A Pilot's Grand Gesture: 5 Great Things This Week

An airline pilot's gesture and a sisterly meeting make the list:

• Pilot Turns Around Plane for Grieving Family: An Arizona family trying to catch a plane for a funeral got to their gate only to see the plane pulling away. "This was our last chance to say goodbye to my dad," says the man's daughter. All looked lost—until the pilot saw the family's desperation through the gate's windows.
• 'Miracle' Preemie Is One of Smallest Babies Ever: A North Carolina couple celebrated their daughter's original due date this week, almost 14 weeks after she was actually born. Little E'Layah Faith Pegues came into the world prematurely on Sept. 23 at a weight that makes her one of the smallest babies ever—she was measured in ounces, not pounds.

• Septuagenarians Find Out They're Sisters: Two Pennsylvania women in their late 70s got a special Christmas surprise this year: They learned they were biological sisters. Their happy first meeting came about after some detective work by a son-in-law.
• Girl With Cancer Gets Final, Unforgettable Christmas: A 4-year-old Virginia girl was given months to live in September, and thanks to friends, neighbors, and complete strangers, Virginia Rose Vandermark had a magical Christmas before Dec. 25 hit. The high point may have been when a special visitor showed up in her front yard.
• How a 20-Year-Old Saved 4K Pounds of Uneaten Food: There are 48 million Americans who, at some point each year, may be unable to get enough food. Meanwhile, a third of the country's food goes to waste. This isn't as easy an issue to solve as it sounds—but Maria Rose Belding has come up with an app and a website that's made a remarkable dent in the problem.

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