Dr. Gilda Carle (Ph.D.)

I CRIED OVER THIS!!

“All he ever wanted was a chance.
And if he was given that chance, they’d never forget him.

They said Jake Pratt of Vestavia Hills would never contribute.
They said he’d never make his high school football team.
They said he’d never graduate from high school.
They said he’d never get his driver’s permit.
They said he’d never graduate from college.

Jake Pratt has proven them all wrong, and now I have the pleasure of announcing some big news!

Jake has landed a job at UPS!!!
He’s not driving a truck, but he is working up to 8 hours a day running packages to our doorsteps.
He’s walking some 15,000 steps a day.
He’s doing it with a smile.
Yes, he's now 'Jake From UPS.'

Oh, and that’s in addition to Jake working maintenance at a golf course from 6-10 a.m. seven days a week.
That big backpack blower?
Piece of cake.

Yes, Jake Pratt is making his lunch the night before each workday.
Placing his clothes out.
Turning in early.
Ready to remind us he will not be forgotten.

All he ever wanted was a chance, and the UPS folks have given him a chance.

Now, this 21-year-old with Down syndrome is showing the world what people with special needs can accomplish with hard work.
This young man is helping to make our Christmas merrier.

My heart is full as my pride in Jake runs deep.

Please congratulate Jake, and if you see him on his route, give him a yell.
All he ever wanted was a chance.

And if he was given that chance, they’d never forget him.
I have to admit, 'Jake From UPS' is going to be tough to forget.“

Credit Rick Karle WVTM 13
📸Kathy and Jay Pratt

WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW!

This is Lori from McDonald's in Wills Point, Tx. She took my order for gift cards when I pulled into the drive thru after finding no available parking.
Lori: “Welcome to McDonald's, may I take your order?“
Me: “Yes, I'm sorry, but may I order gift cards here“?
Lori: “Yes! Would you like $5., $10, or $25“?
Me: ““I'd like one $25. and one $10. please“.
Lori: “Yes ma'am. That's one $25 and one $10. Would you like a song with that“?
Me: “A song, really“? (Because it seemed a very cruel thing to be offering me a song if she didn't really mean it 😁)
Lori: “Yes. Would you like one“?
Me: “Yes! I'd love a song!“.
Lori: “Really?! Nobody ever says yes“!
Me: “I'm saying yes. Please sing for me girl in the speaker. The gift cards are an anniversary gift if that helps“.
Lori: “Oh my goodness, the pressure - the pressure - it has to be good. What do I sing? What do I sing“?
She then starts singing Justin Beiber's Baby, Baby. I have never smiled so much! This girl made my day. So funny, so sweet. Infectious smile. The world needs more Lori's!!
Credit: Karen Solley Forester

Partner: ‘How old are you, Clint?’
Clint: ‘I turn 91 on Monday.’
Partner: ‘What are you going to do?’
Clint: ‘I am going to start a new movie.’
Partner: ‘What keeps you going?’
Clint: ‘I get up every day and don’t let the old man in.”
-Clint Eastwood

I arrived at the address and honked the horn. After waiting a few minutes I honked again. Since this was going to be my last ride of my shift I thought about just driving away, but instead I put the car in park and walked up to the door and knocked. 'Just a minute', answered a frail, elderly voice. I could hear something being dragged across the floor.

After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her 90s stood before me. She was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat with a veil pinned on it, like somebody out of a 1940s movie.

By her side was a small nylon suitcase. The apartment looked as if no one had lived in it for years. All the furniture was covered with sheets.

There were no clocks on the walls, no knickknacks or utensils on the counters. In the corner was a cardboard box filled with photos and glassware.

'Would you carry my bag out to the car?' she said. I took the suitcase to the cab, then returned to assist the woman.

She took my arm and we walked slowly toward the curb.

She kept thanking me for my kindness. 'It's nothing', I told her. 'I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother to be treated.'

'Oh, you're such a good boy,’ she said. When we got in the cab, she gave me an address and then asked, 'Could you drive through downtown?'

