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Some good news happens fast. Some takes 974 days. But for one foster kid, it was worth the wait to find his forever home.

Plus we’ve also got: a surprise that made three boys sprint down a hallway, a friendship built on daily gumbo that ended up saving a life, and a koala who decided public transit was his safest option.

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Feel good stories from Happilynews.com guaranteed to put a smile on your face.

Last year, Jonah put something unusual on his Christmas list. The 10-year-old asked Santa for his own bedroom. This week, his mom delivered.

Andrea Murdock, 30, told her three sons they were helping her clean a client's house. When Jonah spotted his name on a bedroom door, he froze. His two brothers had their names on doors too.

"Are we moving here?" he asked.

The single mom from Joplin, Missouri, had pulled off the surprise she'd been planning since her marriage ended in 2020 - a home where each of her three sons could finally have his own room.

Jonah didn't wait for an answer. Once everything clicked, he ran through the house jumping for joy, shouting, "Let's go!" His brothers Finn, 8, and Simon, 6, followed with their own celebrations as Andrea captured the moment on video.

"The goal was always to get back to owning my own home," Andrea said.

The road to that front door had been long. When her marriage ended, Andrea had to sell the home she'd moved into just a year before. Her father helped her find a rental where she and the boys could start over.

But in that rental, all three brothers shared a single bedroom. It worked when they were small. As the years passed and the boys grew, space got tight.

"The boys have shared one bedroom, which was fine when they were young," Andrea said. "But as they've gotten older, they have been dreaming of having their own bedrooms."

Andrea worked in a non-realtor commission-based role with a local real estate firm. She saved relentlessly, never spending her tax refunds, tucking away money whenever she could. She figured she was still a year or two away from having enough.

Then she saw the "perfect" house hit the market. Her supportive parents encouraged her to go for it.

"It was exactly how I had imagined the moment would be," Andrea said. "I've been so excited to own our own home again but more than anything, I've wanted them to be able to have their own spaces."

For a mom who spent years rebuilding, watching her sons race through hallways toward bedrooms with their names on the doors made the sacrifice feel small.

"Seeing their joy and excitement made all the hard work worth it."

Now watch their reaction here.

It’s not all doom and gloom out there. Here’s some positive news items from publications around the world.

📍 Tennessee, USA
After 974 Days, A Little Boy Finds His Forever Family
Two-year-old Khaza spent nearly three years in foster care before Anna and Brenden Koon officially adopted him in December. The couple started fostering to help kids temporarily – but when 18-day-old Khaza arrived in 2023, he never left. (Read more 👉 Sunny Skyz)

📍 New York, USA
Bodega Owner Trades Good Grades For Groceries
Staten Island's "Island Ock" started a simple bet with a 12-year-old: boost your grades, get a free Oreo milkshake. Now his "Grades for Grabs" program has gone viral, with kids traveling from other states to claim their rewards. His GoFundMe has raised over $377,000. (Read more 👉 Good Good Good)

📍 Florida, USA
When He Didn't Show For His Daily Gumbo, The Chef Saved His Life
Charlie Hicks, 78, ate at the same Shrimp Basket every single day for a decade. So when he didn't show up, chef Donell Stallworth drove to his house and found him on the floor after a fall – dehydrated, diabetic, unable to move. Hicks is now recovered. The restaurant gave him free gumbo for life. (Read more 👉 TODAY)

📍 Colombia
Tiny Crabs Are Cleaning Up Our Plastic Problem
Fiddler crabs – no bigger than a Post-It note – are hoovering up microplastics and breaking them down within days, far faster than sunlight or waves. Researchers found them thriving in one of the world's most polluted mangrove forests, accumulating plastics at 13 times the concentration in surrounding sediment. (Read more 👉 Euronews)

📍 Tennessee, USA
Teacher Breaks World Record After 61 Years At The Same School
Glenda Akin, 84, just earned a Guinness World Record for the longest career as a teacher at a single school. She started at Westmoreland High in 1963 – months before JFK was assassinated – and retired last year. She even watched a former student become a colleague, then retire a full decade before she did. (Read more 👉 CBC)

