Stranger pays for a family's breakfast tab and writes heartfelt note praising the father of three kids

Watch this video letter (via Facebook) from a kidney recipient to his donor

A kidney recipient named Justin reads a letter he wrote to his deceased donor about how the person's generous kidney donation saved his parents from having to watch him suffer and his brother from having the pressure of perhaps being his only shot at a life-saving transplant.

Read what actions helped support grieving individuals during times of anguish

Concrete acts of kindness that buoyed New York Times readers after the deaths of loved ones varied widely. Examples include: friends sending emojis requiring no reply, coming over without asking to clean a grieving individual's bathroom, feeding them, taking them for periodic outdoor walks, and simply sitting with them so they weren't alone. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

Good Samaritans help Florida driver experiencing medical emergency

When a driver experienced a medical episode and was drifting into an intersection, people around her sprang into action and saved everyone on the road from a potentially life-threatening crash.

Buford the Pyrenees showered with gifts after rescuing 2-year-old boy lost in the desert

The young boy wandered away from his family home and ended up spending the night alone in the Arizona wilderness. A search party of more than 40 people and a helicopter participated in looking for the boy. A dog named Buford eventually found the child and led him back to a ranch, allowing him to soon be reunited with his family. Once the story broke, Buford started receiving an influx of toys and treats from strangers.

Toddler delivers tear-jerking speech at her mom and dad's wedding

Three-year-old Evie brought her father to tears while sharing loving words before her mother walked down the aisle.

An 87-year-old widower goes viral for hand-delivering party invitations door to door that read "4 pm until the cops arrive"

A man knocked on his neighbor's door to offer a paper invitation to a winter-themed party he was throwing. "My wife is gone now, so it gives me something to keep me busy," he later explained. "I'm going to get these people in one room, and maybe they'll get to know each other." The viral experience has since brought him fan mail and party treats.

Alzheimer's as a family disease: When children become "parents"

Kitty Eisele's 81-year-old dad went missing while on a snowy, four-hour drive from Minneapolis to Iowa City. It was the first emergency that spelled out the danger of her dad's dementia diagnosis—and captures how Alzheimer's impacts entire families, with the influx of responsibility that comes with caregiving.

Hospitals are required to care for emergency patients, even if they can't pay for services.

Rural emergency rooms are sometimes operating without any physicians on-site

These facilities may not have an on-site doctor at all, with norms varying widely by state. In North and South Dakota, more than half of their emergency departments were running without 24/7 attending physician staffing, according to recent research. Instead, they're staffed by physician assistants and nurses.

Veteran pilot guides 21-year-old pilot through emergency landing

Soothing words from Chris Yates helped guide Taylor Hash, 21, through an emergency landing after he learned she shared the same first name as his daughter.

Turning a profit with terminal illness

After Amanda Riley was diagnosed with cancer, her social media followers rallied to raise funds to ensure their favorite religious influencer could afford one miracle after another. As more than $100,000 of donations poured in, Riley shared glimpses into her health struggles, posting evidence as fake as her diagnosis. Pulling from years of journalistic investigation, this eight-episode podcast series dives into Riley's reality.

Read what it's like working in emergency medicine

A board-certified emergency medicine physician working in the Bronx writes about what her workweeks look like and what attracted her to this fast-paced medical specialty, including being able to help suffering patients quickly, treating a wide range of ailments, and tending to disadvantaged communities.

This Indiana medical school encouraged students to get to know their cadavers' families

The school's anatomy professor instructed medical students to think of the cadavers they worked with as their "first patients"—using their names to acknowledge that this was a person and to exchange letters with the cadaver's family members if they agreed to participate. At the conclusion of the course, families were invited to a lab-based memorial service.

There may be a surplus of nearly 8,000 emergency room doctors by 2030

That was the 2021 prediction of the American College of Emergency Physicians, which led to a sudden steep decline in the field among medical students and residents. (Some users may encounter a paywall.)

A poignant account of what happened on Flight 93

Todd Beamer was a religious family man. Mark Bingham was gay, a PR executive and a keen sportsman. The story of Flight 93 shows how these two very different men became heroes of America.

Meeting someone with common healthcare challenges can be life-changing

The understanding that comes from meeting others who have similar experiences can provide hope that life can get better, the solace of affirmation, and make navigating a new diagnosis or a rare illness, in particular, much easier.

