Alabama’s five most inspirational feel-good stories of 2015

Over the next couple of weeks, Yellowhammer will recap some of the most important Alabama stories of 2015, from politics and business, to faith and culture, and everything in between.

Terrorism may be dominating the headlines right now, but Alabama had produced some incredible feel-good stories this year as well.

Here are five of the best:

1. The oldest living person on Earth has one wish: ‘I want to go home’ to Alabama

Susannah Mushatt Jones was born in 1899 in rural Lowndes County, Alabama, about an hour southwest of Montgomery. She took an early interest in education and graduated high school in 1922. But although she was accepted into Tuskegee Institute’s teaching program, her family could not afford to pay for the tuition, so she hopped a train to New York.

She cared for the children of wealthy families throughout the years, many of whom have stayed in touch with her over the decades. And she’s always maintained a simple lifestyle: “no parties, smoking, or alcohol,” noted Business Insider. “She used her salary to send her nieces to college and to provide scholarships for other Alabama students, so they would not be prevented from attending college as she was.”

In June of this year, Ms. Jones’ good genes, clean living and remarkable history of avoiding the degenerative diseases that plague so many Americans as they age, propelled her to the title of World’s oldest living person.

At 116-years-old, she still starts every day with a breakfast of bacon, eggs and grits, along with a glass of water and cranberry juice, a multivitamin and some blood-pressure medication. She sees the doctor just a few times each year and never complains of pain. In fact, she actually shows signs of “reverse aging.” Some of her hair has begun to change back from gray to brown and when she was in her mid-90s she grew a new tooth.

Her only vice, if you can even call it that, is lace lingerie from Bloomingdale’s.

“One time, when she had to get an EKG, the doctors and nurses were surprised to see her wearing that lingerie,” her niece told Time Magazine. “She said, ‘Oh sure, you can never get too old to wear fancy stuff.’”

So what’s her secret? She often credits her faith in God for her longevity, but says she hasn’t uncovered any mysterious fountain of youth.

“I have no secret,” she told Time. “My family makes me happy. That’s the only thing I can say. My family really makes me happy… They don’t do things to make me sad.”

And after living such a long and full life, she really only has one wish remaining.

“She wants to go back to Alabama,” her caretaker, Cecily Freser, told Business Insider. “This is her main thing, ‘I want to go home.’ Alabama to her is home.”

2. Alabama boy fed a homeless man in Waffle House, but what he did next left everyone in tears

Earlier this year in Prattville, Alabama, 5-year-old Josiah Duncan learned for the first time what it means for someone to be homeless.

After noticing a particularly dirty man standing just inside the door of Waffle House as he entered the restaurant with his mom, young Josiah asked about his appearance.

“He’s homeless,” his mom, Ava Faulk, explained.

“What does that mean?” He asked.

“Well, he doesn’t have a house,” she told him.

Josiah rightly realized the man also did not have any food, and decided he was going to do something about.

Josiah asked his mom if they could buy the man a meal, which she agreed to do. He immediately sprang into action, asking the man to come sit down, which he did, and Josiah gave him a menu, “because you can’t order without one.”

He told the man he could order whatever he wanted, which, as it turns out, meant a healthy serving of bacon. But when the food arrived, Josiah jumped back in, because there was one more thing he just knew he had to do.

“I wanted to say the blessing with him,” Josiah recalled. In fact, he decided to belt the blessing out in the form of a song, which he sang with all of his heart.

“God our Father, God our Father, we thank you, we thank you, for our many blessings, for our many blessings, Amen, Amen,” he proclaimed.

The man broke down in tears, along with everyone else in the restaurant.

Matthew 25:35-40 is one of the most well-known passages in the Bible:

For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

5-year-old Josiah Duncan clearly understands the meaning of that passage better than most.

“(It) will be forever one of the greatest accomplishments as a parent I’ll ever get to witness,” his mom said.

3. Alabama Chick-fil-A owner’s act of kindness caught on camera becomes inspiration to thousands

When Andrea Stoker carried her young son into a Birmingham Chick-fil-A on Tuesday to pass the time during their dog’s vet appointment next door, she had no idea she’d end up turning the store’s owner into a viral Internet star for all the right reasons.

But that’s exactly what happened after she posted the following image and message on Chick-fil-A’s Facebook page.

I’m a Chick-fil-A fan and have been for years. I trust the food for my son and support companies that are founded on Christian beliefs.

What I saw today just confirms why this chain is so successful — God blesses His people.

My son and I were at the location on Highway 280 in Birmingham, AL when a man came in to escape the 35 degree temps and strong winds with all of his earthly possessions strapped to his back.