'It's not the shortest way,' I said.

'Oh, I don't mind,' she said. 'I'm in no hurry. I'm on my way to a hospice.’

I looked in the rear-view mirror. Her eyes were glistening. 'I don't have any family left,' she soft said. ‘The doctor says I don't have very long.' I quietly reached over and shut off the meter.

'What route would you like me to take?' I asked.

For the next 2 hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked as an elevator operator.

We drove through the neighborhood where she and her husband had lived when they were newlyweds. She had me pull up in front of a furniture warehouse that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl.

Sometimes she'd ask me to slow in front of a particular building or corner and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.

She suddenly said, 'I'm tired. Let's go now'.

We drove in silence to the address she had given me. Two orderlies came out to the cab as soon as we pulled up. They must have been expecting her.

I opened the trunk and took the small suitcase to the door. The woman was already seated in a wheelchair.

'How much do I owe you?' She asked, reaching into her purse.

'Nothing,' I said.

'You have to make a living,' she answered.

'There are other passengers,' I responded.

I bent and gave her a hug. She held onto me tightly.

'You gave an old woman a little moment of joy,' she said. 'Thank you.'

I squeezed her hand, and then walked into the dim morning light. Behind me, a door shut. It was the sound of the closing of a life.

I don't think I have done anything more important in my life.
—AUTHOR UNKNOWN
#kindness #thankyou

A REAL MAN!!

Michael McGuire, a hardworking coal miner, didn’t let a shift covered in dirt stop him from sharing a special basketball game with his son at the University of Kentucky’s Rupp Arena. The heartwarming scene was captured in a viral photo that struck a chord with none other than University of Kentucky Men’s Basketball Coach John Calipari.

During a press conference, Coach Calipari revealed that the photo hit him “right between the eyes.” He took to Twitter to share the poignant image and express why it resounded with him: “My family’s American dream started in a Clarksburg, WV coal mine, so this picture hits home.”

The coach was determined to give the McGuire family a memorable experience, and he reached out to Michael’s wife, Mollie. According to Mollie, her husband is a dedicated and selfless father who frequently makes the effort to spend quality time with their son, even after grueling work shifts. “He’s done this many times,” Mollie said.

Upon connecting with Michael, Calipari discovered that he was willing to forgo a shower and a change of clothes, all to make it to the game with his son. Michael’s commitment to his family left a deep impression on the coach.

“His wish was to be there with his son. That’s what truly mattered,” Calipari affirmed. The coach learned that Michael rushed to the game right after his late shift in the mine, displaying unwavering dedication.

Following the photo’s viral spread, acts of kindness began pouring in. Hotels extended offers for accommodations, restaurants reached out with invitations for dinners, and even a car dealership offered a car to the humble coal miner.

Calipari expressed his admiration for the outpouring of support and recognition Michael received. He underscored the significance of acknowledging hardworking individuals like Michael and commended their values. “Isn’t it wonderful for someone like him, who is a quiet, humble guy, to know that people appreciate him, and we appreciate what he stands for?” Calipari mused.

Drawing a personal connection, Coach Calipari highlighted that his own family’s journey began in a coal mine in Clarksburg, West Virginia. This sense of shared beginnings fueled his determination to ensure that the McGuire family felt valued and appreciated.

Photo Credit: CBS News

Within mere minutes of seeing the viral photo, Calipari made up his mind: “I’m taking care of this guy and his family.” The coach’s gesture reflects a deep-seated appreciation for hardworking individuals who hold family values close to their hearts.

❤️❤️❤️

They are friends, and they love each other. 🥰

The black-neck dog (Husky) lives in a house down the road. Every day, he escapes from his yard to go down the street to visit his little friend and play with him. But when the entrance was closed, he just came, hugged his friend tight, and left. He never tried to cross that fence.