📍 Finland
Finalnd’s Battle Against Fake News Starts in Preschool Classrooms
The Nordic nation has taught media literacy to kids as young as three since the 1990s. The result: Finland consistently ranks #1 in Europe for resistance to disinformation. Now they're adding AI literacy to the curriculum. (Read more 👉 AP News)

📍 Nova Scotia, Canada
Couple Donates 46 Acres Of Their Backyard For Affordable Housing
Doctor Amy Hendricks and her husband bought land for a medical clinic – then realized they had way more than they needed. So they donated the rest to three nonprofits building affordable and transitional housing. First units expected by 2027. (Read more 👉 Good Good Good)

📍 Michigan, USA
Detroit Slashes Abandoned Homes From 47,000 To Under 1,000
When Mayor Duggan took office, one in five Detroit houses sat vacant. Twelve years later, the city's demolished 18,000 homes and sold 9,000 more – dropping Land Bank properties from 47,000 to just 942. Home values have doubled, too. (Read more 👉 WXYZ Detroit)

📍 France
France Bans 'Forever Chemicals' In Cosmetics And Clothing
As of January 1, France became one of the first countries to ban PFAS – those persistent, potentially toxic chemicals that take thousands of years to break down – in everyday products like makeup and clothes. The law also requires regular testing of drinking water. (Read more 👉 France 24)

A unique, sometimes quirky, but always eye-catching photo feature each week.

Most Brisbane bus passengers tap a card to ride. Peri the koala? He just showed up.

A bus driver spotted the young marsupial darting through traffic – dodging cars, weaving between lanes, and generally living dangerously. When Peri scrambled up a metal pole on a traffic island, the driver made a call. Not the "keep driving" kind. The "I'm stopping this bus" kind.

Worried the koala might tumble back into traffic, he grabbed his jacket, wrapped up the furry jaywalker, and carried him aboard. Peri took a seat on the grab rails and waited for rescue.

After a quick checkup at a wildlife hospital (all clear), Peri was released into a nearby bushland reserve the next day.

The rescue team's official advice? "Usually we recommend a laundry basket covered with a towel, but if needs be, a bus will do."

Peri's now back to his regular schedule: eating leaves and sleeping 20 hours a day. Living the dream, then.

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Not all stress is bad. That flutter before a big presentation? The focus that kicks in near a deadline? That's good stress – or eustress when it's at home – short-term pressure that sharpens your mind and fades once the moment passes.

But the harmful kind? It overstays its welcome. You're drained on a Tuesday night even though nothing happened.

Two questions to tell the difference: Does this stress motivate me or drain me? Do I feel relief when it's over, or does the tension stick around?

If your inner voice sounds like "I've got this," you're golden. If it sounds like "I'll never catch up," that's your cue to reset.

― George Eliot

The fear of long words is called Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia. The 36-letter word was first used by the Roman poet Horace in the first century BCE to criticise those writers with an unreasonable penchant for long words. It was American poet Aimee Nezheukumatathil, possibly afraid of their own surname, who coined the term how we know it in 2000.

49BC: Julius Caesar defies the Roman Senate and crosses the Rubicon, signaling the start of civil war (and coining the ubiquitous phrase)

1909: Ernest Shackleton, as part of the the British Nimrod Expedition, reaches a record farthest southern latitude of 88°23' south

1922: Insulin first used on humans to treat diabetes, when Frederick Banting inject 14-year-old Canadian Leonard Thompson

2007: Apple CEO Steve Jobs announces the iPhone

Which four animals have been mixed up below:

but rare odes came bit

See bottom of the newsletter for answer

*Studies show that watching heartwarming videos can boost your mood. So sit back and start your weekend positively - doctors orders!

🧠 Brain Teaser Answer

Mouse, deer, rabbit, cat.

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