The week's good news: October 26, 2017

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1. First she got catfished. Then she fell in love.
2. Newlyweds adopt the stray dog that crashed their wedding
3. Team carries woman with multiple sclerosis up a mountain to see gorillas
4. Neighbors put out chairs to make elderly veteran's daily walks easier
5. California man who took the bus 200 miles a day to work surprised with car

published 26 October 2017

1. First she got catfished. Then she fell in love.

Emma Perrier's dating disaster had a happy ending, thanks to an unusual twist of fate. The 34-year-old French expat in London had been enjoying an online romance with a dark-haired Italian hunk named Ronaldo when she realized something was up. For months, "Ronnie" had refused to meet in person. Increasingly suspicious, Perrier did some internet sleuthing and discovered she'd been "catfished": A balding 53-year-old from Stratford-upon-Avon had used photos of Turkish model Adem Guzel in order to win Perrier's affections. Heartbroken, Perrier messaged Guzel to warn him about the impostor. They began chatting and fell in love, and have now moved in together. "My catfish became Cupid," says Perrier.

He went from wedding crasher to part of the family. When Marília Pieroni and Matheus Gomes Martins got married on Sept. 30 in Laranjal Paulista, Brazil, rain forced them to move their ceremony inside a tent. As guests started to arrive, so did a muddy stray dog. He was led outside, but came back twice, including during the vows, when he settled in on Pieroni's veil. "I was really surprised and thought the little guy was really cute," she told HuffPost. The dog stayed for the reception, where he dined on food from the buffet before wandering off. The couple decided they wanted to adopt their wedding crasher, and finally tracked him down on Oct. 10. Now named Snoop, he is "adapting very well to his new routine," Pieroni said, adding, "We are so happy with him."

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Susie Twydell was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2012, and now using a wheelchair, thought she'd never be able to live out her dream of traveling to Africa to see gorillas in their natural habitat. When the London resident was told a team of porters could carry her in a stretcher up to see gorillas in a Rwandan wildlife park, she immediately started raising money for the trip of a lifetime. She went to Rwanda with her husband, David, and as promised, was lifted into a stretcher and carried for 45 minutes up the mountain. She was transferred to a wheelchair and saw a silverback and its babies from just a few yards away. There are fewer than 1,000 wild mountain gorillas worldwide, and Twydell said "it was such an amazing privilege" to see several up close — including a baby who was fascinated by her shoelaces.

Two times a day, Harvey Djerf, 95, sets off for a walk around his Plymouth, Minnesota, neighborhood, covering almost a mile. If he gets tired, it's not a problem — his neighbors have put chairs on their lawns so he always has a place to rest. The World War II veteran and retired biology teacher has been walking in this neighborhood for 64 years, and he said his fellow residents have noticed that as he gets older he has to stop more to catch his breath. "It's a wonderful experience and it's a social experience, and I get to know the neighbors and they get to know me," he told CBS News. He's hoping that by watching him stroll by, his neighbors will be motivated to put their walking shoes on, too.

In order to serve his fellow veterans, Josue Guerrero-Urbine would travel up to 200 miles a day by bus, boarding before the sun was up and coming home long after it set. Last week, he was surprised with a new car, and having reliable transportation will help him reach even more veterans. Guerrero-Uribe was in the Marine Corps for eight years, and when he came home from a tour in Iraq, was depressed and didn't want to talk to anyone. He became involved with a nonprofit called The Mission Continues, which assists veterans who are having a hard time as they transition out of the service, and it made such a difference he's now part of their outreach. "The Mission Continues gave me an option and opportunity to get out of my negative self and put my energy onto more positive things that help my community," he told NBC Los Angeles.

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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.