Judy Wright and her husband decided to move closer to their son, Chris, who lived in Georgia. About a month after the move, Judy fell ill, suffering from her ongoing battle against Parkinson’s disease.

Her condition worsened rapidly and she required medical care at home. The family hired a nursing aid who canceled at the last minute. Instead, a woman named TunDe Hector showed up in her place.

One day, TunDe shared a story with Judy and her family. She remembered a particularly difficult day in 2014, when a stranger had helped her with a kind gesture. She had run out of gas, and with only $5 in her pocket, was walking to a gas station, gas can in hand. A man saw her walking and turned his car around. He paid for her gas and gave her all the cash left in his wallet. Upon hearing the story, Judy’s son, Chris, took off his hat and said, “That was me!” He was the stranger that had helped TunDe on that difficult day.

During the care of Judy, the Wright family learned about TunDe’s family and her own dream. The nursing aid, TunDe hoped that one day she could become an OB-GYN nurse. Her tuition was past due (逾期) and she had a family to care for, but she was determined to achieve that goal for herself and her family.

Judy died on July 9, 2017. Instead of flowers, her family asked mourners (悼念者) to donate to TunDe’s education, to assist her in paying for her nursing school. In less than a week, they raised more than $8,000 and presented her with the surprise check.

Emily Bhatnagar has always loved reading. Growing up, she was really shy, so she always turned to books. They sort of became her best friends when she didn’t have one.

In 2019, when Bhatnagar was in her second year of high school, her dad was diagnosed with cancer. The news was difficult for the family. Books became an even bigger comfort, and she started thinking about families in similar situations. When her father recovered, she came up with a plan to help others. “The idea came from just deep gratitude that the doctors were able to save her father,” she says. “But also a hint of sadness that there were kids who were fighting the same battle.”

Bhatnagar started a book drive in her hometown, Gaithersburg, Maryland. The goal was to collect books and give them to kids being treated for cancer in local hospitals. Her father was not surprised by this plan. “She was always interested in books, and she always wanted to do things for the neighborhood,” he says. Since the start of the book drive, which she calls For Love & Buttercup, Bhatnagar has collected more than 10,000 books.

Bhatnagar had no idea how much attention her work would get. She started by posting on social media, asking people in her area to donate. “I was expecting maybe two or three responses from neighbors,” she says. “But it ended up blowing up,” especially when news stations began reporting it. The public response has been super great.

Bhatnagar continues to run the book drive and hopes to one day expand the project to reach more kids. The memory of the first time she visited children who’d received her books sticks with her. “It was the best day of my life,” she says. “I realized I wanted to do this type of work forever.”

An 11-year-old boy who has been compared to Spanish Impressionist (印象派画家), the great Pablo Picasso, is holding his first exhibition at Llangollen’s Gardening Show this weekend.

Hamad al-Humaidhan, who was born in Kuwait but now lives in Bath, Britain, had no previous knowledge of art history when he first picked up a brush.

But he began to paint his favourite football player, Cristiano Ronaldo, using Picasso’s trademarks (标志) —bright colours and impressionistic forms.

His father said, "I’ve got lots of books about Picasso and I showed them to Hamad but he didn’t know anything about Picasso—it’s just naturally the way he sees it and he just loves to paint."

His first painting of Ronaldo, done when he was just nine, was sold at auction (拍卖) in Bath for ￡650, which drew the attention of local art businessman Steve Turner. "A colleague sent me some pictures of Hamad’s work and I just couldn’t believe the size of it and how the colours blended (融合) together," he said. "He had talent and I thought Picasso had been reborn." "I’ve shown his work to private art collectors. They liked them very much and everyone was eager to buy, so the first six paintings have been snapped up. I bought two of them myself. The next set of his works will go on show for the first time at Llangollen, which will be the first opportunity for the public to see his amazing talent."

Hamad enjoys maths at school but ranks painting higher. "I think I prefer painting! It makes me relaxed and when I feel tired I just pick up a paint brush," he said. "I just close my eyes and see how it’s going to look and then I just paint it —I paint every day. I just love the colours and I want people to enjoy my paintings."

Now Hamad is nervously waiting for the opening of his exhibition.