The week's good news: April 13, 2017

(Image credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

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1. Special Easter eggs let blind children participate in egg hunt
2. Virginia crossing guard celebrates 50 years of service in the same spot
3. High school sweethearts reunite, get married on April Fools' Day
4. Law enforcement officials work together to save sick bald eagle
5. On his 105th birthday, this man became the world's oldest person to ride a roller coaster

published 13 April 2017

1. Special Easter eggs let blind children participate in egg hunt

In Bakersfield, California, 22 blind and visually impaired children tackled an Easter egg hunt in an unexpected way — instead of looking for the eggs, they listened. The plastic eggs were specially designed by the Bakersfield Police Department's bomb squad, outfitted so they would make beeping noises, which the children followed. The kids exchanged the eggs for snow cones, popcorn, candy, and other treats, and they all went home with individualized Easter baskets. Gaylene Roberts, a principal who oversees education for the blind and visually impaired, said for kids who have difficulty seeing, egg hunts are the type of experience they typically don't get a chance to have. For them to be able to participate in a traditional event in an innovative way, "you can't really put a value on it," she told The Bakersfield Californian. "It touches the hearts of all of us."

For five decades and through all kinds of weather, Janet Haines has been standing at the intersection of Broad and Spring Streets in Falls Church, Virginia, ready to help kids safely get to and from school. Haines started her career as a crossing guard on March 29, 1967, and has gotten to know generations of St. James Catholic School students. Last week, the 91-year-old was surprised when the school celebrated her milestone work anniversary with an assembly, cards, and gifts. Haines told The Huffington Post she enjoys the "pleasant work environment," and made no mention of retiring. Sister Mary Sue Carwile, the principal of St. James Catholic School, said Haines "always has a smile for everybody" and is a positive influence. "I always call her our ambassador to the world of kindness and care," Carwile said.

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Like most high school sweethearts, Joyce Kevorkian and James Bowman went their separate ways after graduating in 1953. They attended different schools and married other people, only reconnecting at the occasional high school reunion. Last fall, Kevorkian, 81, was surprised to receive a letter from Bowman, also 81, and she quickly wrote him back, telling him she wanted to get together. He drove five hours to her home in South Bend, Indiana, and they discovered that the years hadn't changed anything. "We found we liked each other as much as we liked each other when we were 17," Kevorkian told BuzzFeed News. "We laughed at the same jokes." Both of their spouses had died, and while neither one ever planned on remarrying, that's exactly what they did, tying the knot on April 1. "We thought that was a good day for two old fools to get married," Kevorkian said.

An injured bald eagle is recuperating in Kansas after a team made up of a sheriff's sergeant, two firefighters, and an animal conservationist rallied together to save him. Sgt. Justin Antle of the Sedgwick County Sheriff's Office received a call about a hurt bird near Lake Afton, and after finding the injured eagle, enlisted the help of Ken Lockwood of the Eagle Valley Raptor Center. On his way to the lake, Lockwood stopped by the Sedgwick County Fire Department and picked up firefighters to assist in the rescue. After following the bird for hours, they were finally able to capture him. The eagle, estimated to be about 3 years old, is now on the mend, and will be released back into the wild when he's feeling better. "It's an eagle — that's our national symbol," Lockwood told ABC News. "You just have to go rescue them. You can't just let it die."

Jack Reynolds refuses to act his age. The great-grandfather from northern England celebrated his 105th birthday last week by becoming the world's oldest person to ride a roller coaster. Wearing a sweatshirt emblazoned with the phrase "It's my party and I'll scream if I want to," Reynolds took a spin on the Twistosaurus coaster at the Flamingo Land theme park. "It were OK," the former railway worker said as he disembarked. "I'm going for another ride in a minute!" It was his second world record: Last year, at 104, he became the oldest person to get a tattoo.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.