Road Trip of a Lifetime: 5 Most Uplifting Stories

A loyal dog's heartbreaking story and a couple's amazing road trip make the list of the week's most uplifting stories:

• Dog Who Wouldn't Leave Dead Pal Getting a Home: He lost his friend but is gaining a home: A stray Chihuahua who wouldn't leave the side of another stray who had been fatally struck by a car won the heart of a Houston woman. She couldn't take the dog in, but she did the next best thing—made a YouTube video and asked for help. It worked.
• 2 Years, 30K Miles: Couple Hits the Pan-American Highway: There are road trips crammed with whining about bathrooms, personal space, and whether we're there yet, and then there are road trips five years in the making, crammed with two continents' worth of open road, sunsets, impulse detours, beaches, ruins, and not knowing what's around the corner. Sam Christiansen and Erica Victorson are on the latter sort of road trip.

• Couple Married 69 Years Die Hours Apart: Gene Warrington died on Dec. 27 at the age of 88, and his wife of 69 years, Pat, followed eight hours later. Son Phil says that Gene knew that his wife was near death and willed himself to join her: "They were never apart."
• Officer Marries Couple Left in Lurch by Storm: A Michigan couple made it to the Kalamazoo County Courthouse despite some nasty weather for a good reason: Dean Lauer and Carrie Stull were getting married. Problem: The courthouse was closed, thanks to that nasty weather. Solution: a multitasking officer.
• Potter-Themed Proposal Overcomes Obstacle: When Samuel Goetsch of Houston took his girlfriend of four years to England over the holidays to meet his parents, he knew he wanted to propose at Surbiton station. (Ask a Harry Potter fan.) Turns out, the trains weren't cooperating, but he pulled it off anyway.

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