Rat Busters:

After discovering a rat as an uninvited guest in their home, college roommates Jody, Brianna, Logan, and Meg had to come up with a better plan after failing to catch it in a trap. The tools used were a mop, bucket, garbage can, swiffer, and a broom wielded by Logan’s boyfriend for the slap shot that finalized the eviction. The video posted by Jodi Mackin on her twitter page has now gone viral.

The Comforts of Home:

Conner Cox a freshman at Westminster College in Pennsylvania, received a care package from home, saying, “it’s like Christmas,” but the taste of home that he was expecting, wasn’t quite what he had in mind, instead it was filled with a lesson in responsibility, the trash he was supposed to have taken out when he was home on winter break.

It Ain’t All Bad News:

Addison and Morgan Dwelly, twin third graders at Norton Commons Elementary School in Prospect, Kentucky, received a big surprise at the end of a pep rally celebrating all their teams. They heard over the public address system, the words, “Our special guest, please come through the tunnel.” A moment later as the guest walks out of the tunnel, they recognize him; he is Navy Lieutenant Lukas Dwelly, their father, who has just arrived home from a tour of duty stationed in the Republic of Djibouti, located in Africa across the Bab-el-Mandeb strait from Yemen.

As you can guess, hugs ensued. When asked what they had missed the most, the two girls screamed in unison, “Everything.”

More News That Ain’t Bad:

In South Carolina, Sharnique Dasant, a cashier working at Wal-Mart, said to Ashley Jordan, who was looking through the wallet for the money to pay for her large amount of groceries needed for her family of five, “It looks like you could use a blessing.” She then proceeded to pay for half of her groceries.

Jordan wrote, “Me and my husband and our very fussy one year old finally got into the car and when we did we just looked at each other and smiled and at that moment we both knew things were going to be OK because there truly are good people out there.”

Wisdom on Aging:

“I am not young enough to know everything.” – Oscar Wilde

Moment in Time:

A Saturday in early December

Six candles are placed in a cheesecake and lit. A young girl with thin brown hair and gray eyes, wearing a red and white dress and matching socks is celebrating her sixth birthday; she smiles as she feels the familiar feeling of a beard that brushes her, and smells the smoke from the flames of the candles, while the traditional refrain wishing her happiness on this occasion, is sung. It is a small gathering consisting of only three well-wishers her foster father Mohamed Bzeek, his son Adam Bzeek, and her nurse Marilou Terry, the biological parents did not make it.

This child, whose name cannot be released due to confidentiality laws, is monitored by the Department of Children and Family Services, and is cared for through its Medical Case Management Services. She was born with encephocele, wherein a small part of her brain was protruding from her skull and had to be removed. She has daily seizures, is blind and deaf, her arms and legs are paralyzed, she is too small for her age, and her head is too small for her body.

Mohamed has been taking care of foster children for over twenty-five years, and strictly terminally ill children since the mid 90’s. He now does this alone as his wife Dawn, suffered from her own illness, and passed several years back. It is unknown how long his current foster daughter, who he has cared for since she was a month old, will live, and he has already buried about ten others.

He says, “The key is, you have to love them like your own.” At this small birthday party, as he holds and claps her hands, while exclaiming in a joyful voice, “Yay, you are 6! 6! 6!,” he is doing just that.

The WaterCooler is an open thread, so ease on up, wet your whistle, and speak your piece.