And we call them just animals!!
—AUTHOR UNKNOWN
#love #dogsoflinkedin #animals #forever

In spring 2019, photographer Joe Neely captured a breathtaking moment that touched hearts around the world. While traveling through the American West with his girlfriend Nicole, he stopped by a flower-filled field in Colorado, where purple and orange blossoms stretched as far as the eye could see. Amid the quiet hum of busy bees, something extraordinary happened.
Joe spotted a bee moving slower than the rest, clearly tired from a day’s work. Covered in pollen, she hovered over a nearby flower, checked the air, and then settled down to rest. Joe couldn’t believe what he was seeing. With his macro lens, he gently captured the scene. Moments later, another bee joined her, curling up on the same flower.
They waited, watching the two bees sleeping peacefully until they woke and flew off. “I had no idea that bees slept in flowers,” Joe shared.
This pure and beautiful glimpse of nature reminds us of the quiet, unseen worlds around us. 🐝💛

PRICELESS!!!

An award should go to the United Airlines gate agent in New York for being smart and funny, while making her point, when confronted with a passenger who probably
deserved to fly as cargo. For all out there who have had to
deal with an irate customer, this one is for you.

A crowded United Airlines flight was canceled. A single agent was re-booking a long line of inconvenienced travelers.

Suddenly, an angry passenger pushed his way to the desk. He slapped his ticket on the counter and said, “I HAVE to be on this flight and it has to be FIRST CLASS.“

The agent replied, “I'm sorry, sir. I'll be happy to try to help you, but I've got to help these folks first; and then I'm sure we'll be able to work something out.“

The passenger was unimpressed. He asked loudly, so that passengers behind him could hear, “DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHO I AM?“

Without hesitating, the agent smiled and grabbed her public address microphone. “May I have your attention, please?“ she began, her voice heard clearly throughout the terminal.

“We have a passenger here at Gate 14 WHO DOES NOT KNOW WHO HE IS. If anyone can help him with his identity, please come to Gate 14.“

With the folks behind him in line laughing hysterically,
the man glared at the United Airlines agent, gritted his teeth, and said, “F*** You!“

Without flinching, she smiled and said, “I'm sorry sir,
you'll have to get in line for that, too.“

Life isn't about how to survive the storm, but how to dance in the rain.
—Source Unknown
#airlines #passengerexperience #passengers #help #humor

Family goals 🥰

“Jack Flaherty was adopted at 3 weeks old. He ended up being raised by a single Mother. He wanted to quit baseball his Freshman year. His Mom told him she understood and he could, as long as he told his younger brother that when things get tough it's ok to quit. Jack went to practice the next day.

Now Jack will be pitching in the NLCS with his Mother watching. This was them last night after his 6 inning start. Before going in the clubhouse. Before popping champagne with his teammates. Before talking to the dozens of worldwide sports networks begging him for his ego and attention.

He went to see Mom first.”

Credit Bryant Hileman and Project Pomona

DID YOU KNOW?
🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻❤️❤️❤️🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻❤️❤️👍🏻

“The Iowa Hawkeyes have built a hospital for children that faces the stadium. Only children in the hospital and their families are allowed in that area of the hospital during game day. After the first quarter of the game they ask the entire stadium to turn around and wave to the children. Well done Iowa.....that's incredible. Please pray for this little girl and all the kids in this hospital and around the world who are unfairly suffering! 🙏🏼” (via Nick Mathias)

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

I'm a single dad of four girls. Their mom passed away when they were just five months old. I do my best to make their lives happy.

Yesterday, my mother-in-law criticized me for asking my daughters to do chores at five years old. She believes kids should just be kids while they're still young.

I get where she's coming from, but I also think it's important for my kids to learn to take care of themselves from a young age. I believe these skills will help them in the future. Who do you think is right here?

Hahaha

When Albert Einstein met Charlie Chaplin in 1931, Einstein said, “What I admire most about your art is its universality. You do not say a word, and yet the world understands you.“ “It's true.“ Replied Chaplin, “But your fame is even greater. The world admires you, when no one understands you.“