A Moving Message: 5 Great Things This Week

A sweet message to a young girl and a former student's gesture for a teacher were among the good-news stories of the week:

• Girl With Cancer Gets Special Wish From Workers: A pair of ironworkers found a unique, heartwarming way to reach out to a little girl fighting cancer in the St. Louis Children's Hospital—in the form of a get-well message scrawled on a steel beam. "Coolest thing ever," says mom.
• Author Repays Favorite Teacher, Big-Time: Ellen Sherman taught Brad Meltzer history when he was in high school decades ago; she was his favorite teacher, and now Meltzer is a bestselling author of, among other things, books about history. When Meltzer learned she needed a kidney transplant, he turned to his fans for help—and the move may have saved two lives, not one.

• Dog Plummets 14 Stories, but Has a Savior: Call it luck, coincidence, or a lifesaving sixth sense. When an Oregon man saw a dog precariously perched on a ledge 14 stories high, he took action—and just in the nick of time.
• Supporters Rally Around Terrorized Family: The story begins in awful fashion—a black family harassed at a campground by a group of white men. But since it's gone public, supporters in California's Nevada County have raised more than $5,000 so the family returns for their reunion next year. A family member says she's overwhelmed by the "love and support."
• Guy Finds $20 on Street, Wins $1M: A San Francisco Bay Area man won $1 million in the California Lottery after buying a winning ticket with money he found at the airport. Hubert Tang had not bought a lottery ticket in 10 years, but when he found a $20 bill, he played a hunch. And he's got plans to take his good luck and pay it forward.

Click to read about more uplifting news stories. (More uplifting news stories.)