The news these days is often depressing at worst and frustrating at best. It’s easy to get caught up in the spin cycle and let it get us down.
Never fear… The News Blender has you covered. Once a week, we will feature Something Good and, in return, all you have to do is tell us something good that has happened to you this week, something you are thankful for, a joke, a cute animal story, an inspiring tale of heroics, a Random Act of Kindness… SOMETHING good.
This week’s theme is kindness through music and movement. Our first example occurred last week in Sidney, Australia.
A beloved conductor named Richard Gill, known for his enthusiasm for teaching music to people of all ages, was dying of cancer at his home in Sidney. As the 76 year old was living his last hours at home, a crowd of more than 70 musicians gathered to serenade him with his favorite song, The Dam Busters March.
Gill’s friend, Paul Goodchild, organized the tribute and told the Sidney Morning Herald, that the turnout exceeded his expectations.
“I expected maybe 15, 20 people to turn up and we had over 70 there, and even the police band turned up as well.”
“The whole thing was one of the most profound things I think I have ever done … all his family was there, all his friends, all his neighbours. People came from all over Sydney.”
Paul and the other musicians who showed up to pay tribute to Richard Gill as he lay dying, offered a gift of kindness to Richard and his family – a recognition of his life’s work. This musical tribute is Something Good.
Our second example is the Dancing Doc from California.
Tony Adkins, a physician assistant with the neurosurgery department of Children’s Hospital of Orange County, brightens up the world for kids who have little reason to smile by dancing with them.
Coming from challenging circumstances himself and watching his older brothers and friends join gangs, Tony joined the Army instead. He then decided he wanted to work with pediatric patients and became a physician assistant, according to the Orange County Register.
Tony has been compared to Dr. Patch Adams for the way he is determined to bring a smile to his patient’s faces and encourages them to heal and move even when tethered to a hospital bed and machines. A video of Tony dancing with his patients went viral in September and now Tony is a bit of a celebrity around the area. And patients ask for him, as well, with his reputation for being able to bring a smile to the face of kids who haven’t smiled in days preceding him.
Trisha Stockton, a nurse from the neuroscience unit told the Orange County Register, “What Tony is dealing with every day is the saddest news. He’s able to turn that around and make it into something so beautiful and positive.”
As the parent of a medically complex child (who is now an adult and doing well), I can tell you that a doctor bringing smiles to kids in need of a little joy is definitely Something Good.
There is so much beauty in the world pic.twitter.com/0qtR3wqZlY
— Khary Penebaker, Fx (@kharyp) October 31, 2018
Now it’s your turn… Tell me Something Good.
