9 Good News Stories: Music Of The Soul; Record Summit; College Promise

ACROSS AMERICA — Throughout time, music has lifted the soul and set the cadence of the rhythm of life.

It pulses through Isabella DiStasio's very being every time she rosins the bow on her upright bass, plugs in one of her guitars, strums a ukulele or sits down in front of a piano.

Music is the Hillsborough (New Jersey) High school freshman’s passion.

But what good is a passion — and a talent to match — if it’s not shared? She created “Ollie’s Orchestra,” a nonprofit that provides instruments and music to infants and children with cancer “with the goal of channeling the joy, stress relief, distraction and peace that music can elicit,” she said. » By Alexis Tarrazi for Hillsborough Patch

She Made It — And Broke A Record

Here’s a follow-up on a story Patch told you about last month: Lucy Westlake, 18, reached the summit of Mount Everest on May 12, becoming the youngest American woman to do so and breaking a record that had stood since 2007. The Naperville, Illinois, woman told Patch that as she scaled a previous mountain, she repeated her mantra in her head: “Limits are perceived.” She hopes her accomplishments will inspire others and show them “they can climb whatever mountains they have in their life.” » By Lisa Marie Farver for Naperville Patch

A Different Kind Of Record

Mayra Rodriguez’s mountain is life itself. The 42-year-old woman has lived with a mechanical heart pump for 14 years now, longer than any other New Jersey resident. She was in the advanced stages of heart failure when she got the device, which helps her heart move blood from the left ventricle to the aorta and the rest of the body. » By Eric Kiefer for Newark Patch

Propelled By A Promise

A decade ago, the Rosztoczy Foundation made a promise to Erika Delgado and 83 of her third-grade classmates in Phoenix. Stay in school, the Rosztoczy family said through their Avondale, Arizona-based private charity, and we’ll put you through college. Delgado held up her end of the deal. The valedictorian of her graduating class at Desert Ridge High School, she told Patch the promise pushed her to succeed. Without it, she said, "I don't think I would have tried that much. Why should I spend so much time on school if I'm not going to go to college?” » By Caitlin Sievers for Phoenix Patch

‘Whose Dog Is This?’

This happened in Tennessee: A 90-pound bulldog-lab mix named Nala slipped off her leash during a walk, took a run in the woods and somehow broke into the home of Julie and Jimmy Johnson without sending their dogs into full-on panic, then climbed into bed with these complete strangers and stretched out like a third fully grown adult, prompting Jimmy Johnson to ask his wife when they awoke the next morning, “Julie, whose dog is this?” » By Beth Dalbey for Chattanooga Patch

Admit It, They Had You With Their Eyes

What a group of shelter dogs (top photo) needed to boost their chances of adoption were glamour shots that showed their best side, hobby photographer Maggie Epling decided. The 20-year-old woman who is visiting her grandfather in rural Appalachia, Kentucky, got out her camera. She spent 20 minutes or so with each dog to get a feel for their personalities before clicking off frames. Honestly, you have to see her photos. Smiles are guaranteed. » By Anna Bybee-Schier for Across Kentucky Patch

Baby Girl Has A New Home

Baby Girl, the dog people all over the country fell in love with after seeing a photo her tied to a fire hydrant in Green Bay, Wisconsin, has a home now. She was abandoned there not by some thoughtless owner but by a woman who was living on the street, going through chemotherapy and unable to care for her dog. “The international response to this pup's story has been overwhelming, and the outpouring of kindness for her previous owner has truly filled our hearts to the brim,” the Wisconsin Humane Society said. » By Anna Bybee-Schier for Green Bay Patch

More Happy Endings

As Nanci Urban, who has worked for the Animal Welfare Association in Voorhees, New Jersey, followed her nose into a home three years ago to rescue about 150 dogs, she knew she would find squalid conditions unfit for any living thing. She and the other rescuers weren’t wrong, but three years later, the hoarder’s dogs are doing well. » By Janel Miller for Moorestown Patch

Dolphins Returned To The Sea

It took a small village of rescuers from the Wellfleet, Massachusetts, area to accomplish it, but seven Atlantic white-sided dolphins that stranded in Herring River on Cape Cod were safely returned to the sea. They weren’t in distress, “but the day was sure to be sunny and warm and we needed to move quickly," said Misty Niemeyer, an animal rescue officer for the International Fund for Animal Welfare » By Meg Grazian for Falmouth Patch

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