‘Her World Is Just Gone’: Mom Loses Husband And Son Within Weeks

Good morning! It’s Saturday, Nov. 6. There are 48 days until Christmas, and if you’re stumped or can’t find a gift at a local business around town — something many people are doing to help shops overcome the economic hit from the pandemic — Oprah Winfrey has some ideas.

Here are some of the stories we’re following:

• A Long Island woman lost her husband, and then her son within a period of weeks.
• All the other Brandons out there were having fun, until it wasn’t.
• Former presidents, secretaries of state and other dignitaries paid tribute Friday to Colin Powell.
• Grandpa may have been a carpenter, as the late great singer-songwriter John Prine sang, but he never would’ve seen 3-D printed houses coming.

Lauren Johnson has had an anguishing five months. The Jamesport, New York, woman’s son, Brandon, 9, got sick in June, and what followed was a kaleidoscope of uncertainty. When the boy got sicker and weaker, his doctors said he would need a heart transplant and a leg amputation.

Brandon died Monday. It was another blow for Johnson. Her husband, Joshua, had died suddenly in September, and now she is raising their 4-year-old son, Elijah, alone.

"Her world is just gone,” Lauren Johnson’s mother said. A GoFundMe campaign has been established to help the family. » Mom Loses Son, 9, Weeks After Husband: 'Her World Is Just Gone,' via Riverhead Patch

‘Let’s Go Us’

“Let’s go us,” NASCAR driver Brandon Brown tweeted to all the other Brandons across the country after the phrase became a conservative battle cry.

The other Brandons — and, mercy, there are oodles of them, about 100 for every 100,000 Americans, according to the Census Bureau — had a lot of fun grabbing their share of the moment, until everyone started arguing about what the phrase means, proving yet again why we can’t have nice things. » Let’s Go Us,’ Brown, Other Brandons Tweeted Before It Got Ugly, via Across America Patch

• Related: 'Let's Go, Brandon' Crowd Pinching Real Brandon's Pocketbook

Farewell To A Patriot

President Joe Biden, former Presidents George W. Bush and Barrack Obama, and other dignitaries attended Friday’s funeral for Gen. Colin Powell, the first Black and youngest person ever to be named chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff, and the first Black secretary of state. » 16 Photos: Dignitaries Pay Respects To Colin Powell, via Across America Patch

More National News

Keep up on the latest national headlines on Across America Patch.

• Jan. 6 Panel Weighs Contempt Charge For Another Trump Ally
• Oath Keepers Find Success Recruiting Active Duty Police: Report
• Pfizer Says COVID-19 Pill Cuts Hospital, Death Risk By 90 Percent
• All 24 Female Senators Call On Biden To Protect Afghan Women
• House Dems Delay Huge Social bill, Plan Infrastructure Vote

How Would John Prine Sing About This?

John Prine, who died last year of COVID-19, sang “Grandpa was a carpenter” who “built houses, stores and banks … and hammered nails in planks.” It’s a nice story about builders of yesterday. “He was a level on the level,” the lyrics went on, “and shaved even every door.”

It’s safe to say “Grandpa” never would have seen this coming: The world’s largest community of 3-D printed homes will be built next year in Texas. » World’s Largest 3-D Community Set For Austin In 2022, via Austin Patch

Vaccine Mandate Flops With Governors

President Joe Biden’s order that all large companies with more than 100 employees require their workers to get vaccinated or undergo regular testing isn’t going over well in some places.

• DeSantis Sues To Block Biden Vaccine Mandate, via Tampa, Florida Patch
• At Least 26 States Sue Biden Administration Over Business Vaccine Mandate, via Across America Patch

Around ‘The Patch’

Good News Fix: Nine stories from Patch editors that’ll make ya smile, via Across America Patch.

Rewind — Braves World Series Parade: Watch video and see photos from the Atlanta Braves World Series parade, via Atlanta Patch

More Local News

• Trucker Who Won In $153 Campaign Faces Backlash Over Islamophobic Tweets: Report, via West Deptford, New Jersey, Patch
• The Week In Photos: Elections, Injections, Abortion Bill, Rittenhouse, via Across America Patch
• California City Raises Minimum Wage To Highest In Country, via Los Angeles Patch

Today In History

The Toccoa Falls Dam 90 miles north of Atlanta unexpectedly broke on Nov. 6, 1977, giving the students and staff at the Christian and Missionary Alliance College, located below the dam, little time to respond. Water thundered down the canyon and creek at about 120 miles an hour, and 39 people at the college were killed in the flood, via History.com.

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