👋 Welcome to another edition of Smileworthy.

Some love stories are written in ink, others in canola fields - this week we’ve got both. Inside: a mom adds her teen to a family-tree tattoo, a pilot-eye proposal blooms bright yellow, a Huntington’s treatment shows stunning promise, and an everyday passerby turns full-on hero.

Let’s jump right in👇

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Quick Lift ❤️

A feel good story from Happilynews.com guaranteed to put a smile on your face.

Mom Adds Teen to Family Tree Tattoo in Emotional Adoption Day Surprise

Some families celebrate with cake. Bobbiejo went with ink. Minutes after a judge finalized 18-year-old J-dyn’s adoption on May 16 in Saint Albans, Vermont, Mom rolled up her sleeve and revealed fresh script on her family-tree tattoo - J-dyn’s name, etched alongside her siblings. Cue stunned smile, hand-over-mouth, and very happy tears.

Their story started years earlier. J-dyn (pronounced “Jayden”) was a niece on Bobbiejo’s in-laws’ side who spent summers hanging out with the kids. When she later needed a foster placement, Bobbiejo applied for kinship care - the route that approves relatives or close family friends as foster parents because, in her heart, J-dyn already felt like one of her own.

Adoption took time. Roughly two years from placement through terminating parental rights, then another three months waiting for a court date. While they waited, Bobbiejo planned the heartwarming surprise. She booked the tattoo ahead of the hearing so the reveal could happen right after the papers were signed - and asked two of her kids to film it in the courthouse. (Watch the video here)

As Bobbiejo raises her arm and points to the new script J-dyn’s expression shifts from “Is this real?” to “I belong here.” Later, they posed with the judge and hugged it out.

As Bobbiejo put it, adding J-dyn’s name made everything “feel so much more real,” a simple, permanent welcome.

Happy Headlines 📰

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

🦸‍♂ Stranger Sprints Into Burning Building, Carries Bedridden Woman to Safety

Driving past a senior apartment complex in Southeast D.C., Zackary Battle saw smoke and didn’t wait for a cape - or even a second thought. He ran inside, followed the shouts up to the third floor, and found a bedridden woman trapped as flames spread, before carrying her to safety. (NBC4 Washington)

💊 Huntington’s Gene Therapy Slows Disease by 75%, Doctors Say

Doctors have successfully treated Huntington’s - one of the cruellest and most devastating diseases. A one-time gene therapy slowed clinical decline by ~75% across measures of cognition, motor skills, and daily function in a 29-patient trial. Researchers say the effect could stretch one year of expected decline into four, with participants returning to work or still walking when wheelchair use had been anticipated. (BBC)

🧑‍🚒 FDNY Stands In for Bride’s Fallen Father at Her Wedding

Nine members of FDNY Rescue Company 1 arrived in full dress to honor Kristin Marino’s late father, firefighter Kenneth Marino - who died responding to the North Tower on 9/11 - standing in for him at her Manhattan wedding; the company even saved his seat with his uniform while Kenneth’s father walked Kristin down the aisle. (CBS)

🥤 From Red Solo Cups to Cozy Sweaters - A Student’s Unique Startup Hopes To Make a Difference

A student who was so fed up of seeing red Solo cups littering her campus, she decided to do something about it - and make the world a better place while doing it. Engineer Lauren Choi founded The New Norm, which turns the hard-to-recycle red cups into filament for on-demand, 3D-knitted sweaters and beanies. (Good Good Good)

🥊 Olympic Boxer Gives His Gold Medal to American Who Rightfully Beat Him Decades Ago

Nearly 35 years after their controversial 1988 Seoul final, South Korean boxer Park Si-hun traveled to Pensacola to give his Olympic gold medal to Roy Jones Jr. Si-hun said he knew he lost in 1988, but judges inexplicably gave him a points decision - something that has been debated ever since. After feeling guilty, he decided to travel to the States and put things right. And as he handed over the medal, he told Roy Jones Jr, through an interpreter, it “belongs to you”. Video of the handover shows an emotional Jones accepting the medal many felt he’d earned at the time. (Good News Network)

💝 MacKenzie Scott Pledges $70M to Charity

Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott just dropped another $70 million to good causes - putting most other billionaires to shame with her giving. This time she chose to donate the staggering sum to UNCF’s big push to strengthen all 37 of its member HBCUs with the money headed for a pooled endowment aiming to give each school about $10 million, with ~4% annual payouts to steady budgets and close long-standing gaps. It’s one of Scott’s largest single gifts. (AP)

Bright Bits 😃

We round up the latest in lifestyle, health, and wellness news to help you live a happier, healthier life.

💡Fun fact

Bananas are berries (botanically). Strawberries aren’t. Nature loves a plot twist.

🤗 Happiness Hack

The Sun Sandwich: As the days get shorter, get 10 minutes of morning daylight + a 10-minute walk later. An easy energy bump, and better sleep from one simple routine. (Source: Science Direct)

❝ ❞ Some inspiring words

🧠 Brain teaser

Each of these rows of arrows represents a word. What are the words?

Hint
Where else might you see arrows and letters together?

(Answer at bottom of newsletter)

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Snapshot 📸 

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

Crop Circles of Love 🌼✈️

From the air, the canola glows like neon highlighter - and then the letters snap into focus: WILL YOU MARRY ME.

That’s the view primary school teacher Steph Carter got when her boyfriend, farmer Will Henderson, steered their small plane over his family’s fields in southern New South Wales. Months earlier, Will had quietly mapped the message using his air seeder and GPS, spacing 12-meter-wide rows to form each letter - then, amazingly, hand-re-sowing the tricky bits when an “E” misbehaved. By September 6, with the crop in full yellow bloom, he took Steph skyward and popped the question. And of course she said yes.

The aerial reveal was just the first surprise. Back on the ground, friends and family were waiting at the house - no small feat in the Blighty district of Aus, where relatives live hours apart. The couple, 25 and 24, have been together five years and Will says the idea had been growing (literally) since April. And yes, there were a few “white lies” along the way to keep Steph from her beloved crop tours.

The couple’s aiming for a 2027 wedding, in the garden at Steph’s parents’ place - because once you’ve written your love story in canola, a backyard ceremony feels just right.

Before You Go…A Serotonin Booster* 📺

Hilarious Disney Cruise Shirt Prank Unites 60+ Husbands in Hawaiian Mickey Tees 😂

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

🧠 Brain teaser answer

See, new, sense, sew, ewe.

The arrows are pointing in the compass directions N, E, S, and W!