15 Good News Stories: Look Out, ‘Bad Guys’; 4-Year-Old Fireman

ACROSS AMERICA — As it turns out, jigsaw puzzles emerged as a metaphor for Americans putting together the pieces of lives disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic.

Puzzles flew off store shelves and quickly disappeared from online warehouses as more American families discovered the joy in the anxiety-reducing family activity.

When he discovered families were driving here and there to swap puzzles, a family in Arlington, Virginia, borrowed heavily from the concept of Little Free Libraries — the boxes with glass doors that pop up on residential streets to encourage people to read more books.

“I realized we should just make this easy on everyone and have a central place,” said Allegra Jabo, who estimates that since April 2020, more than 1,000 jigsaw puzzles have circulated through what her family calls the Douglas Park Little Free Puzzle Library. By Mark Hand for Arlington, Virginia, Patch

“Bad Guys,” Beware

After her 5-year-old boy's scooter was swiped by some “bad guys” at a park in Jersey City, New Jersey, Hope Donovan’s son balked at going back. Nick Bilyk and James Ubl, a couple of roofers who had worked on Donovan’s leaky roof, bought the boy a new scooter after seeing her post on Facebook. But they did more than that, giving the boy the confidence to return to the park, telling him “they would watch out for the bad guys for him.” By Caren Lissner for Hoboken, New Jersey, Patch

Only 1 Caitlin, But Boss Wants 100

The owner of an in-home care agency in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, says he wishes the company had “100 Caitlins.” Steve Gettins was referring to Cailin Campbell, honored recently as the Caregiver of the Year in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Caregiving is not work in which a nonchalant attitude will get you by, said Campbell, who explained, "This is not a job where you get up, and you're like: I have to go work. You have to want to be here. You have to have the personality for it." Campbell, whose loving personality has been a big asset during the pandemic, said she just wants to make sure her clients get the care she would want for her own loved ones. By Marlene Lang for Pottstown, Pennsylvania, Patch

Separated No More

Snowbirds living in Florida and kept apart by the pandemic from loved ones in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut finally got a chance to hug one another, thanks to the technology platform CLEAR, which worked with United Airlines and a Marriott hotel chain to pull off what was called “A Day with Families.” Those reunited included a couple of grandparents who saw their 8-month-old grandchild for the first time. By Eric Kiefer for Newark, New Jersey, Patch

No Longer One-Dimensional

Speaking of in-person meetups, Clayton Whipple, an Iowa guy and Kansas City Chiefs fan who paid $100 to have his cardboard alter ego attend the Super Bowl, finally got to meet L.J. Govoni, a Clearwater, Florida, brewer seated next to his one-dimensional image. Gavoni tweeted a photo of himself seated beside the cardboard cutout he had named “Frank,” and Whipple saw it. They caught up on Zoom, and Allegiant Airlines helped Govoni make good on his promise to fly Whipple and his family to Florida, where they found cardboard pop-ups of “Frank” all over town. By D’Ann Lawrence White for Clearwater, Florida, Patch

Writing To Be Heard

Overflowing with emotions of the more than 100 women across several continents who have written in it, the “Traveling Diary” Kyra Peralte created in the early days of the pandemic is an exercise in “humanness.” Says the Montclair, New Jersey, woman: “We're being exposed to the same thing that's happening, and it just feels like barriers are broken down and our humanness is coming forth to where we can relate to one another or at least, if we cannot relate, even in the midst of this, but we can do something that is very, very important to every human — and I think that is to be heard.” By Eric Kiefer for Montclair, New Jersey, Patch

What A 1-Year-Old Saw

Mallory Ibarra’s 1-year-old son, Roman, got his first pair of glasses after a screening showed an astigmatism, and the best reaction to his response after he put them is a smile. You’ll want to see the video for yourself. Click the link. By Lisa Finn for Riverhead, New York, Patch

What A 4-Year-Old Did

A 4-year-old boy in East Shoreham, New York, was up early on a recent Saturday morning and “digging for gold” in his back yard when he heard an explosion and saw flames coming from the neighbor’s house. He alerted his mom, who banged on the door, screamed and tried desperately to roust the five people inside, including a 1-year-old. Wondering what the commotion was about, Danielle Apryl yelled back, “Who are you? What do you want?” — never expecting she’d hear the words no one wants to hear: “Your house is on fire! Get out!” The boy and his mother are nothing short of heroes, Apryl says. By Lisa Finn for Riverhead, New York, Patch

Look What These Smart Kids Did

All 54 seniors graduating from AVID classes for first-generation Americans at San Clemente, California, High School will be headed to college, a milestone reached for the first time. Not only that, they’ve all been accepted by two or more four-year colleges, expanding their options. And, a district spokesman said, “a whopping 96.2 percent were accepted into three or more colleges.” By Ashley Ludwig for San Clemente, California, Patch

New Concept For Charity

Rady Kronenberger is combining his artistic skills with a lucrative trend in digital currency to raise money for homeless Atlanta youth. He created a digital art piece, “Scholarship,” to sell online as a non-fungible token, or NFT, a digital marketer that assigns a monetary value to about anything. His artwork had been valued at about $4,846 as the online auction was about to close, and he planned to donate it all to the Atlanta charity CHRIS 180. By Marcus K. Garner for Atlanta Patch

Sparking A Fire For Reading

Firefighters for McLean, Virginia, are reading bedtime stories to area children in a virtual event called “Read Me A Story” that aims to spark an interest in reading among the young audience. One of the firefighters will read “ Fire! Fuego! Brave Bomberos,” a dual-language book written in English and Spanish. By Emily Leayman for McLean, Virginia, Patch

Never Off Duty

Cops are never really off duty. Marietta, Georgia, police Officer Ryan Smith jumped into the Chattahoochee River last weekend to save the life of a woman who appeared to be losing what turned out to be a two-hour battle to stay afloat and keep up with the current in a raft that was leaking air. Smith was joined in the rescue by Tim Eskew, an employee of Canoe Restaurant, where he had been having lunch. By Kara McIntyre for Marietta, Georgia, Patch

Moms Know

The bonds between mother and child, and between mothers and other mothers, are undeniable — even when one’s a human primate and the other isn’t. Emmalina Austin took her 6-month-old son, Canyon, to see the gorillas at Franklin Park Zoo in Boston, and troop matriarch Kiki just drank in the experience. Though separated by glass, the gorilla stroked the sleeping baby and held him with her eyes, then eventually brought her own son to the glass to meet Austin and her son. "Her face was just so in love," Austin said. "She was showing her baby my baby." By Beth Dalbey for Boston Patch

But Sometimes They Need Help

A mother duck and her dozen ducklings that were marooned on the Upper East Side were chaperoned back to Central Park on Sunday, a feat that coincided perfectly with Mother's Day. David Barrett, an Upper East Sider who runs the Manhattan Bird Alert Twitter account, received a tip about a “birding emergency” — a mama mallard and her ducklings had been stuck on the street for at least a couple of days. The mother duck had to be herded, but they’re all swimming safely together in a pond at the famous New York City park. By Nick Garber for Upper East Side, New York, Patch

Dog Cleared In Car Theft

A pooch with a look of pure delight on his face as he peered out the window of a police cruiser has been cleared of any wrongdoing in the heist of a stolen car in which he was found, despite his rather unfortunate name — Bandit. Facebook users questioned that, though, with one person asking, “After looking at that face, are you absolutely sure Bandit wasn't the one who actually stole the car and forced an innocent bystander to be the getaway driver to take the heat?” By D’Ann Lawrence White for New Port Richey, Florida, Patch