shortcake

filled with dark chocolate topped with sweet sass

[shortcake @Dharnya96]

Being romantic doesn’t necessarily involves “buying flowers & gifting cards”, it’s abt knowing what floats ones’ boat and how to go abt it.Dinner by roadside RamlyBurgers can be equally as romantic as fine dining. It all comes down to perspective 🙃

[Bahar @baharkarakrt]

Dedem Alzheimer olduktan sonra bizi bazen tanıyor, bazen yabancı gibi bakıyordu. Ama bir şey hiç değişmiyordu.

Sürekli aynı kadını soruyordu.

“Şermin geldi mi?” “Şermin yemek yedi mi?” “Şermin hâlâ bana kırgın mı?”

Evde herkes birbirine bakıyordu çünkü ailemizde Şermin diye biri yoktu.

İlk başta hastalık yüzünden kafası karışıyor sandık. Ama gün geçtikçe bu isim dedemin diline değil, sanki kalbine yerleşmiş gibi oldu. Sabah gözünü açar açmaz onu soruyordu. Hatta bir gün anneannemin elini tutup: “Şermin, gitme…” dedi.

Anneannemin yüzündeki o kırgınlığı hâlâ unutamıyorum.

Bir akşam dedem kayboldu. Evde yoktu. Hepimiz panik olduk. Saatlerce sokak sokak aradık. En sonunda eski mahallelerinin olduğu tarafta, kapalı bir apartmanın önünde bulduk onu.++

[Bahar @baharkarakrt]

Merdivene oturmuştu.

Bizi görünce kızdı: “Bağırmayın,” dedi. “Şermin birazdan inecek.”

Annem orada ağlamaya başladı. Çünkü o apartmanda yıllar önce gerçekten Şermin diye biri yaşarmış.

O gece ilk kez gerçeği öğrendim.

Dedem gençken aynı apartmanda oturan bir kıza âşık olmuş. Herkes evleneceklerini düşünüyormuş. Sonra dedemin askere gitmesi gerekmiş. Döndüğünde kızın başka biriyle nişanlandığını öğrenmiş.

Annemin dediğine göre dedem o günden sonra bir daha eski neşesine dönememiş.

Ama bunu kimseye anlatmamış.

Yıllarca içinde yaşamış.

Ve işin en acı tarafı şuydu: Dedem artık benim adımı bilmiyordu. Bazen annemi bile tanımıyordu. Ama 50 yıl önce sevdiği kadının oturduğu apartmanın yolunu hâlâ ezbere biliyordu.

Bir gece yanında otururken bana baktı. Gözleri doluydu.

“İnsan,” dedi, “bazı insanları kaybetmiyor… sadece onlara bir daha ulaşamıyor.”

O an boğazım düğümlendi.

Çünkü Alzheimer onun hafızasını silmişti belki… Ama kalbinde kalan kişiyi silememişti.

[Anish Moonka @anishmoonka]

In September, a 34-year-old Korean coast guard officer named Lee Jae-suk went into the water off Incheon to save a 70-year-old man stranded by rising tides. He gave the man his own life jacket and bandaged his foot with patrol gloves. The man survived. Lee didn't.

The pool above is where Korea's coast guard trains for water like that. It's at the academy in Yeosu, on the southern coast. The hardest course, for an elite unit called the Sea Special Rescue Team, runs 52 weeks. Most recruits are former special forces sergeants. You can score perfect on Korea's police SWAT exam and still not qualify.

To stay on the team, you have to pass a yearly fitness test: 50 pull-ups, 50 dips on the parallel bars, drag 220 pounds for 100 meters, run half a mile. All in one nonstop circuit, in under 13 minutes. Miss it and you're off the team and back on regular patrol.

Real ocean rescues happen in 6 to 10 foot waves, and rescue swimmers often jump in barefoot with no fins. You can't practice that in a calm lap pool. American rescue swimmers use a similar setup in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, where instructors can dial up Category 1 hurricane conditions on demand: hurricane-force wind fans, helicopter rotor recordings at realistic volume, waves designed to throw you around.

The US Coast Guard has trained just over 1,000 rescue swimmers since the mid-80s. Around 350 are active. Some years, 85% of trainees wash out, and the long-term average sits above 70%. Navy SEAL selection washes out around 70%.

Korea's pool is the dress rehearsal. What Lee did in September was the actual call.

[shortcake @Dharnya96]

Missing you little bit more today

[𝑁𝑎𝑑𝑖. @luvblessingz]

A grieving family should not be expected to feed over 100 people.

[Chintan Dave, MD @drchintandave]

@welp_max He is barrel chested. This is typical of chronic, long-term smokers. This happens due to chronic obstruction in the airways, leading to hyper expansion of the chest. So to avoid this, don’t smoke, and maintain strong abdominal muscles!

[Yves ౨ৎ @yvessirae]

Yesterday I went with my husband to his company dinner. It was one of those events where everyone is dressed nicely, making small talk, laughing a little too loudly at jokes that aren’t that funny.

At some point one of his colleagues looked at him, glanced at me, and said with a smile,
“Man, you’re lucky she lets you go out dressed like that.”

A few people at the table chuckled.

