Mermaids, marathons and moms, of course!

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May 13, 2023

For some reason, I always feel an odd pressure about what to write for Mother's Day. I have a great relationship with my own mom (Hi Mom, I love you!), so it's not that. It's just ... holidays like this mean so many different things to people. How could all of the beautiful, heartbreaking complexities of motherhood be summed up, let alone appreciated, in a single day? I suppose that's why Mother's Day cards are about four pages long, each sporting an entire novel's worth of embossed calligraphy. There are no words to describe it, so instead we fish around for something that's even half adequate. I love you? Thanks for being my mom? You loved me before even I knew what love was? I will spend my lifetime loving you back?

It's hard. For now, "Happy Mother's Day" will have to do. But moms, please know we mean so much more.

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Our favorites this week

Get going with some of our most popular good news stories of the week

Scouting the future
It's almost the end of Girl Scout cookie season, which means your local troops have been working hard! This time of year is especially meaningful for Troop 6000, which is comprised entirely of girls who are experiencing homelessness or living in shelters in the Greater New York area. This super troop's cookie sales go directly to help women and girls across more than 20 shelters in the region, and since 2017, their sales have netted more than $1.6 million. This January, Troop 6000 expanded to bring the program to immigrants and asylum seekers. So far, 100 migrant girls have joined Troop 6000. Such an opportunity can mean the world to little girls, like 11-year-old Laura, who came to New York from Colombia six months ago. "I've only seen this in the movies," she says. "This is like a dream come true."

→ Read the whole story here.

New kid on the Street
It's new muppet time! "Sesame Street" recently introduced TJ, its first Filipino muppet. TJ is 4 years old and a second-generation Filipino American, a spokesperson for Sesame Workshop told CNN. He's also working on his confidence. "I'm learning Tagalog. It's a language my Filipino family speaks and I have confidence because I can always ask my lola for help when I don't know a word," TJ said during a recent episode. Rosemary Espina Palacios, Sesame Workshop's director of talent outreach, inclusion and content development, also celebrated TJ's arrival on Sesame Street. "I'm so proud to help bring some Filipino representation to the neighborhood, and just in time for API Heritage Month to show the range in our diaspora," she wrote on social media.

→ Read the whole story here.

Just a little jog
Russell Cook, a 26-year-old runner from the UK, is attempting to run the length of Africa in just 240 days. Starting at the most southerly point in South Africa, Cook is aiming to pass through 16 countries and reach the most northerly point in Tunisia by Christmas -- the equivalent of running about 360 marathons in 240 days. Now, Why on earth would someone do that? I was skeptical until I read about Cook's struggle with mental health and confidence. As a teenager, he struggled to find purpose or meaning in his life. During one such low point, he decided to run home, and for some reason, the experience stuck with him. So he started to do it more. For fun, even. "For the first time in a long time, I felt confident," says Cook. "That whole process of achieving something that previously seemed like I couldn't do or that marathons are for crazy fit people. That could never be me. I'm not that guy. But then I became that guy." That guy, indeed, in the best way.

→ Read the whole story here.

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A round of applause for...

Buddy Holly, who won best in show at the Westminster Dog Show! Mr. Holly is a petit basset griffon Vendéen, which is just a fancy term for a very good boy. He's actually the first of his breed to take home top honors, and his human family had nothing but glowing things to say about him. "He's just everything a PBGV should be – hardheaded, stubborn, happy," Janice Hayes, Buddy Holly's handler, said after the pup was named best in show. "He moves just so easily, and we are just so proud of him."

→ Read the whole story here.

Good vibes

We're working with our lovely friends on the CNN Entertainment desk to bring you more little feel-good tidbits from the world of Hollywood. This week, we were tearing up over photos from the premiere of Disney's live-action rendition of "The Little Mermaid." Look, it's the two Ariels! That's Halle Bailey on the left, who plays Ariel in the new film, which comes out later this month. And on the right is one of the biggest Disney icons ever, Jodi Benson, who lent her magical voice to the original film. The two beauties (we love a good on-theme dress) found each other on the red carpet and spent a while talking, hugging, and probably sharing some mermaid secrets.

Heroes among us

Yasmine Arrington knows firsthand the challenges that come with having a parent in prison. Growing up, Arrington's father was in and out of prison and in and out of her life. After her mother passed away when she was 13, Arrington and her two brothers were raised by their maternal grandmother. As a teen, Arrington had a moment of realization when she was applying to college and discovered there weren't scholarships in her region specifically for teens who had incarcerated parents. In 2010, when she was just 16 years old, she started her nonprofit ScholarCHIPS – with CHIPS as an acronym for Children of Incarcerated Parents – to help young people like herself with scholarships, mentoring and a network of support. The organization has since awarded more than $450,000 in scholarships and other aid and supported more than 80 scholars working toward their college degrees.

→ Read the whole story here.

Hear, hear!

Love spends his all, and still hath store.

- Philip James Bailey, British poet, in his 1839 work "Festus"

Rec of the week

Brought to you by CNN Underscored

Ashley Tisdale shares her 7 everyday must-haves

Underscored caught up with Ashley Tisdale to learn about the everyday essentials she relies on, from her favorite snack to her go-to hiking boots and lounge pants. Shop the products that help her take on each day.

Shameless animal video

There's always time for cute animal videos. That time is now.

In 2021, a gorilla named Kiki melted hearts at Boston's Franklin Park Zoo when she cooed over a human mom and her baby, and then brought her own baby over to show off. "Look, I made one too!" she seems to say. "Good job, fellow mom!" (Click here to view)