The week's good news: January 26, 2017

1. Great-grandmother graduates from college with 4.0 GPA

Amy Craton, 94, just received her bachelor's degree, but she's already looking forward to earning her master's. "I feel that I'm still on the road," she told Inside Edition. "I have more to learn." The Honolulu resident began attending college in 1962, but put her education on hold when she went through a divorce and became a single mom. Years later, Craton decided to finish what she started, completing her courses online and earning a 4.0 GPA along the way. The president of Southern New Hampshire University surprised Craton by bringing her degree to Hawaii, and the new graduate said she's proud of her accomplishment. "It feels good to finish that part of my life," she said. "I couldn't see just sitting there watching Netflix all the time."

Inside Edition

2. Puppies found alive 5 days after Italy avalanche

Five days after an avalanche buried the Hotel Rigopiano in Farindola, Italy, rescuers found three sheepdog puppies alive in the rubble. "[This is an] important sign of life, which gives us hope," a firefighter said. Nine people were also pulled out of the rubble alive, telling rescuers they survived by eating snow.

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The Guardian

3. 31-year-old man welcomes sick 89-year-old neighbor to move in with him

When Norma Cook, 89, offered Chris Salvatore, 31, a glass of champagne after he moved in across the hall from her, he had a feeling they would become friends. Neither one of them knew that five years later, they'd be roommates. Cook, who has described Salvatore as "the grandson she never had," has leukemia, and after spending two months in the hospital with pneumonia, was told she needed 24-hour care. Salvatore invited Cook and her cat to move into his West Hollywood, California, apartment, and "she couldn't be happier that I asked," he told Today. Cook's unlikely roommate is a "really wonderful guy," and their days together are well-spent. "We always watch the news," she said. "We mostly talk and drink champagne and eat peanuts."

Today

4. Veteran returns dog tags to brother of soldier killed in action

For 12 years, veteran Corey Tibbets safeguarded the dog tags of Lance Cpl. Hector Ramos, who was killed when his helicopter crashed in Iraq in 2005. Tibbets was part of the first unit on the scene, and when he found the dog tags, he made a promise to himself that he would one day get them to the fallen soldier's family. From his Texas home, Tibbets tracked down Ramos' brother, Iraq War veteran Noah Ramos, on Facebook, and told him what he had. The pair recently met in Chicago, and Ramos said their friendship was instant. "Corey just went above and beyond — as a Marine would do — and I feel blessed he's in my life now," Ramos told NBC Chicago. "I got a piece of my brother back."

NBC Chicago

5. 11-year-old may be youngest yoga instructor in U.S.

When 11-year-old Tabay Atkins isn't at school or building elaborate Lego creations, he's a popular yoga instructor, teaching classes three days a week in San Clemente, California. When he was six, his mother, Sahel Anvarinejad, enrolled in a yoga teacher training program after completing chemotherapy for non-Hodgkin lymphoma (she is now cancer-free), and her son was there "every step of the way," she told ABC News. "He saw how it changed me. I was lighter. I didn't have the heaviness that cancer brings." Last year, Atkins completed his own yoga training program, and now teaches at his mother's studio, Care4Yoga, with proceeds from his classes going to charities helping kids with cancer.

ABC News