Helping a Proud Dad Get to Rio: 5 Brilliant Stories This Week

An unexpected trip to Rio and a daughter's walk down the aisle were among the favorite stories of the week:

• Woman Raises Cash for Uber Driver to Watch Son in Rio: Ellis Hill's son is competing in shot put in the Olympics next week—and thanks to one of Hill's Uber passengers, Hill will be there to watch him. Hill was driving Liz Willock from the Philadelphia airport when Hill mentioned his son's spot on Team USA. But when Willock asked whether he'd be traveling to Brazil to watch, the Uber driver said he couldn't afford the trip. One online campaign later, that changed.
• Bride Walked Down the Aisle by Man With Her Dad's Heart: Jeni Stepien's father was murdered a decade ago in a mugging, but she still found a way for him to play a role in her wedding. Her dad's heart had gone to a stranger in New Jersey—and that led to a moving walk down the aisle.

• Judge Lets Inmate Meet His Baby for First Time in Court: James Roeder has been in jail, charged with burglary and under orders from a judge not to see his wife, Ashley—who is charged in the same burglary. That means that when Roeder appeared in court for a hearing Friday, he had not yet met his baby son, born just 30 days prior. When the judge realized this, and saw the baby in the courtroom, she made an unusual exception.
• Couple Married 63 Years Die 20 Minutes Apart: Henry and Jeanette De Lange lived together as husband and wife for 63 years, so perhaps it's only fitting that they died together, too. The South Dakota couple were in the same room in a nursing home when Jeanette, 87, suffering from Alzheimer's, died peacefully at 5:10pm. At that point, family members told her 86-year-old husband, who was battling prostate cancer, that he could follow his wife. He did, at 5:30pm.
• Police Checking Up on Elderly Couple Cook Them Pasta: Someone called Rome police last week after hearing crying and yelling coming from an apartment. But when officers arrived, they found no crime taking place—just an elderly couple lonely and upset by news they were watching on TV. Police did the only thing they could: cooked a pasta dinner.

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