👋 Welcome back to Smileworthy. Most days we rush past strangers, eyes glued to our screens. But when a freak accident threw college freshman Joey’s day off course, his Uber driver Lukumu stepped in – and a quiet act of kindness turned into a friendship neither of them saw coming.

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Quick Lifts ❤️

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

When a stranger became family thanks to a moment of selflessness

Joey Romano was just trying to save money on an ambulance ride. What he got instead was a friendship that would pull him out of the darkest period of his life.

Seven years ago, the University of Texas freshman was skateboarding near campus when a car forced him to swerve hard. The ditch he slammed into didn't care about his quick reflexes and his wrist snapped on impact. Lying on the ground in excruciating pain, Romano made the most millennial decision possible: he called an Uber.

"I didn't have very good insurance, and I was worried about the cost," the now 29-year-old recalls of that fateful day.

When Beni Lukumu pulled up, he found his passenger still sprawled on the pavement. Most drivers might have canceled the ride right there. Not Lukumu. The Congolese immigrant carefully helped Romano into his car, reclining the passenger seat to minimize the agony shooting through his passenfer’s arm. Their first stop was urgent care, but they took one look at the injury and sent them straight to the emergency room.

That's when Lukumu learned his passenger had no family in Austin. And no one coming to be with him in his time of trouble. The driver had a full day of rides ahead. But he looked at this kid, alone and hurting, and made a choice that would spark a friendship to last a lifetime.

"It wasn't even a question for me," Lukumu says now. "I was staying with Joey. He needed somebody to be by his side."

For six hours – from 2 to 8 p.m. – Lukumu sat in that sterile emergency room. He signed Romano in, helped him navigate the paperwork, and simply kept him company.

Romano, floating on a morphine drip, remembers feeling something unexpected cut through the pharmaceutical haze: comfort. "He has this warm presence, and strangely, it felt like we had known each other forever."

When Romano's grandmother finally arrived from Houston that evening, she tried to pay Lukumu for his lost wages. But he wouldn't hear of it – though he did accept her invitation to dinner, the first of many shared meals between families that started as strangers.

What Lukumu couldn't have known at that point was that he'd found Romano drowning in grief. The young man's brother Johnny had died of leukemia at age 10, back in 2008, and Romano had never quite surfaced from that loss. He'd become what he calls "insular" – shut down, closed off, cold to a world that had taken his brother too soon.

"I could barely take care of myself, let alone others," Romano admits, his voice catching even now at the memory.

But something about Lukumu's radical kindness – this complete stranger sacrificing his entire workday just to keep him company – cracked through Romano's protective shell. Here was a simple act of goodness that showed people could surprise you with their generosity, that the world wasn’t such a dark place.

"That one act of kindness helped me see the good in the world again," Romano says. "Having him spend his entire day with me – a complete stranger, for no reason than the goodness of his heart, helped me to put things into perspective. Beni absolutely changed my life."

Today, Lukumu works in insurance while pursuing his passion as a gospel singer. Romano develops renewable energy projects. They check in a couple times a year, their friendship transcending the typical driver-passenger transaction by about a million miles.

The story went viral when Romano first shared it years ago, but has recently resurfaced and Lukumu hopes its resurgence carries a message we desperately need right now. "The world is so divided," he observes. "What we need is love and kindness."

Want more uplifting stories like this? Check out HappilyNews.com – our dedicated site to bringing a little bit of joy to your world.

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Happy Headlines 📰

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

🎨 Bob Ross's Happy Trees Just Funded Public Television. Three original Bob Ross paintings smashed expectations at auction this week, raising over $600,000 for PBS stations squeezed by federal funding cuts. "Winter's Peace," "Home in the Valley," and "Cliffside" sold for up to six times their estimated value because who wouldn't pay premium for those happy little clouds? The auction is the first in a series that'll send 30 Ross originals under the hammer, with proceeds keeping The Joy of Painting's legacy alive on public airwaves. (Read more 👉 Happily)

🚁 Six Pregnant Flight Nurses Prove Superheroes Do Exist. Talk about a labor-intensive workplace – six Chicago medical helicopter nurses discovered they were all pregnant within weeks of each other, creating the ultimate airborne support group. The University of Chicago Medicine crew continues saving lives while navigating morning sickness at altitude, with one nurse working until 29 weeks pregnant. "We can do hard things," said nurse Juli Heiple, understating things just a tad. (Read more 👉 Happily)

🐕 Dumpster Puppy Gets Badge-Wearing Foster Family. Officers responding to an animal distress call in Lynnwood, Washington, found a tiny puppy abandoned in a dumpster cold, scared, and covered in debris. The Police Department immediately adopted little Oscar (yes, they named him after that garbage can Oscar) as their unofficial mascot, with officers taking turns fostering him. Authorities are hunting for whoever ditched the pup, but Oscar's already living his best life surrounded by an entire precinct of protective uncles. (Read more 👉 Komo News)

