Sad stories, a book giveaway, butterflies, and an act of forgiveness

I would like to thank you all for your eloquent and moving comments yesterday to my post about the death of Llywelyn ap Gruffydd. It means more than I can say to know that my books have touched others like this.
The news has seemed particularly sad this week. That dreadful shooting at a Portland Mall. An alarming crime in the Philadelphia area, where a woman was robbed at gunpoint by two boys, age seven and thirteen; the seven year old told the older boy to “Show her your piece.” Words fail me. A particularly gruesome story of a husband and wife who ran a dog-fighting ring out of their house, a house they shared with their five children. So I want to post today about things that will give us a reason to smile. I’ll start with this news for fans of the brilliant writer, Barbara Kingsolver. Her publisher is giving away a copy of her newest book. Man of La Book is one of my favorite blogs and I have him to thank for calling this to my attention. Here is the link to his blog.
http://manoflabook.com/wp/?p=7170&...
I am including a story below of a family that saved two monarch butterflies from Hurricane Sandy. I know that many will read this and think the efforts of the family were quixotic or even odd. But I think they taught their children a valuable lesson about compassion and the environment.
http://www.care2.com/causes/2-monarch...
Lastly, this is an example of forgiveness that is truly remarkable. Some of you may have heard of the auto accident last week in which a Dallas Cowboy player, Josh Brent, drove while drunk, and crashed his car. He survived, but his passenger, Jerry Brown, a fellow football player, did not. He has been charged with manslaughter and has to live with the burden of killing his best friend. I read that he wanted to attend the memorial service for Jerry, but feared he would not be welcome. Well, Jerry’s mother not only assured him that he was welcome, she asked him to ride with her to the service, saying he and her son had been close friends since college and she knew that Josh grieved for Jerry as much as his family did. This is a very special woman.