50 Wholesome Things That Happened Last Year That Are Guaranteed To Restore Your Faith In 2021

Some years leave behind a trail of bad news, but they also produce moments that remind people how much kindness still exists. This roundup pulls together 50 wholesome scenes from last year, from small acts of generosity to big, life-changing gestures.

Across the list, you will see friends, family members, neighbors, strangers, and even coworkers stepping up in ways that are simple, surprising, and deeply moving. A few of the moments are funny, some are emotional, and all of them are the kind of stories people needed after a rough year.

Scroll through and see which one restores your faith in humanity first.

1. Ten Years Ago I Signed Up To Mentor An At-Risk Young Boy. Yesterday I Dropped Him Off At College

delugetheory

2. A Simple Good Morning

chiomabayo

3. Rachel Has Been A Nanny For Curtis For Over A Year. When He Realized Her Senior Prom Was Canceled, He Wanted To Throw One For Her

Complete with her favorite foods, flowers, and dancing, Curtis (and his mom) pulled off the best socially distant prom ever. Thanks, Curtis & Elissa, for making my girl smile.becky.h.chapman

4. Cleft Lip And Cleft Palate, Two Week Surgery

NOODLD

5. A Young Culinary Mastermind

Kingflacko3

6. We Need More Playgrounds Like This

Thyson Halley

7. This Legend Carries, Pulls, And Pushes His Disabled Twin Around Ironmans And Marathons So They Can Compete Together

TeamTvilling

8. So Many Cats

misanthropologa

A few of these stories hit especially hard.

9. After Years Of Darkness, Today Marks 12 Months Without Drinking. I Never Thought I Could, And I'm Proud Of Myself

dorfmcpumpkin

10. And Then Everyone Clapped

ScaryMommy

11. He's A Keeper

AnaStanaBananaa

12. A Child Who Hit My Father's Car Had An Old Bike With Broken Brakes, So My Father Bought Him A New Bike. I Am So Proud Of My Father

hilkatapo

13. This Athlete, Marios Giannakou, Carried A Disabled Biology Student Named Eleftheria To The Top Of Mount Olympus, Her Dream

marios_giannakou

14. The Wooden Mast Had To Be Replaced By A Concrete Mast, But The Professionals Preserved The Tucano's House

Neuton Fischer

15. Never Too Late To Start Again

HarrisLondarel

16. Every Voice Helps

gingersnapesq

17. My Mom Is A Nurse Practitioner, And She Has Been On The Front Lines Of A COVID Unit Since March. She Just Got This Shirt. I Haven't Seen Her Light Up Like That In Months

somenerdnamedtom

18. A Homeless Man Leaves A Donation For The Oregon Historical Society After They Were Vandalized During Riots

"Since last night, we have seen new memberships and donations made online to support our work and the clean-up effort—but none have affected me as much as a gift from our neighbor, Oscar. In a note that accompanied a $1 donation, Oscar wrote: 'Hello, I’m homeless, so I don’t have much to give you, just some of my bottle collecting money. But I saw your windows got broken and wanted to help. You once gave me a free tour before the pandemic, so this is a thank you.' In my time as Executive Director, I have seen OHS receive truly incredible gifts—but this one has touched my heart tremendously."ohs.org

19. It’s Never Too Late To Start

pauldeal1

20. What A Legend

cnn

21. I'm So Happy For Her

arthopeally

22. Be More Like Abdul

Back to work today, I forgot my pass, so I locked my bike outside Cannon Street station. I left work at 6 PM to find just the cut lock and no bike. Resigned to never seeing my trusty steed again, I asked the station if they had cameras. A guy appeared waving at me and asked me to put the code into my cut lock. He replied, 'I have your bike' with a smile I will never forget! His name is Abdul Muneeb, and he works for South Eastern Railways. He was on a break and saw a guy bolt-cut the lock and challenged him to give it back. He then took it inside and waited four hours after his shift finished to personally make sure I got my bike back. The world needs more Abduls; he is a legend of a man and a credit to his employer.Steve Farmer