Most businesses would force him out, but I watched as the manager walked up to him and asked if he could do anything for him. Before the man could even answer, the manager asked if he had a pair of gloves and walked to the table at which he’d been sitting and picked up his own. As he handed the man his gloves, he asked another employee to get him something to eat.

It was wonderful to see your employees being the hands and feet of Jesus, and that my son was able to witness it all. Thank you for putting your money where your mouth is.

As the post spread on Facebook, more and more stories began to come out about the store’s owner, Mark Meadows, who apparently has an extensive history of doing simple acts of kindness for complete strangers.

One commenter noted that “this is also the same owner who, while drivers were stuck on 280 during the ice storm in January, fed an many stranded motorists as possible. Mark is truly an amazing person!”

A waitress at another local restaurant had a great Mark Meadows story to share as well.

“He (ate) at my work ((Applebee’s cullman)) not long ago, left me a $35 tip and paid for the tables bill beside me,” she wrote. “Said he did it once a month an leaves them a Chick-fil-A card in place of their bill. Amazing man!”

And another commenter shared a story that illustrates the culture of service that has been cultivated by Chick-fil-A restaurants all over the Birmingham area and around the country.

“I was in the CFA on Hwy 31 in Hoover several months ago and saw something similar,” she wrote. “It was pouring rain, and they had let a homeless man stay most of the day and given him food and had also gotten him some clothes from Burlington Coat Factory. So wonderful to see the love of Christ put into action to meet someone’s needs. LOVE Chick-Fil-A!!!!!”

After all of this, all we can really think to say is…

4. Alabama student delivers powerful prayer at graduation: ‘We know that God is able’

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZ1JKH22Ukw
(Video Above: Clay-Chalkville graduate Christian Crawford prays for a member of the audience during his commencement ceremony.)

An Alabama high school student delivered a powerful impromptu prayer earlier this year at his high school graduation as a medical emergency was taking place in the crowd.

“We don’t know what’s going on, but we will pray,” said graduating senior Christian Crawford. “We know that prayer is powerful, and we know that God is able.”

The crowd erupted in applause when Christian was finished delivering his spontaneous prayer, and the commencement ceremony continued without incident.

Listen to Christian’s powerful prayer in the video above.

5. Son of Alabama KKK member stuns Finebaum with incredible story of racial healing

(Video above: The incredible story of how an Alabama man left his racist past behind during the Vietnam War)

Finebaum and “feel-good” don’t always go in the same sentence, but in January of this year a call-in to the show took an unexpected turn.

“Jay in Huntsville” explained to Finebaum that he “grew up in Alabama and was raised a racist.” His father was in the KKK, as were all his uncles, and he was proud of it.

But in a decision that would end up changing his life in countless ways, Jay joined the Marine Corps in 1967 and ended up in Vietnam alongside a fellow Marine who he described as the “most militant acting and talking black person that was ever on the face of the Earth.”

They “tried to kill each other for the next couple of weeks, about every day,” until a Gunnery Sergeant took them aside and told them “next time that happens, you’re going home on a bad-conduct discharge.”

They decided to put aside their differences for the time being, in spite of the strong animosity they continued to feel toward each other.

But once they ended up in a fox hole together in the jungle of Vietnam and the bullets started flying, things would never be the same.

“Over the next two years, he saved my life a couple of times and I saved his life a couple of times,” Jay explained. “And didn’t neither one of us want to leave Vietnam… but in ’69, we both had to leave.”

Jay moved back to Alabama to go to school and his newfound “well, I guess you could call us ‘friends’” moved to Detroit.

They kept in touch over the next several years as Jay earned his engineering degree in Tuscaloosa. But things weren’t going quite as well for his buddy in Detroit, so Jay invited him down to Alabama to work under him at the company where he’d landed a job after graduation.

His friend went on to get his degree from UA, but the story gets even better.

“He decided he wanted to outdo me, which he always did, and he went on and got his Master’s degree,” Jay explained, “so I wound up working for him.”

And then the bombshell:

“And 32 years ago come April 3rd of this year… I will have been married to his sister for 32 years,” Jay said, stunning Finebaum. “He was the best man in my wedding. We had two sons a piece. All four of them graduated from the University of Alabama.”

And four decades after they met each other in a war zone on the other side of the planet with hatred in their hearts, they’re best friends and live on the same street.

“We’ve had a good life and he lives about 3 houses down now and we still try to lie as much as we can about our war exploits,” Jay laughed. “But it just goes to prove that anything can happen to a former racist… He turned out to be a lot better than I thought at first, and I hope I did, too.”