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VLADIMIR KONONOK/GETTY IMAGES In Stitches Comedian Drew Lynch was doing stand-up at a comedy club in Spokane, Washington, last September, when a man in the crowd collapsed from car- diac arrest. Other audience members performed CPR until medics arrived and took the man, Dick Wende, 83, to a nearby hospital. A shaken-up Lynch finished his set, but couldn’t get the man out of his mind. So the next day, he visited Wende in the hospital to tell him the jokes he hadn’t gotten to hear, spending hours at his bedside. This was a delight for Wende, a longtime fan of Lynch. And from that day on, the two stayed in touch, texting often. Lynch visited Wende again months later, and when Wende passed away on Jan. 7, Lynch wrote on Facebook, “I will miss our friendship,” signing the post, “your foster grandson, Drew.” Keeping His Head Above Water Twelve-year-old Aasish Selvaraj was riding in the car with his nanny and her 2-year-old son last summer in Montgomery County, Maryland, when a flash flood swept their vehicle off the road and into an overflowing creek bed. As water rushed around them, the quick-thinking tween grabbed the toddler and climbed on top of the car, allowing the young child to breathe and rescue crews to see where they were. The car was totally submerged and practically invisible in the deluge by the time firefighters reached them. After bringing all three of them back to dry land, the firefighters called Aasish a hero. His parents felt so grateful to the first responders that they showed up at the firehouse days later with a check for $10,000. A Special Arrangement The somber notes of Taps are played at every funeral that includes military honors. But those notes often emerge from a device playing an official re- cording instead of from a live instru- ment. Two nationwide nonprofits, Bugles Across America and Taps for Veterans, match volunteer horn play- ers with events that could use their services. Matthew Burford is one such volunteer, and he has drivenmore than 100 miles from his home in Alabama to play Taps live. “It’s not like I don’t like the recording,” Burford told the New York Times . “I just feel like our veter- ans and our soldiers deserve better.” GLAD TO HEAR IT 3 Stories to Make Your Day reader ’ s digest 14 june/july 2026 | readersdigest.com.au 2026 G a r d e n i n g P r o d u c t s r e o c s