23. This Nervous Kid

George_C_Owens

24. Ridan Al-Mashouly From Sana’a, Yemen Regularly Feeds And Provides Food For A Homeless Special Needs Elderly Man From His Paycheck

snow.arwabawazir

25. In Japan, These Grandparents Didn't Want Kids To Feel Lonely While Waiting For The Bus. So They Made A Life-Size Version Of Totoro, A Famous Cartoon Character, At The Bus Stop

vincenzo.acunzo.52

26. An IKEA In Germany Gave Hundreds Of People From The Local Muslim Community Permission To Use Its Car Park For Socially Distanced Prayers

IGMG Wetzlar FATİH CAMİİ

27. Perfect Gift

jennileigh

28. Years Of Work, But It Was Worth It! I’m A Provider At The Same Place I Used To Clean

Jaines Andrades

29. Dorothy Anonymously Bakes Treats And Leaves Them For Our Apartment Community. She Was Recently Caught

Nika65

That kind of kindness tends to spread fast.

And for workplace drama, check out the AITA debate over whether the coworker could adopt the office dog you bonded with.

30. Sometimes You Need Some Bro You Don't Know To Love You

King_DeandDe

31. This Dad Of The Year

CellyyCat

32. After 6 Months Homeless And Jobless, I Now Have A New Apartment, Car, And A Job In A Call Center. And I Did It On My Own. So Proud Of Myself

itsamejay

33. The Kind Of Boss Everyone Wants

alexijielu

34. It Has Been A Very Long Journey, But We Finally Got Forever

the__woman

35. I Just Had A Ruptured Brain Aneurysm And A Brain Bleed, Had Surgery, And Actually Survived

beccareich710

36. At 16, My Guidance Counselor Told Me I Wasn’t Good Enough At Math To Go Into The Space Field. In 2 Weeks, I Start Working On My Master's In Space Sciences And Engineering

ThePetrafier

37. Let It Stay This Way

Luciuxness

38. Epic Dad Is Epic

karencheee

39. Cheers For Judy

nashvillehumane

40. My Daughter Found Out That Our Mailman Used To Be A Pro Soccer Player And Started Asking Him For Tips. Yesterday, He Helped Her Run Some Drills. He Did The Same Today

TwoSixtySix

41. You Are Beautiful, Melissa

melissablake

42. Made Me Smile

whoisjacey

43. I Lost My Dad To COVID This Past July And Came Across These Old Pics Of Him Fixing My Bow-Tie For Prom. So I Had To Make Sure He Was Looking Snazzy Too

ThaCrimsonChinn

44. This Story Is So Adorable

KyleMusfeldt

45. Now That's Wholesome

desmondtanko

46. Hopefully The Need For These Kind Gestures Reduces To None

LoganChappell12

47. Made Me Smile And Cry At The Same Time

kelly.h.conner

48. Be The Change You Want To See In The World

A group of young kids caught me on my way into the store. They asked me if I wanted to make a bet. I replied, 'I’m a gambling man.' The older kid said he could ride a wheelie on his bike from stop sign to stop sign. I said no way... and how much? He said 10 bucks. I asked why 10? He said they wanted a large pizza at Domino's... I said deal. He came very close but couldn’t hold his wheelie that long... While they were figuring out how to come up with 10 bucks, I had already ordered their pizza plus a 2-liter of Sprite. Made my night. Love seeing kids be kids.Jeff Gravatt

49. So Incredibly Wholesome

ValeeGrrl

50. My Dog Gets Really Anxious In The Car, So My Grandma Asked To Sit In The Back With Him. The Whole Car Ride, All I Heard Was 'It’s Okay, We’re Almost There, Brave Boy'

bex_yeah

A little kindness went a long way.

After reading about Curtis’s socially distant prom win, you have to see what Billy Porter survived after being clinically dead for 3 days.