The week's good news: May 24, 2018

(Image credit: Pirotehnik/iStock)

Jump to category:

1. There's been a baby boom at this Oklahoma firehouse
2. Friends surprise teen with her own prom after she's injured in explosion
3. Woman who embroidered Queen Elizabeth's dress received flowers from the royal wedding
4. Man who learned how to read and write in his 30s graduates from college at 65
5. 93-year-old Ohio man gets first hole-in-one on final golf round of his life

published 24 May 2018

1. There's been a baby boom at this Oklahoma firehouse

They were already a tight-knit group, and now seven firefighters with the Glenpool Fire Department in Oklahoma have something else to bond over — over the last year, they've all become fathers. On Sunday, they decided to take a big fire family photo, and while it took a lot of effort to wrangle all the babies, their parents were happy with the results — in one photo, the five girls and two boys sat on their dads' jackets, and in another, they rested in their arms. "We're a really close group so we were glad we took the time to capture the babies with their daddies," mom Melanie Todd told CBS News. "Now we just look forward to seeing them all grow up together." Firefighter Mick Whitney said his colleagues and their spouses are all friends, and it feels fitting to go through parenthood together: "It's a unique dynamic."

Korryn Bachner couldn't go to the prom, so the prom came to her. The 15-year-old from Illinois was burned in April in a backyard fire pit explosion, which injured nearly a dozen teenagers. Bachner's face and hands were badly burned, and while she was able to leave the hospital to recover at home, she wasn't going to be able to attend prom with her friends. To surprise her, Bachner's prom date came over to her house and decorated the basement, and all of their friends came together for a mini-prom. "There were tears," her dad, Bob Bachner, told WLS-TV. Doctors say it will take several months, but they expect a full recovery. "Having all my friends support, it helps a lot," Bachner said. "It takes my mind off things."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

When she was 19, Pauline Clayton helped embroider the 15-foot-train on Queen Elizabeth II's wedding dress, and now, at 89, she's linked to another royal union. Flowers from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding on Saturday were donated to different charities and hospitals. A bouquet was sent to St. Joseph's Hospice in Hackney, where Clayton currently resides. "With my royal connections it's such a lovely coincidence to be at St. Joseph's and receive those wedding flowers," she said. "They are beautiful and very special." In 1947, Clayton was working for Norman Hartnell, the designer behind Queen Elizabeth's wedding gown. Along with three other women, she embroidered the train, and earned "49-and-a-half hours overtime," she said. Clayton worked for Hartnell for several years, and went on to make other outfits for the royal family, including dresses for the Queen Mother.

While helping his son apply to colleges, Freddie Sherrill heard something that surprised him: You should go to school, too. As a child, Sherrill had difficulty learning to read and write, and he began skipping school. As a teen, he became addicted to drugs and alcohol, and started breaking into homes. After several stints in prison and rehab, Sherrill became sober in 1988, and rebuilt his life, repairing his relationships with his wife and children, learning how to read and write, and eventually, earning an associate's degree. As he helped his son fill out college paperwork, the staff at Queens University of Charlotte told Sherrill he should also consider applying. He did, and after seven years of hard work, Sherrill received his degree in human service studies earlier this month. "I started a lot of things in my life I didn't finish," the 65-year-old told The Washington Post. "College wasn't going to be one of them."

After 65 years on the green, Ben Bender has retired from golf on a high — quitting the game just minutes after hitting his first-ever hole in one. The 93-year-old Ohioan bought his first set of clubs for $50 at age 28 and has been playing ever since, getting as low as a 3-handicap. The former insurance salesman, who suffers from hip bursitis, was on the third hole when he made his long-sought ace last month. "I played a few more holes, my hips were hurting, and I had to stop," Bender says. "It seemed the Lord knew this was my last round, so he gave me a hole in one."

Explore More

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.