PB Jams restaurant in Oklahoma City. At some point, she realized someone was going through the restaurant's trash for food. Rather than filing a complaint or locking up the trash, Ashley decided to kick curmudgeonism in the ass and dealt with the situation like a humanitarian. Go figure:

Exhibit D:  2-year-old DJ from South Africa (need I say more?)(Actually, I do, because I just CAN NOT get over how damn cute this picture is. That kid is feeling the music like no one's business and simply looking at this picture gives me the warm fuzzies):

Exhibit E:  The story of the Toronto cop who dyed his hair pink for the Day of Pink has gone around quite a bit, so you've probably seen it, but I just don't care, it deserves a spot here.  Day of Pink is an international day against "bullying, discrimination, homophobia, transphobia, and transmisogyny across the world." Which I had never heard of, but I'm glad I know of it now. In any event, Watson dyed his hair pink and pledged to keep it that way for an entire week if the Twitter photo of his new 'do was retweeted 1,000 times. The photo has since been retweeted over 3000 times as of the time of the posting I saw.  Goodonya, Officer Watson:

Exhibit F:  So, I talk about my dog a lot. She's one of the greatest creatures I've ever met and she saves my life every damn day. But as great as she is, I'm not super confident I could count on her to nurse two orphaned baby raccoons.  But Crystal Crotwell's new foster dog, Piper, did just that. Crystal, bless her heart, took Piper in despite the fact that Piper was pregnant and had worms, along with a very contagious case of mange. On top of that, Crystal herself is being treated for cancer and lives in very tight quarters with her daughter. But she saved Piper from fairly certain death at a high-kill shelter and Piper, in turn, saved some baby raccoons. Here's hoping Crystal gets a clean bill of health soon. I'll certainly be pulling for her, what a great heart she has:

Exhibit G:  This one came my way from Elizabeth, and it's awesome. Marie Hunt of Spring Grove, Wisconsin, was forced to drop out of high school when she couldn't find a way to commute to and from class. Instead, she helped raise her eight younger siblings. She always regretted not completing her education and now she has, just 87 years later. At 103-years-old, Marie is now a high school graduate, thanks to River Valley High School, who presented her with an honorary degree at her assisted living facility. Marie is now considering going on to secondary education. You go, Marie:

Exhibit H:  A week without Bird is like a week without sunshine, right? Ok, maybe not for everyone, but bear with me anyway. Inspections are done, so B had one last day on the job. We had a nice lunch break in the school park:

And she may be going diva on me because she started throwing shade when I was taking her picture:

She's recovering from her strenuous days on the job by relaxing at home. This is what I came home to yesterday:

It's a dog's life around here.  TGIF, ya'll.