Joie, a 5-year-old member of the kindergarten class at St. Rose of Lima in Chula Vista, wrote her Christmas wish on a scrap of paper meant for Santa. She and her classmates attached their wishes to balloons and set them free, filling the sky with colorful balloons.

Her letter to Santa asked for a mermaid doll with a bow for Christmas. She told Santa thanks and signed it “Love, Joie.”

On Dec. 17, Terry Hardin, a defense contract negotiator, was leaving work when he spotted the red balloon. It drifted down from the sky and after a few minutes finally landed in the parking lot. He saw something was attached and went over to check it out.

He read the note and saw the child’s name at the end. Reading it gave him chills. His mother, Joie Britt, had died in 2012. He wasn’t on good terms with her at the time of her death. He was angry with her when she died and he saw the child’s note as a message from heaven that this was a way he could set things right with his own mom.

His wife, Angel, set about the task of trying to identify the child so Terry could make her wish come true. She sent emails to anyone and everyone including news outlets like NBC 7 San Diego. She explained the story of the balloon and asked for help in finding the little girl. Mike Slater, a San Diego-area talk show host, asked his listeners for help and before long the letter’s author was identified.

Hardin got to meet Joie in her classroom on Dec. 19 where he presented her with a “Little Mermaid” doll complete with requested bow. Joie was bashful at first but as her classmates encouraged her, she opened the gift excitedly.

Hardin posed for a picture with Joie and her family. He has enjoyed the outpouring of support and kindness the episode has brought.

Claire walks over to her little chair and sits. You don’t see her face til she sits, her feet barely touching the floor.

“Hi, Mummy,” she says brightly, then wishing her a happy birthday,

“I want you to know that you’re the GREATEST mommy!” – spreading her arms wide to show just how much.

She then proceeds to tell her the reasons why she loves her.

When she shares her second reason, “you are amazing”, she really emphasizes the “amazing” bit!

She counts number three on her fingers, and number four as well, which she repeats as if to remind herself she’s on four now.

Awww, when she says “I love being with you”.

She goes quiet when she says, “You work so hard. I miss you when you’re gone”.

Then she perks up and asks her if she’s ready and ends by singing her happy birthday.

“We love you. Bah bye”, she says, sending her an mwah!

Beautiful little girl. Beautiful video.

Close to two million hits on YouTube and counting.

Hilarious! Who would have thought a hen would adopt baby kittens? Well this one seems to think that it can! And the kittens don’t appear to mind either.

The kittens are very cute though - it’s understandable that they’d bring out the nurturer in anyone — but a hen?!!

Another thing: the kittens’ mother is alive and well. She’s not missing or anything. She’s present in their lives, which makes the set-up all the more unusual.

Whenever mother cat goes away to do whatever mother cats go to do, mother hen steps right in. She apparently covers the kittens with her wings every night when they retire.

The cat and hen don’t get along. Not terribly surprising. Both ‘mothers’ are probably keeping the peace for the sake of the kittens :-).

Having another animal take care of her babies is most likely not what the cat bargained for, let alone having a two-legged one step in!

Every family deserves to be and feel safe under its own roof. Every child should feel protected. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case with this 10-year-old boy (Cameron) and his mum, but how it ended is a miracle.

Their home was broken into. Armed robbers pointed a gun at his mum. Cameron, not giving a second thought to his own safety, jumped in to try and save her, tackling the gunman.

“He had a gun at my mum’s face and I was scared that he was gonna shoot her and all in one motion I just jumped in and tackled him.”

Cameron was shot in the arm, after which the robbers ran away.

A child should never have to be in the following situation, no one should, let alone have to do what he did…but to do it is beyond commendable.

Things could have turned out so very differently. It’s a miracle that the shot wasn’t fatal, that the armed robbers ran away and caused no further harm. There are scenarios where sadly (devastatingly), it hasn’t been the case, which makes Cameron’s story that much more remarkable and worth celebrating. It’s really good news that this is a story that ended well. Cameron had a big part to play in that.

He’s right to feel like a hero when asked by the interviewer if he is one. There’s really no doubt that he is. He’s made of courageous stuff.

Kali Collins is just 10 years old but this week she has been making headlines for her incredible bravery that helped save her and her mother’s lives. Collins’ mother was driving along just this week when she suffered a major diabetic attack, thanks to Kali’s quick thinking though they and the entire family onboard survived what could have been a catastrophic afternoon.

Kali apparently realized shortly after her mother started driving that something wasn’t right. The van they were riding in was apparently out of control and driving on the wrong side of the road. Kali quickly took control of the van and proceeded to call her father and then 911 to get help. The quick thinking and quick reaction by this young girl was credited with saving the lives of everyone in the van that day.

Paramedics and emergency personnel have all agreed that Kali is in fact responsible for saving her and everyone else’s lives that day. Diabetic attacks happen frequently while driving and rarely do those affected fare very well in the endeavor. If Kali had not been in the front seat along side her mother that day they would likely never survived. This is a truly heartwarming story that shows just how much a small difference can make in the big picture of life, especially in the case of a medical emergency. Kali Collins is a true hero at only 10 years old thanks to her bravery and heroism this week.

Little Jonathan was born deaf. At eight months old, he had cochlear implants fitted to enable him to hear. The beautiful lady carrying him is his mum. His dad is doing the shooting, filming the moment the implants are turned on for the first time and little Jonathan’s reaction when he first hears his mum’s voice.

The look of awe and the smile on his face when his mum calls his name is priceless. He had his dummy in his mouth and it fell out when he smiled in response!

When she says, “could you hear that?”, he replies in baby talk, then laughs, like he’s saying, “yeah, yeah, I hear you, mummy!”

Towards the end of the video, he stretches out excitedly like he could do a back flip right there and then.

So beautiful. So so beautiful.

“We call that a late Christmas present”, says the doctor.

The gift that’s been given. The extra sensory angle of the world that’s been opened up to him. It’s a present indeed. And much more.

Since the video’s been uploaded, it’s garnered over three million hits on YouTube. Over three million hearts smiling back at Jonathan.