Extra Sweet Adoption: 5 Most Uplifting Stories

A special adoption and a kind waitress are among the week's uplifting stories:

• 92-Year-Old Adopts 76-Year-Old Daughter: When Mary Smith was 11, her dad died and her mom was being treated for mental illness, so she ended up in the home of her older first cousin. Muriel Clayton had four young girls of her own but raised Smith as if she were a fifth. This week, more than six decades later, they made things official—and the reason for the wait is a compassionate one.
• Summer Homework List Is a Hit: An Italian teacher's list of assignments for kids over the summer break is a smash sensation. It has to do with tasks like this: "At least once, go and watch the sunrise."

• Cafe's Act of Kindness for Grieving Parents Goes Viral: When a Fort Worth couple went to eat at the West Side Cafe, their server asked about their baby daughter, unaware the girl had just died. When Debbie Davis Riddle and her husband were finished eating, instead of a bill, they got a note from their server that warmed hearts.
• Guide Dog Throws Self at Bus to Save Owner: A service dog named Bigo was guiding his blind owner across a street this week when a mini-bus came bearing down on them. A witness says Bigo jumped between the vehicle, as if to take the brunt of the impact. The ending is a happy one.
• Baby Rescued on Raft After Plane Crash: A single-engine Cessna took off from Crooked Island in the Bahamas this week, only to end up crashing into the sea. The five people aboard—including an 8-month-old baby—survived, and that baby will have quite the tale to tell when older.

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