 he wants to write Don back and let him know he will digitize his VHS tapes, so he can relive his fondest memories whenever he likes.
Good news: A bookstore owner was in the hospital. So his competitors came and kept his shop open.
Her close friend Scott Ehrig-Burgess and his wife were watching Josephine. But Ehrig-Burress, who works at another bookstore in town, wanted to help more.
“We were all sort of overwhelmed and in shock,” Ehrig-Burgess said.
He thought maybe he could help with the Book Catapult. He had worked there a few times when his friends first opened the store, in late 2017. He still had the keys, he knew how to work the register. He could try to keep it afloat.
“I thought, ‘I’ll pretend this is my store for the week,’ ” Ehrig-Burgess said.
He started calling mutual friends in the book-selling community to tell them that Marko was in surgery.
Within a day of Marko’s Jan. 27 surgery, Ehrig-Burgess had eight volunteers to help him keep the store open. They all worked at competing bookstores in the San Diego area and were willing to juggle their schedules or work during their free time to pitch in. One couple came down from Los Angeles.
“Once I started to tell our book-selling friends what was going on, I had an entire roster,” Ehrig-Burgess said.
Each morning, he would go to the bookstore he manages, the Library Shop. Then at noon, he’d race across town to the Book Catapult to open it and give instructions to the volunteer. Then he’d head back to work.
Then he’d return at 6 p.m. to close up.
“The customers didn’t even know,” Ehrig-Burgess said.
Marko’s surgery was a success. Ehrig-Burgess went to visit his friend in the intensive care unit and told him the Book Catapult was open.
Marko said he was overwhelmed.
After about a week, the Book Catapult’s full-time employee, Vanessa Diaz, recovered from the swine flu and came back. Powell and Marko’s parents flew in to help out.
Marko was in the hospital for 11 days and is now home recuperating. He fatigues easily and is unable to lift more than a few pounds, so the friend-volunteers are still around when needed. Marko plans to return to his second job, as a sales representative for a book publisher, in April.
Julie Slavinsky, 57, who works at the independent bookstore Warwick’s, is one of the volunteers who helped out. Slavinsky said when Ehrig-Burgess called to let her know about Marko’s heart, she offered to volunteer at the Book Catapult that Saturday. She and Marko used to work together at Warwick’s.
“People don’t like to ask for help. You have to say, ‘Hey, I have a few hours, do you need me?’ ” Slavinsky said.
While she was volunteering at the store, she rang up some customers and suggested titles to others. When a rainstorm caused water to leak through a window, she moved book displays around. Then she came back the following week to run an event, a reading from an author.
Slavinsky said although the Book Catapult is, strictly speaking, a competitor to her employer, she doesn’t see things that way.
Powell said she can’t offer enough thanks to all those who have helped her and her husband.
“Maybe opening a bookstore wasn’t as crazy as we thought,” she said.
Heartwarming Photos of Acts of Kindness.
The audience at a 2011 thrash metal concert in Yankee Stadium hoisted a Megadeth fan in a wheelchairfor a better view. The "Big 4" show also featured Metallica, Anthrax, and Slayer.
Frida the rescue dog and her trainer Israel Arauz Salinas went viral for their life-saving efforts during the 7.1 magnitude earthquake that shook Mexico City last year. The 9-year-old Labrador has detected the bodies of 52 people during her career, and the duo recently received their own statue for their service to the Mexican navy.
American Abbey D'Agostino and New Zealander Nikki Hamblin won a special Olympic commendationfor their sportsmanship at the 2016 Rio Games. After Hamblin tripped in a 5,000-meter heat, and brought D'Agostino down with her, the American helped her competitor to her feet. Later on in the race, D'Agostino fell again as a result of her twisted leg, but Hamblin stayed by her side until the finish line.
Steve St. Bernard was returning home from his job as an MTA bus driver on July 17, 2012, when children outside alerted him to an alarming sight: his 7-year-old autistic neighbor had climbed onto her apartment air conditioner three stories above. St. Bernard stood below the unit for an excruciating seven minutes before he caught the girl, tearing a tendon in his hand. "I asked God... I said, 'Let me catch her, please. Don't let me miss,'" he told CNN. "I don't play baseball. I'm not a sportsman. I don't want to miss."
Good news: Customers Buy Out Doughnut Shop Early Every Day So Owner Can Be With Sick Wife.
Chhan and his wife, Stella, have owned Donut City in Seal Beach for three decades. The couple came to Orange County as refugees from Cambodia in 1979. Since then, they’ve worked side by side every morning to serve doughnuts at their Pacific Coast Highway shop – until recently.
Customers who missed Stella Chhan’s presence behind the counter were shocked to discover she had suffered an aneurysm. She’s alive, but is weak and in rehab, and John Chhan rushes home every day to be with her as soon as the shop sells out of doughnuts.
Chhan declined customers’ offer to set up a GoFundMe account for the couple, saying he simply wants more time with his wife. Instead, customers have endeavored to help Donut City sell out early every day so he can return to the rehabilitation center where she is recovering.
The shop’s customers spread the word on newsletters and by word of mouth, and have asked everyone buying doughnuts to buy a dozen at a time.
Woman's act of kindness for blind Cubs fan goes viral.
For several minutes, Ryan Hamilton watched as a blind man tried to hail a cab while Chicago Cubs fans poured out of Wrigley Field.
The Chicago resident was on a rooftop across the street when he noticed thousands of people passing the man, who was holding a walking stick and waving his hand in an attempt to stop a taxi.
Not one car stopped -- but luckily, a pedestrian did.
Casey Spelman, of Indianapolis, was visiting friends in the area and spotted the blind man, who was identified as Yusef Dale, an assistant U.S. attorney in Chicago, as she walked out of a Wrigleyville restaurant. Without a word, Spelman split from her friends, walked over to Dale and tapped him on the shoulder.
"Do you want some help getting a cab?" Spelman asked.
"He said, 'Yeah, you sound pretty, so cabs will probably stop for you before me,'" Spelman recalled Dale joking.
They chatted about baseball and how crowded the area was after a Saturday afternoon game as Spelman stepped out into the street to flag down a cab. Within minutes, a taxi pulled up and Spelman helped Dale inside, giving him a hug goodbye in the process.
"We laughed and exchanged goodbyes and went our separate ways," Spelman told CBS News.
The 26-year-old didn't think anything of her encounter with Dale. But Hamilton, who was watching from above, was so touched by the kind gesture he posted pictures of the pair on Facebook, praising the woman for lending a helping hand.
"There was a blind Cubs fan trying to hail a cab for several minutes until the lady came up and asked him if he needed help hailing a cab. She stood there with him until one pulled up," Hamilton wrote in the post that has since gone viral with nearly 8,000 shares. "Awesome to see such kindness in a world."
The next day, Spelman was surprised to see photos of herself and Dale online.
"It was a strange feeling to see photos of yourself that you did not know were taken," Spelman said. "Not only did I not realize anyone was watching, but I had no idea it would have such an impact on people."
Hundreds of people commented on Hamilton's post, thanking Spelman for stopping.
"Such a simple pure gesture of true genuine humanity as it should be, virtuous. Kudos! An honor to witness," one Facebook user wrote.
"As a person who is legally blind and in a wheelchair myself, God bless you," another commented. "It's not as easy as one thinks asking for help or hailing a taxi."
Spelman is glad her post is inspiring others and hopes others will step outside of their comfort zones if they encounter a similar situation.
"It's OK if you are unsure of how to interact with someone, but do your best, be brave, and just be willing to help," she