7 Good News Stories: Life-Affirming Dream; 100th Birthday For The Dogs

Community Corner 7 Good News Stories: Life-Affirming Dream; 100th Birthday For The Dogs Did you ever wish you were an Oscar Mayer Wiener(mobile)? Also, we have a baby penguin and a just-born baby whale for you. Reply
Mark and Tracey Miller will sell everything from reimagined wood furnishings to retro gas pumps at Reclaimed Of Annapolis. Mark Miller, 50, reclaimed his life after a near-fatal heart attack eight years ago that he said was entirely stress-related. (Jacob Baumgart/Patch)
ACROSS AMERICA — Marylanders Mark and Tracey Miller’s new architectural salvage, antique and fine furniture business has a fitting name: Reclaimed Of Annapolis.
Mark Miller has reclaimed his life after suffering a near-fatal heart attack at age 42. Miller “died on the table,” he told Patch’s Jacob Baumgart. With no family history of cardiovascular disease, Miller said his heart attack was completely stress related. So he quit his corporate job and went into business with his wife. Now 50, he has a clean bill of health and makes a living while following his passion. The store opening in Annapolis, the couple’s fourth such business.
“That’s why we do this,” Miller said. “Because we love it, and we enjoy it.” » By Jacob Baumgart for Annapolis Patch ‘It Changed My Whole Outlook’ In a vivid dream, Timothy Hinton was floating and looking down from the rafters and going up to a large cross at the Chapel of All Saints In Trinity Church, a historic church where President George Washington once knelt. Heaton, who now lives on Long Island, often prayed there when he worked in Lower Manhattan and credits prayer for helping him realize his goals. “It sounds crazy,” he told Patch’s Peggy Spellman Hoey, but the mind is “a fascinating thing.” He was in a medically induced coma at the time, battling for his release from the deathly grip of COVID-19. A priest performed last rites, but “I just came out of it,” he said. The experience strengthened his already iron-strong faith. “It seems like it changed my whole outlook on everything,” he said. » By Peggy Spellman Hoey for Patchogue Patch
(Photo courtesy of Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department Turning 100 Is For The Dogs A longtime Chicago Heights, Illinois, resident has made dogs a big part of her upcoming centenary birthday party. Clara Robertson has spent most of her life caring for animals and making sure pets that don’t have a full-time home feel as if they do. Rather than showering her with gifts for her 100th birthday on Jan. 21, Robertson has asked well-wishers to instead make a donation to local animal shelters. Her goal is to collect 100 items that can be turned over to shelters that are often short of essentials to care for pets they house. » By Jeff Arnold for Chicago Heights Patch (Photo courtesy of Porter Place Memory Care Center) This Crawl Was Perfection It takes work for high school buddies to stay connected after they’ve gone to college and started their careers, but a group of friends who graduated from their Vienna, Virginia, high school together in 2013 have maintained a holiday tradition, a bar crawl, to remain connected as they live separate lives as far away as the West Coast. The 2022 bar crawl was special for the friends after they paused it for two years because of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Naturally, that was hard and took a lot of communication and effort, but I’m glad we got back to where we were before,” Brad Mann told Patch’s Emily Leayman. In the future, he said, “nothing’s going to hold us back except a pandemic.” » By Emily Leayman for Vienna Patch
(Photo courtesy of Brad Mann) Ever Wish You Were An Oscar Mayer Wiener(mobile)? It’s not the job for everyone, but Oscar Mayer is looking for a half-dozen college seniors to drive its fleet of six Wienermobiles around the country. The Hotdoggers, as these public relations folks are called, have to be able to drive the 27-foot-long hot dog, which probably isn’t as easy, and be comfortable running around dressed like a human-sized hot dog. » By Beth Dalbey for Across America Patch (Photo courtesy of Oscar Mayer) Here’s A Baby Penguin For You Visitors to the Milwaukee Zoo have a limited time to view a baby Gentoo penguin before it goes behind the scenes for a bit of training. The penguin is growing quickly, but weighed only 107 grams when it hatched in December to Oscar and Fiona, who are maintaining protective watch over their little one. “Oscar and Fiona are primarily sitting on it or standing next to it to keep the chick warm for the time being,” the zoo said in a statement. “Gentoo penguins instinctually never leave their offspring unattended for the first month of life. And they shouldn’t, because the chick doesn’t yet have waterproof feathers, and it could start wandering outside the nest and possibly fall into the water.” » By John Quinnies for Milwaukee Patch