We’ve got some seasonal cheer to spice up the weekend, but first we’ll share some more uplifting stories emerging from the devastation of Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

Milton Uncovers Lost Wedding Ring

So many have lost so much from the duel blows of these storms that we have to cheer when we get something back.

Nine years ago, while remodeling his home in Palm Bay, Florida, Basil Yorios’s wedding band vanished. However, according to Basil and his wife Laura, when Hurricane Milton ran through Palm Bay a few weeks ago, the storm did some fortuitous digging.

When the couple returned home after the Category 3 storm had passed, Laura spotted something shimmering in the yard. It turned out to be Basil’s wedding band!

For nearly a decade, landscapers and lawnmowers had gone over the yard, and of course, Basil and Laura had searched and searched to no avail. But there it was, courtesy of Milton.

“We’re very mindful that a lot of people are going through terrible things, and I feel almost a little guilty feeling happy about all of this, but it was something good,” Laura told Fox 35.

Cat Returns After Floating Away in Hurricane Helene

I thought the whole idea of cats having nine lives was a myth, but now I’m not so sure. The Collins Family of Burnsville, North Carolina lost “just about everything” in Hurricane Helene. And they thought that included their cat Blanco, after a family member saw him on top of a roof of a building that was floating away. 

“Blanco climbs up on that distribution line that you see, and he sees them try to climb the metal roof,” explained the family member, Nan. “And then ends up down in the river that turned out to be the ocean, and that’s the last we saw him.”

But Blanco had other ideas.

Eight days after disappearing downstream, Blanco showed up at back home.

This isn’t the first time Blanco has shown some moxie. “This cat has had to have used all his nine lives because he came to us as a stray,” said Camille Collins. “I actually found him in our compost bin earlier this year, and we nursed him back to life.”

Singing to Jesus Amid the Destruction

The family of these two little girls also lost everything — everything but their faith.

2 little girls who survived Hurricane Helene in North Carolina singing "Yes, Jesus Loves Me"

The mudslides destroyed their entire home

But not their faith pic.twitter.com/MLpy8ikSi8

— Jack Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) October 17, 2024

Another Family Musical Moment

Does this have the emotional impact of those two girls? No. But there’s just something jolly and uplifting about watching this father and his tots jamming to the old K.C. and the Sunshine Band hit “Boogie Shoes.”

https://twitter.com/Inga_C8/status/1845569686400086309

Finally, while we’ve get our disco groove on, here’s a shout-out to a first responder with a huge side hustle.

Fireman Grows One-Ton Pumpkin

Talk about your “Great Pumpkin,” Charlie Brown.

Congratulations to firefighter Brad Bledsoe of Aurora Fire Rescue. He just broke the Colorado state record for largest pumpkin. His pumpkin, named Winifred Sanderson weighed in at 2,083 pounds.

Bledsoe credits his daughter with giving him the motivation to go for it, telling CNN News Source, ““My daughter, at the time she was four, she goes, ‘Dad, why is your pumpkin like the smallest one here?’ And so that got my competitiveness going.”

Firefighter grows record-breaking 1-ton pumpkinhttps://t.co/WpEGne5usm

— FOX 12 Oregon (@fox12oregon) October 15, 2024

Christmas Movie Season Is Underway!

Yes, we are still 13 days away from Halloween. But how can we contain our excitement? Christmas movie season is now underway! Last night, the Hallmark Channel aired the first of its 7,000 (we might be exaggerating here, but not by much) new “Countdown to Christmas” movies, a little romantic ditty called, T’was the Date Before Christmas. For those dying for the sequel to Three Wise Men and a Baby, Three Wiser Men and a Boy arrives November 23.

Hallmark Mystery’s “Miracles of Christmas” kicks off on October 24.

While Hallmark remains the king of Christmas movies, keep an eye out for the Great American Family network. It  actually began its Christmas programming last weekend and has its own slate of new original Christmas movies, featuring many former Hallmark stars like Candace Cameron-Bure, Cameron Matheson, Danica McKeller, Merrick Patterson, and Christopher Russell.

And it’s dropping a new original movie every Saturday night.

Not only is GAF upping the quality of their films, but unlike Hallmark, the faith- and family-friendly network proudly celebrates the true reason for the season, Jesus Christ.

Grab the hot cocoa … even if you’re drinking it with Halloween candy corns.

Al Perrotta is The Stream’s Washington bureau chief, coauthor with John Zmirak of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Immigration, and coauthor of the counterterrorism memoir Hostile Intent: Protecting Yourself Against Terrorism.