When I see them, I often save articles that describe good people doing good things. Here are two of my favorites from 2016.

At rest with honor. Andrew Moore died last year the way he had lived most of his life . . . alone.

When Moore was young, he was placed in an orphanage, a home for children without parents. When he was a teenager, he ran away.

He had no family. He never married. And when he died, he was living alone in a small apartment in an apartment building in Washington, D.C., for people with little money.

Moore might have been alone, but he was not lonely. He made friends easily and knew most of the people who lived and worked in the apartment building. They say he made their lives brighter.

Because Moore had no money, no family, and no will (instructions for after you die), he would have been buried by the city of Washington and forgotten. But two of his friends from the apartment building had a different idea: they wanted him buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Arlington National Cemetery is a place to honor men and women who have served (worked for) the U.S., especially those who had served in the military. Many veterans (people who have fought in a war) are buried there. So are important leaders, like John F. Kennedy, scientists, astronauts, and important American musicians.

Moore’s friends knew he had served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and was qualified (met the requirements) to be buried at Arlington. They completed all the paperwork that was required and collected money from others who lived in the apartment building to help with the expenses. It was difficult and took a lot of time.

Finally, on a cold, windy Friday morning last spring, Moore was buried in Arlington National Cemetery in a full military ceremony, along with more than 14,000 others who, like him, had served their country.

Her father’s heart. Ten years ago, Jeni Stepien’s father was shot and killed during a robbery. While he lay in the hospital, dying, his family decided to donate (give) his organs (heart and other body parts) to an organization that finds people who need them and makes it possible for the families to stay in touch with each other after the transplant (moving an organ from one person to another).

Stepien’s father’s heart went to another father, Arthur Thomas, who had congestive heart failure (when the heart stops working properly). He would have died in just a few days without the new heart. After the transplant, Stepien’s and Thomas’s families became friends through phone calls, letters, and emails.

When Stepien planned her wedding last year, she wanted to remember her father in a special way. After talking to her family, she invited Thomas to walk her from the back of the church to the front, like her father would have done. Thomas agreed to do it.

At the wedding, Stepien and Thomas walked to the front of the church, then stopped and looked at each other. Thomas took her hand and briefly held it over his – her father’s – heart so she could feel the heartbeat. Her father was there.

Happy New Year!

~ Warren Ediger – ESL tutor/coach and creator of the Successful English website.

This post was adapted from articles in the New York Times and Washington Post.
Photo of Arlington National Cemetery courtesy of Wikipedia Commons.

It’s hard to believe it’s already the end of 2016 and time to ring in the new year (celebrate the arrival of the new year)!

Here are a few words we associate (connect) with the anticipation (waiting to happen) and celebration of the new year. You may know some of these already.

But just in case you don’t…

Confetti are small pieces of colored paper that people throw at celebrations, especially at weddings and New Year celebrations. It comes from Italian and in English, it is always spelled the same whether it is singular or plural.

A resolution is a promise you make to yourself to do something or not do something, usually related to bad habits, such a smoking or singing Celine Dion songs.

Glitter is a term we use for the very small pieces of shiny (reflecting light) material that is used to decorate things, such as greeting cards.

And do you know these as well?

Bubbly: Bubbly can mean something with bubbles (round shapes filled with air or gas), but is commonly used as another word for champagne (white wine with bubbles).
– “The wedding guests drank bubbly and ate cake.”

Party favors: Small gifts or toys related to the theme of a party or celebration, such as party hats, noisemakers, and headbands (piece of thin plastic worn around the head as decoration, usually by women), usually worn or used at the event.
– “Each child at the birthday party will get a set of party favors, which include a hat, a plastic toy, and a pair of funny glasses.”

To overindulge: This means to eat or drink too much of something, especially alcohol.
– “Monica wants to have a good time but is careful not to overindulge at dinner.”

Merrymaking: The process of enjoying yourself, often with laughter, dancing, and drinking.
– “There will be plenty of merrymaking at the festival!”

Boisterous: Something or someone who is noisy and cheerful, with a lot of energy.
– “The bar usually has a boisterous crowd on Friday and Saturday nights.”

We wish you a New Year’s Eve celebration full of boisterous merrymaking with bubbly and fun party favors, and only a little overindulging.

Happy New Year!

Jeff, Lucy, + ESLPod.com Team

A Christmas tradition was born in Dublin, Ireland, almost 275 years ago.

On April 13, 1742, 700 people packed (sat very close to each other) into Fishamble Hall for a concert to raise (collect) money to help sick and poor people. The concert was a success – it raised 400 pounds sterling, a large amount of money. Mercer’s Hospital and the Charitable Infirmary (a place to care for sick people) each received 127 pounds, and 142 people who were in prison because they couldn’t pay their bills were released (allowed to leave).

The music that day was a new work (piece of music) by G. F. Handel, The Messiah, which tells the story of Jesus from the Bible. It was performed by a small orchestra and choir (group of singers) of singers from St. Patrick’s and Christ Church cathedrals. The audience loved it. One person who was there wrote that it was impossible to find words to describe the delight (joy) of the audience.

Since its first performance, The Messiah’s popularity has grown. It has become one of the world’s most-loved pieces of music, especially at Christmas. In the U.S., it’s difficult to be in a store or some other place where Christmas music is played without hearing music from The Messiah, especially one chorus (song for choir) called Hallelujah.

A recent performance of The Messiah reminded a Los Angeles Times writer so much of the first one that he called it “the most relevant (appropriate)” and “the most historically authentic (like the first)” that he had heard.

Many large cities have areas we call skid rows, run-down (in bad condition) parts of town where you’ll find homeless people and others with difficult personal problems. Many sleep on the sidewalks. Some keep everything they own in a shopping cart.

Midnight Mission is a Los Angeles skid-row organization that tries to help the people who live there. They often sponsor (organize and present) music concerts for the people on skid row. This year their Christmas concert included parts of The Messiah. The orchestra was made up of professionals and music students; the choir included people who live on skid row.

Don Garza sang the opening (first) solo – Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people – a song of hope and peace. Garza is not a professional singer. He is a combat veteran (someone who fought in a war) who has lived on skid row for many years. His life has been hard. And yet he sang this song with confidence and joy. When he finished, the audience applauded (clapped their hands), shouted, and many wiped tears from their eyes.

The greatest for the least (people not usually considered important). Then and now.

This year, once again, The Messiah will be performed around the world in concert halls (my favorite recording) by professionals, in churches by people who simply love to sing, and even in shopping centers by flash mobs (groups that suddenly appear). If you’ve never heard The Messiah before, take a few minutes to discover the joy that so many others experience this time of the year.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of you!

~ Warren Ediger – ESL coach/tutor and creator of the Successful English website; he’s sung The Messiah more times than he can remember and also conducted it.

Parts of this post were adapted from the Los Angeles Times.
Photo credit: LA Weekly