Five siblings marry on the same day, and more

Five siblings marry on the same day

Five siblings in Mesa, Ariz., tied the knot on the same day last month. Emily, Sydney, Walker, Bradford, and Brooke Waldie walked down the aisle with their respective partners one after the other, in a series of wedding ceremonies that lasted most of the day. The brothers and sisters and their new spouses then invited 1,200 guests to celebrate the happy day at a reception so big it had to be held in an aircraft hangar. “We do tend to do everything together,” said the happy quintet’s father, Doug.

Maine woman gives birth to a grandson

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A woman in northern Maine has given birth to her own grandson, after acting as a surrogate mother for her daughter. Linda Sirois agreed to bear the child after learning that her daughter Angel had a heart condition that prevented her from undergoing labor. Having successfully had her daughter’s eggs implanted in her uterus, Sirois gave birth last month to a healthy boy. The 49-year-old mother of four played down her role in her grandson’s birth, saying, “I just saw it as I was babysitting for a few months.”

Native son leaves $125 million

A struggling county in Indiana has received an unexpected windfall in the form of a $125 million endowment from an insurance magnate who grew up there. David Gundlach, who died in California in October, left the extraordinary sum to Elkhart County, which suffered devastating job losses during the recession in the recreational vehicle industry concentrated there. Gundlach’s gift will be shared among various nonprofits that serve the Elkhart community, including day-care facilities, retirement homes, and arts organizations. Gundlach’s generosity, said Community Foundation President Pete McCown, “will change the lives of people in Elkhart County forever.”