Let's hear it for the nurses and teachers, especially right now!
This week, E! News helped celebrate National Nurses Day, highlighting 17 incredible and brave healthcare workers, and National Teachers Day, shouting out education workers who have gone above and beyond to help their students despite their classrooms currently being closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In this week's round-up of Feel Good Friday stories, we've got two such examples of teachers going out of their way to lift their students' spirits, as well as two nurses who traveled from Arkansas to New York to do their part and two delivery men taking small acts of kindness to make a big impact on their customers' lives.
Plus, John Cena paid a sweet visit to one of his biggest fans who is currently battling a rare form of cancer, showing up to his home with special gifts to help make one of his dreams come true.
Here are six stories we hope can bring a smile to your face heading into the weekend...
Even though their school is closed through the academic school year, the Van Holten Primary School Huskies are still a family.
In an exclusive video, the staff from the Bridgewater elementary school virtually banded together to spread an uplifting message to their students, featuring the principal, teachers and staff members, along with their own children and pets.
Their "Message to Our Van Holten Huskies" included sweet photo and video messages, some song and dance and plenty of colorful signs and chalk artwork assuring students that they are missed and supported and that this challenging time won't last forever.
Principal George Rauh told E! News that the idea came from the staff wanting to do something special for their students.
"They reached out, said, You know we're feeling that our students aren't feeling connected to school. We want to try to do something," he recalled. Initially, staff members wanted to drive by houses in their cars, but considering the social distancing protocols that were in place at the time, the idea was changed to making a video and they reached out to fellow staff to collect clips and edit them all together.
"I'm not crying. You're trying." That's what Liz Paternoster wrote on Twitter when her FedEx delivery man Jordan Prince made sure her daughter Emma had a memorable stay-at-home 6th birthday celebration.
He "just wanted to make my birthday special," Emma told News 8 of the sweet gesture, with Jordan going to buy cupcakes for her and returning to the home after learning it was her birthday.
"He really, truly is a hero," Liz said. "I mean, they're so busy right now. And to still think of others, even those that you don't even know, is inspiring."
No act of kindness is ever too small. Author Maureen Johnson shared a heartwarming story on Twitter, revealing how one local Pennsylvania company, Castle Garden Center, went above and beyond to help her parents after they learned her mother Mary Johnson hadn't been out in weeks.
When a delivery driver arrived later to drop off the flowers she ordered, they also brought four bags of groceries and a few pre-made meals. "That guy, he touched my heart so deeply," Johnson said The Inquirer. "Words can't express how I felt when he took those groceries out of the car."
It was Dan Owarzani, a 72-year-old retired postal worker, who went and bought the groceries himself and refused money after he dropped them off.
Do "anything to make someone smile," Owarzani told The Philadelphia Inquirer. "Especially today. People need that. Try to smile and we'll get through this."
What better way to celebrate the recent National Teachers Day than by highlighting Manhattan Beach Unified School District teacher Heather Tuttle, who donned a costume to surprise one of her students on his birthday.
"My son's Special Education teacher surprised him during his 'Birthday Drive-by' yesterday," Pete Halvorsen shared on Twitter. "She strolled up in a unicorn costume dancing to 'One More Time' from Trolls."
We agree when he added, "Ms. Tuttle you're the best!"
Mother and daughter nursing duo Uchenna and Ona, who traveled from Arkansas to New York to help save lives when the city was in need, received the ultimate surprise from Jimmy Kimmel and Courteney Cox when they called into his show this week.
After talking about their experiences working on the frontlines, including working 12-hour shifts in the ICU, the host and the Friends star revealed they had ordered 100 pizzas from F&F pizzeria in Brooklyn to treat Uchenna, Ona and the entire nursing staff. Kimmel then went on to reveal he, thanks to Mary Kay, was gifting them $10,000 each, as well as sending Mary Kay skincare gift bags and hand sanitizers to their fellow nurses.
As she fought back tears, Uchenna exclaimed, "Thank you, Monica!"
The former WWE superstar recently visited 7-year-old David Castle ahead of his birthday at his home in Odessa, Florida, bringing "lots of goodies including two WWE title belts, signed T-shirts, a signed program, signed bobblehead, hat and some of his armbands," his mother Tammy Miller told WFLA News Channel 8.
The young fan is currently battling a Wilms tumor—also known as nephroblastoma, a rare kidney cancer that primarily affects children. David's mother also told the local news channel that her son was "filled with excitement and had tears of joy when he saw one of his favorite wrestlers."