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Holiday Magic

Reader's Digest US

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December 2022 - January 2023

Stories of serendipity and selflessness remind us why this is the most wonderful time of the year

Holiday Magic

Real Live Elves

When local kids needed more than toys, strangers started checking off Santa's list

BY Derek Burnett

FOR YEARS, JESSIE the Elf had been a holiday fixture in Stephanie Levinson's pre-K classroom at San Fernando Elementary School in Los Angeles County. A veteran teacher in a severely disadvantaged neighborhood, Levinson knew that her young students had it rough-some were homeless, many were in foster care, others were crammed into garages or single rooms with eight to 10 other family members-so she made sure that Jessie, the class's Elf on the Shelf, was good to them every holiday season.

It was hard to do on a teacher's salary, but from the post-Thanksgiving return until the Christmas break, every day Jessie managed to bring the kids some little token of holiday magic a pack of crayons, a pencil, something. No matter how small the gift, her students were always grateful.

And there was a good chance it would outshine whatever their families could afford to give them. Despite being surrounded by wealthy neighborhoods, their community was so poor that when it rained, kids came to school wearing trash bags. Some didn't brush their teeth because they didn't own a toothbrush.

Then the pandemic hit and the district switched to online learning.

Zoom opened the educators' eyes to many other physical hardships their students faced. For Levinson and her colleagues, it was a peek behind the curtains into their students' home lives and what they saw broke the teachers' hearts.

One kindergartner spent her daily six hours of Zoom hunkered at the back of a mini-mart while her father worked. Others attended virtual class from motel rooms where their families were temporarily sheltering. On screen, some students had several siblings in the background, all sharing one bed and doing online school for various grades.

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Greetings from PERU AMATEUR CIRCUS

THE CLOWNERY STARTS on the sidewalk, even before you enter the big top. Crowds who show up to see the Peru Amateur Circus in Peru, Indiana, known as America's circus city, are greeted by merrymakers with silly jokes and swirly rainbow suckers. The smell of buttery popcorn fills the air; roaring trumpets fill the ears. Flossy cotton candy melts on the tongue. The circus is about to begin!

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A woman takes to the skies to make sure people in remote areas aren't forgotten for the holidays

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Greetings from MEDINA Ohio

IN OCTOBER 2024, Western North Carolina lay battered and sodden from the howling winds and relentless rain of Hurricane Helene. Meanwhile, 500 miles north, in Medina, Ohio, a group of guardian angels started planning a surprise.

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Give Yourself a Pep Talk

We get plenty of support for big occasions, but what about everyday moments when we need to rally?

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Greetings from ASHEVILLE North Carolina

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THE CRYPTO SCAM THAT SNARED A SMALL TOWN

How did a successful banker gamble his community's money away?

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BUILD MUSCLES FOR BETTER SLEEP

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I trained to avoid friendly fire. That helped at home too.

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The Long-Lost Letterman Jacket

And a surprise reunion after almost 30 years

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