It wasn’t all bad

For Oklahoman Josh Wilson, 41, a failed ad turned into a successful declaration of love. Wilson bought billboard ads for his business, Living Water Irrigation, in January. They weren’t attracting new customers, but Wilson couldn’t cancel the one-year, $1,200-a-month campaign. His business coach proposed an idea: Why not use them to show his appreciation for his wife? So Wilson printed “Amy, I love you more!” on eight billboards across Tulsa. “A lot of people wondered if I was in trouble with Amy,” Wilson said, “but I just adore her.”

When the Roseville, Calif., police department called for help to find a 97-year-old woman with dementia, a squad of four embarked on a mission to find her. Logan Hultman, Makenna Rogers, and Kashton Claiborne, all 10, and Hope Claiborne, 11, took to the streets on their bikes, riding across town, over hills, and through parks. Logan fell off his bike and hurt himself, but they regrouped after patching up his wound and eating dinner. They finally spotted the missing woman near the senior center and alerted the police, who took over and, as Logan said modestly, “took care of everything else.” The kids celebrated with a party in Makenna’s treehouse.

Kade Lovell hadn’t planned on running a 10-kilometer race, but the Minnesota fourth-grader won anyway. Kade had registered for the St. Francis Franny Flyer 5K. When the path took a turn, a volunteer assumed he was running the similar 10K path, and told him to go straight. “I’m just going to keep running,” the 9-year-old decided when he saw the 10K signs. Kade finished the 6.2-mile race in 48 minutes 17 seconds, 1 minute ahead of the 40-year-old runner-up. His only concern? “I thought my mom was going to be worried, and when she gets worried, she starts to get a little angry.”

Getty, screenshot: City of Roseville/California Police Dept. ■