🎭 Gary Sinise Turns Nashville Church Into Veterans' Creative Haven. Lieutenant Dan himself just dropped $1 million to transform an abandoned Nashville church into a 24-hour creative arts center for veterans battling PTSD. The donation to CreatiVets will create a sanctuary where combat veterans can heal through songwriting, woodworking, and welding. Founder Richard Casper, a Purple Heart recipient who found his own healing through art after Iraq, envisions it as a place where creativity replaces crisis. Sometimes the best therapy comes with a paintbrush. (Read more 👉 WCTI)

☀️ Australia Has So Much Solar, They're Just Giving Electricity Away. In the most Australian flex ever, the land down under is proposing free electricity for everyone during peak solar hours because they literally have too much sun power. Starting next July, the "Solar Sharer" program will require retailers to offer three hours of free daily electricity when solar panels are pumping out more juice than the grid can handle. Even apartment dwellers without panels will benefit. (Read more 👉 Electrek)

🦔 Scottish Couple Transforms Home Into Hedgehog Hospital. Sharon and Andy Longhurst have treated 567 hedgehogs in their home over three years, complete with a maternity ward in the garden, ICU in the garage, and a fleet of volunteer "hedgehog ambulances." The couple, who haven't vacationed since starting their spiky sanctuary, spend £800 monthly on incubators and care, often pulling all-nighters to feed orphan hoglets. With European hedgehogs now listed as "near threatened," their work is increasingly vital. (Read More 👉 BBC)

💑 Love Story Breaks Two World Records After 83 Years. Eleanor and Lyle Gittens just claimed dual titles as Earth's longest-married AND oldest married couple – 83 years together with a combined age of 216. Their romance survived Lyle shipping out to WWII three days after their 1942 wedding, raising kids through censored letters, and Eleanor earning her doctorate at 69 just to keep things interesting. At 108, Lyle still rocks a smartphone because "even at my age, you can still gain knowledge. Their secret? "We love each other." 🙂 (Read more 👉 Happily)

🥫 Dad's Front Yard Pantry Becomes Neighborhood Phenomenon. What started as AJ's simple response to SNAP benefit cuts – one tote and two coolers at the curb –exploded when an anonymous neighbor stuffed thousands in cash into his mailbox. His tearful thank-you video went viral, Governor Shapiro jumped on TikTok to praise it, and Instacart started shipping supplies. Now sporting ten totes, a weather canopy, and everything from pet food to baby formula, the Whitehall, Pennsylvania pantry has inspired copycat efforts nationwide. Even when someone stole a tote (they returned it empty, but four full ones magically appeared), the community kept giving. (Read more 👉 Happily)

Smileworthy Snapshots 📸 

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

Mother Nature just threw the most spectacular light party of 2025, and half of America got front-row seats. Tuesday night's aurora borealis didn't just visit its usual northern haunts. It painted the skies from Florida to Texas in rippling curtains of green, pink, and purple, courtesy of the strongest solar flare recorded this year.

The celestial show started when an X5.1-class solar flare erupted from the sun early Tuesday morning, hurling charged particles toward Earth at over 2 million miles per hour.

What made this Aurora Borealis extra special was it gave people who'd never seen the northern lights the ability to catch them from their backyards, rather than trekking to the Arctic Circle. Smartphones captured the magic better than human eyes could see, revealing hidden colors in long-exposure shots. Check out some of the best shots we’ve seen on social below.

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Bright Bits ☀️

A fun fact, a happiness hack, an inspiring quote, and a quick brain teaser—your feel-good four-pack.

🤗 Happiness Hack

The 30-Second Cold Splash Reset. A super simple way to calm your nerves fast: splash very cold water over your face (especially cheeks and around the eyes) for 15–30 seconds, or hold a cold pack there. This triggers the “dive reflex,” activating the vagus nerve, which studies show can boost parasympathetic activity and lower stress-hormone responses to acute stress. (Source: PubMed)

❝Some Inspiring Words❞

“The place between your comfort zone and your dream is where life takes place.”
— Helen Keller

💡Fun Fact

There’s a Whole Museum Dedicated to Breakups. In Zagreb, Croatia, there’s a real Museum of Broken Relationships, created by two artists after their own breakup. Visitors donate everyday objects from past relationships – each with a short anonymous story – aimed at turning heartbreak into a strangely hopeful, communal exhibit. (Source: Brokenships.com)

🧠 Brain Teaser

How many squares of any size on this chessboard do not contain a rook?

Answer at the bottom. Let us know how you get on by hitting reply.

(Source: BrainBashers. ©Kevin Stone)

Before You Go…A Video Booster* 📺

For lifelong Cowboys fan Paul, time is literally running out to see his team play. With his vision deteriorating from a rare eye condition, his wife Jodi decided to act – and surprised him with the trip he’s always dreamed of 💙🏈

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

🧠 Brain Teaser Answer

There are 128 squares without a rook.

Reasoning

There are 62 squares of size 1 × 1

There are 41 squares of size 2 × 2

There are 18 squares of size 3 × 3

There are 6 squares of size 4 × 4

There is 1 square of size 5 × 5

Giving a total of 62 + 41 + 18 + 6 + 1 = 128 squares.