Illinois man finds 46-year-old Christmas present addressed to him while remodeling his parents' home

In 2025, a 53-year-old man found a gift addressed to him from around 1978 when he was about 6 years old. He located the gift, a box of Matchbox model airplanes, behind a wall, and opened it in front of his parents.

A mother goes viral for sharing tips for making her home a "hang out" spot for her son and his friends

A mom shared an Instagram reel of her college-aged son and friends hanging out and playing cards in her dining room. She wrote a note explaining how she helped make this happened, and provided tips to other parents hoping to keep their children visiting home for a long time. She encouraged parents to keep snacks in the house, say yes when their kids asked to hang with friends, and to be okay with a bit of a mess, among other things.

In the 1960s, Virginia became home to the first emergency department in the US.

Read an article about what happens when nurses are hired like Ubers.

Listen to how medical error affected an emergency physician's approach

Emergency physician Dr. Sarah Gray discusses her worst medical error, what she learned from it, and how medical error and the culture around it lead to physician burnout. In addition to lawsuits, medical errors can lead to guilt, shame, anxiety, and fears of embarrassment, so this podcast discusses how sharing such errors and teaching about them can improve care.

Mother's Day is one of the restaurant industry's biggest days

Brunch is a popular activity for the holiday, leading to large parties, long lines, and big checks—in 2023, the National Retail Federation anticipated $5.6B spent on a meal or outing. That's made Mother's Day a notorious day for service workers, with CNN calling it "The most hated day in the restaurant industry."

A group of 88 kindergarteners creates heartfelt centerpieces defining what love is for their teacher's wedding

Ahead of her big day, a kindergarten teacher came up with an idea to have her students help decorate her wedding tables. Teachers prompted their students to fill out the prompt "love is…" and found that the children shared a variety of heartfelt responses.

Doctors are prescribing social activities—and seeing good results

Physicians, especially in the UK, are asking patients what they enjoy and then prescribing a consistent regimen of doing that type of activity to improve fitness and overall health, including community exercise classes, volunteering, and spending time in nature. This approach may provide better incentives to stick with an activity.

Leaving cookies for Santa became popular in America during the Great Depression.

A 19-month-old boy went viral for his natural drumming skills

A mother gifted her husband a drum set for Christmas, but was surprised to find their young child take a liking to the instrument. The musician couple noticed that over time the young boy taught himself proper form and how to keep up with the beat of the music. TikToks they filmed of their son went viral and amassed millions of views.

Americans spend an average of nearly $500 per year on tipping at restaurants and bars

The habit runs contrary to economic rationality: Why pay more for a good or service you have already received when it isn’t mandatory? Researchers found that people tip, in part, to avoid the psychological pain of not fitting in.

Buffett is known for being extremely generous with his fortune

So generous that in 2010 he pledged to donate 99% of his money. He said this money “can have a huge effect on the health and welfare of others.” This letter is Buffett’s philanthropic pledge, which details his commitment to giving and how luck and privilege helped him accumulate so much money.

The American diner evolved from a 'lunch wagon' into a restaurant

Providence, Rhode Island's Walter Scott began serving homemade dishes from a freight wagon to late-night workers, who were looking for meals long after proper restaurants had closed for the night. Scott quickly inspired dozens of copycats, crowding the streets and leading to complaints. Soon, Scott and his imitators parked their carts, which became the earliest American diners.

Patients are messaging their doctors online more than ever—recent research suggests portal messages have risen by 157% since 2020.

USA Today asked readers about their grief—and received more than 700 responses

The submissions included one moving story of two women whose sons died by drug overdose. The duo wrote that they found each other in a support group and decided to navigate their respective difficult situations by starting a podcast together called "Two Moms with Two Dead Kids," which focused on what life was like in the years following the deaths of their children.

Dozens of US women in labor turned away from hospital between 2022 and 2024

An Associated Press analysis of federal hospital investigation data concluded that more than 100 pregnant women in medical distress were turned away from emergency rooms or treated negligently since 2022.

See checks signed by US presidents

One bank has made it a point to conserve checks from US presidents. Peruse this gallery of signed checks from Washington, FDR, JFK, Lincoln, and more.