I felt that familiar moment where you’re not sure if you’re supposed to laugh along or just let it pass. I was about to force a polite smile when my husband leaned back in his chair and said, very calmly,

“I’m lucky she chose me. Let’s not get it twisted.”

It wasn’t said aggressively.
It wasn’t defensive.
Just simple and clear.

And suddenly the whole tone of the table shifted.
No one laughed after that. The conversation moved on, but something about the moment stayed with me.

He didn’t turn me into the punchline to keep the room comfortable.
He didn’t laugh it off just to fit in.
He made it clear that I wasn’t some accessory he brought to a work dinner. I was his partner.

And in that moment I realized something about marriage.

A good marriage isn’t just about loving someone in private.
It’s about how you represent them when the room is watching.

[Habibiz @manlikesaiya]

They could live down the street and you’ll still never see them

[Yves ౨ৎ @yvessirae]

I saw my husband differently after something that happened at the grocery store.
We were in line when the cashier, trying to be funny, said,
“Wow, you’ve got your hands full. Bet she spends all your money too, huh?”
A couple people chuckled.
I felt that familiar, small smile forming the one women use when they’re about to brush off something uncomfortable.
Before I could say anything, my husband looked at him and said,
“She built half of what we have. I’m lucky she lets me spend hers.”
It wasn’t loud.
It wasn’t aggressive.
It was calm. Certain.
The cashier went quiet.
He didn’t turn it into banter.
He didn’t let it slide to keep things easy.
He corrected it without making me the punchline.
And in that moment, I felt something settle in my chest.
It wasn’t about money. It was about respect.
He didn’t need a dramatic scene.
He just made it clear I’m not the joke in any room he’s in.
And I realized,
it’s one thing to be loved in private.
It’s another thing to be honored in public.
That’s when I knew I was safe.

[Interesting things @awkwardgoogle]

This is the best transition I've ever seen

[✧ @cessonmute]

“I don’t understand why women don’t just press charges if they were really assaulted.”

When I was younger, I was assaulted. It was on tape. When I told my parents, they pushed to press charges. I went through with it.
In court, his lawyer played the video and tried to argue that I wanted it. That I was enjoying it. Sitting there while strangers dissected the worst moment of my life felt like being violated all over again.
It was humiliating.
Then the judge mentioned he had already been charged multiple times before and warned that if he did not change, he would end up on the sex offender registry.
That’s why some women do not press charges.
Because even with evidence, even with a history, even when you are telling the truth, you still end up fighting to prove you were hurt.

[Yves ౨ৎ @yvessirae]

Last night... My husband came home drunk, vomited, and collapsed on the floor.
I picked him up, cleaned the mess, tucked him to bed.
This morning, instead of yelling, I kissed his forehead and made his favourite breakfast.
Curious, he asked our son what happened last night.
Our son said -
"Mom tried to take off your boots and shirt... and you, in your drunkest state, pushed her hand away & said
"Hey lady! Leave me alone... I'm married."
Some men cheat even when sober.
Some men stay loyal... even in their dreams.

[Dr. CZ @AngelMD1103]

A couple is enjoying a romantic getaway in the Caribbean. After dinner, they’re walking back to their hotel when an armed robber approaches and demands their belongings. In a split second, the boyfriend panics and runs. His girlfriend, shocked but refusing to freeze, defends herself, yelling, resisting, drawing attention, until nearby people rush over and the attacker flees. Moments later, the boyfriend slowly returns, breathless, saying he “went to get help.”
Honestly, survival instincts are powerful and unpredictable. Some people fight, some freeze, and some flee. But when the danger passes, the emotional aftermath can be just as intense as the event itself. Courage isn’t always about strength, it’s about what you choose to do when no one else steps in. In a crisis, do our instincts reveal who we truly are, or can fear make anyone react in ways they never expected?

[Kia 🧸ྀི @xevekiah]

My cousin got married at 22. They wanted a house full of kids. She got pregnant within months, they painted a nursery before the first trimester was even over.
Then she miscarried.
She had a procedure. Woke up groggy. Doctor smiled and said, “Everything’s fine. You can try again soon.”
They tried for years.
Every negative test felt like a verdict. Her in-laws started making comments. Her husband grew distant. Eventually he left. Said he “wanted a real family.” He remarried within a year. Two babies back to back.
She thought her body had betrayed her.
In her late 50s, after new medical transparency laws made it easier to request old hospital files, she applied for her records.
Buried in the notes from that miscarriage was a line: “Complication during procedure. Uterine perforation. Significant scarring.”
No one had explained it. No follow-up. No referral. No honesty.
She spent three decades blaming herself for something that happened to her.
Some women are told their bodies failed them.
Sometimes the truth is — someone else did.

[Rukia @Rukia1994443]

Geto loved his best friend so much that even after he died, his body still tried to protect Gojo. That’s how deep their bond was.

[princess ౨ৎ @puppetgrl_]

y’all, we have women being treated like literal princesses and queens by high value, selfless, caring men, and you still think your ideal partner or sp can’t/won’t conform? be so fr, everything we want is more than possible, this isn’t a fairytale and the right men DO exist ౨ৎ 🤍

[ᴏʟᴜᴍɪᴅᴇ 🍂 @mideysmith]

I speak for many when I say Eragon was the first dragon movie that had us all hooked…

[shortcake @Dharnya96]

First without him