Great Move, Mom: 5 Brilliant Stories This Week

Amazing gestures by parents and a teacher were among the most uplifting stories of the week:

• Tears Flow as Girl Sees Doll Has Prosthetic Like Her: Part of the American Girl doll brand's claim to fame is that kids can get a doll made in their own likeness—but Emma Bennett's parents wanted to go one step further. The Texas 10-year-old has a prosthetic leg, so Courtney Fletcher Bennett reached out to a New York company to have the doll she'd ordered for Emma retrofitted with a pink right-leg prosthetic. The resulting video is a must-see.
• Teacher Pens 130 Notes for a Great Reason: When finals wrapped up at Rampart High School in Colorado Springs, Brittni Darras handed each of her students a handwritten letter. They contained messages like, "I hope you know how special you are to me" and "You inspire me to be a better person." It was a sweet gesture inspired by a tragic event, the attempted suicide of a student. That student got the first one.

• Baby Ditched at SF State in 1984 Just Graduated From There: A newborn abandoned in a box in a San Francisco State University dorm in 1984 just came full circle—by graduating from the same school. And some people crucial to her discovery two decades ago were there to celebrate.
• Guy Tracks Down Stranger Who Saved His Life : A retired judge suffered a massive heart attack while driving, but survived thanks to the efforts of a Good Samaritan who performed CPR and called 911. Now recovered, he set out to find his savior, and some old-fashioned sleuthing paid off.
• 'Pirate' Averts Tragedy in Chesapeake Bay: Chesapeake Bay crabber Jeremy Shockley calls himself a "pirate," but a lot of other people are calling him a hero. He was at a dock in Maryland Wednesday evening when he heard a mayday call, grabbed a crew, and rescued 22 people, including 14 children, whose boat was sinking fast. The image of the kids on the boat will endure.

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