Teen who walked 6 miles to graduation receives college scholarship on the spot

Xavier Jones, a 14-year-old boy, set out to attend his eighth-grade graduation ceremony at Harris-Stowe State University, walking six miles in the hot sun. Inspired by his perseverance, LaTonia Collins Smith, the university's president, awarded him...

How two families navigated an unthinkable IVF mistake

The field offers hope to thousands of families annually, but it is also largely unregulated, and for a small number of parents, things can go terribly wrong.

After a dementia diagnosis, it's important to plan ahead but also savor the moment

The next steps after a diagnosis include taking lifestyle steps to slow disease progression and completing legal paperwork about long-term medical preferences. It's also important to appreciate the moments and days ahead and find humor in them, when possible. (Some users may encounter a paywall.)

Siblings surprise their parents with a recreation of a 1980s childhood photo

The three sisters and one brother recreated a professional photo taken of them in classic 1980s garb. They captured a TikTok of their parents' hilarious reactions that went viral.

The children of parents who died on 9/11 share their stories in remembrance

Many children of 9/11 victims were too young to remember their parents who died. They’ve grown up living with the tension between having a personal connection to the day but few, if any memories. Read some of their stories.

Inside the lives of FIRE followers

A man named Barney Whiter saved half of his salary each month so that, eventually, he could retire at age 43. Other FIRE followers rent out rooms in their homes or even their cars in attempts to achieve the same financial freedom.

Famed investor Ray Dalio and his wife, Barbara Dalio, have donated money to help fund new investment accounts for US children called 'Trump Accounts.'

The Dalios have committed $250 per child to 300,000 children under 10 years old in Connecticut who live in ZIP codes where the median income is less than $150K—an expected total of at least $75M. The money is designated for "Trump Accounts," or investment accounts with $1K provided to children to put towards education or starting a small business.

'Donation after circulatory death' is on the rise

This occurs when a patient in a coma is on life support and family members agree to donate the organs. Watch this video about a 2025 New York Times investigation that identified 12 instances across nine states of bungled or premature attempts to retrieve organs from people whose families had authorized withdrawal of life support.

Advocate estimate roughly 27% of Black service workers live below the poverty line

That’s significantly higher than the rate for restaurant workers overall. Approximately 37% of tipped workers are mothers, nearly half being single moms struggling with income volatility. This article includes more statistics about what the average tipped worker looks like and offers a peek inside their lives.

One dad, one hundred babies

A look at the companies offering surrogacy to the ultrarich—including Chinese men taking their reproductive cues from Elon Musk.

A life measured on the backs of coffee receipts

Years ago, a storyteller doodled on the back of a receipt. Hundreds of doodles later, Odding Wang has created a digital diary with a tactile feel. Click through the project's website to peruse the portals into Wang's life and mind. Hovering over a comic will reveal the receipt on the other side.

Concierge medicine offerings are growing on college campuses, catering to students

Parents are interested in concierge and direct primary care services for their kids, including offerings with dorm visits, guaranteed same-day appointments, and medication access, so new practices have sprung up catering to college settings. (Some users may encounter a paywall.)

Read an email Steve Jobs wrote himself in 2010

Steve Jobs apparently liked to email himself to save his thoughts. This archival email, written the year before he died, shows Jobs expressing gratitude and wonder for the world and its creative people.

'The Vulture and the Little Girl' (1993) has a controversial story behind it

The tragic Pulitzer Prize-winning image taken by South African photojournalist Kevin Carter depicts a little girl suffering from starvation during a famine in Sudan in 1993. Carter faced criticism from the public for taking her picture instead of helping her. A few months later, Carter took his own life.

Bizarre college donations and the strings attached

When donors give to a college, they regularly prescribe specific stipulations, typically to fund a professorship in their name in a certain subject. But some of those stipulations are unique, including requiring annual graveside flowers, pet adoption for 150 dogs, or the consistent teaching of Ayn Rand’s "Atlas Shrugged."

Welles Crowther, the "Man in the Red Bandana," saved up to 18 lives by repeatedly entering the South Tower's burning sky lobby to guide survivors to safety before dying in its collapse.

Daniel Coleman, the real-life star of the popular kids' show 'Danny Go!,' is grieving the recent death of his own 14-year-old son while he makes upbeat children's content.