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Want to Reduce Risk of Heart Disease? Research Says These Foods Are Key
A meticulous adherence to the Mediterranean diet has been found to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and death by almost 25%, particularly in women, according to an analysis of existing studies. The Mediterranean diet, rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, olive oil, nuts, and legumes, has long been associated with numerous health benefits. The research highlights the importance of nutrition and its potential to reduce cardiovascular risks, offering a positive step towards improved heart health.
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This Engineer Powers His Entire Home Using 500 Discarded Vapes
An electronics engineer has created a fully functional home battery system using lithium batteries salvaged from discarded vapes. It's enough to power his entire house for eight hours. Chris Doel, 26, collected hundreds of the so-called "disposable" vape pens, removed their rechargeable batteries, and wired them together into a massive 2.5 kWh battery pack. He then connected it to his home in Warwickshire via an inverter, successfully running household appliances like the microwave, kettle, and lighting — all completely off-grid. “Some of my mates were puffing on them. But as soon as they were empty, they’d have a little blinking light, and they’d throw it straight in the bin,” Doel said. “The engineer in me was thinking, ‘that is just absolutely ridiculous.’” Despite being sold as single-use, most vapes contain rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. It was that contradiction that sparked Doel’s project — and his frustration. “None of these components are disposable. They should never really be thrown just straight in the bin,” he said. “It seems the industry is pushing people to use these as single-use devices despite having reusable parts in them, just so you have to throw them away and buy more.” Doel first got the idea while volunteering at Leeds Festival, where he noticed piles of discarded vape pens. Inside each one, he found a battery still capable of being recharged. What started with a small experiment — a portable charger built from 35 batteries — quickly turned into something far more ambitious. “People just wanted to see bigger and better stuff,” he said. “So I thought, ‘surely as big as I can physically get is powering my entire house?’” In May, Doel approached his local vape shop to see if they’d hand over any returned stock. He walked away with bags containing 2,000 used devices. “It’s really awkward for them,” he explained. “They still have to pay for them to be recycled. They were extremely happy for me to just load up thousands of them in a big bag and walk away.” Over six months, Doel extracted and sorted the batteries, soldered a fuse to each one for safety, and used 3D-printed casings to assemble them into a single pack. The finished system contains 500 batteries wired in parallel into groups, then linked in series to generate the needed power. He now plans to recharge the unit using solar panels — or at night when grid electricity is cheapest — with the aim of running the house off his battery more often. A YouTube video he posted documenting the process has already passed 3.5 million views. His invention arrives as the UK continues to wrestle with vape-related waste. Although a ban on the sale of single-use vapes came into effect in June, the market has left a lingering environmental mess. Waste firm Suez says there have been 339 fires caused by exploding batteries at its sites this year — many suspected to be from vapes thrown out with general waste. Doel hopes his project can raise awareness about just how much value is being trashed. “There’s no argument we are throwing away super valuable stuff if I can literally power my entire house for eight hours with it,” he said. He believes the solution lies not just in bans, but in shifting back to longer-lasting vape kits that people maintain — not toss. “I think it would make more sense for it to be how it started out, with bigger, more expensive vape kits — about £25 — and you buy the liquid and top it up and maintain it,” he said. “These things last for years and years… and there is essentially no wastage.” For now, he's hoping to show just how far a little engineering — and a lot of discarded plastic — can go.
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This Hand-Reared Reindeer Thinks It's a Dog, and Even Snuggles with Puppy Siblings by a Christmas Tree 🦌
A reindeer who thinks he’s a dog is stealing hearts this Christmas. Meet Lars, a hand-reared reindeer calf who was raised inside a home in Market Harborough, Leicestershire — where he learned to share a dog bed, drink from the water bowl, and snuggle with the family spaniels by the fire. His unusual upbringing began just four days after birth, when his mother Lumi ran out of milk. Angie Nelson, a reindeer farmer with one of the largest herds in the UK, made the tough decision to bring him inside and bottle-feed him around the clock. “It was exhausting hand-raising Lars,” said Angie, who’s been farming reindeer for 18 years. “It was a huge and terrifying responsibility, but I feel very fortunate to have been able to do something so special.” Lars was born underweight at just 6lbs — two pounds lighter than the average reindeer calf — and Angie quickly noticed he wasn’t feeding properly. When medication didn’t help Lumi’s milk production, she moved Lars into the house she shares with her husband and four children. What followed was a bond like no other. “I had no idea whether he’d survive his first two weeks,” Angie said. “Now I’m relaxed and can enjoy it. Celebrating our first Christmas with Lars feels so exciting and very special!” To feed him, Angie woke every two hours — even bottle-feeding him in her wedding dress when she married Justin Mumford in June. Meanwhile, Lars grew especially close to the family’s dogs: Jess (13), Molly (6), and Meg (3). He curled up in their basket, joined their playtime, and even received enthusiastic tongue baths from his furry siblings. “He still comes in the house three times a week,” Angie said. “He goes straight to their bowl, has a big drink of water, then gets in the basket and they all give him a good wash.” It’s not just the dogs Lars adores. His favorite spot is still in front of the fireplace, where he enjoys staring at the twinkling Christmas tree lights and crunching on his treat of choice: Shreddies. Lars has settled into a part-time outdoor life now, spending his days with the other 42 reindeer at Home Farm. But according to Angie, he still responds to her voice immediately and follows her around. “We still have a parent-child relationship,” she said. “He plays with the other calves but still loves being with the dogs. I’d say he’s a 50/50 dog and reindeer now.” His name was inspired by Everest climber Lars Kropp, after he broke out of his playpen and climbed the stairs on his first day inside the house. Visitors to Home Farm will have a chance to meet Lars and hand-feed him during open days this December. And with Santa expected to stop by, there’s even a chance Lars might help pull the sleigh. “We’re Santa’s UK HQ,” Angie said. “If his reindeer are tired, he’ll rest them and use some of ours while he’s in the UK. Lars is very confident so I’m sure he’d be up for helping Santa, and I think he’ll enjoy meeting Rudolph and Santa’s team.” Lars now has his own social media presence at @LarsTheBabyReindeer , where fans can follow his journey from bottle-fed calf to honorary Christmas dog.
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Score (95)
France Returned a Rare Dinosaur Skeleton And 30 Artifacts To Mongolia
France has returned a rare dinosaur skeleton and 30 other ancient fossils to Mongolia, nearly a decade after they were seized from a European smuggling ring. At a handover ceremony in Paris on Monday, French Public Accounts Minister Amélie de Montchalin officially returned the paleontological cache to Mongolia’s Culture and Sports Minister, Undram Chinbat. The fossils had been looted from the Gobi Desert, trafficked through South Korea, and smuggled into France, where customs agents confiscated them in 2015. “Today, a piece of the Gobi Desert is about to return to its homeland,” de Montchalin said, calling it “the restitution of a scientific and cultural treasure,” according to Le Monde. At the center of the collection is an exceptionally rare 70-million-year-old Tarbosaurus bataar skeleton — a close Asian cousin of the Tyrannosaurus rex. Like the T-rex, Tarbosaurus was a fearsome carnivore known for its massive head and powerful bite, though its skull and bones were more hollow. It roamed Central Asia during the Cretaceous Period and went extinct roughly 65 million years ago. The skeleton, valued at around €700,000 when it was seized, has become even more valuable in recent years, said Sophie Hocquerelle, a communications manager with French customs. With the dinosaur auction market booming, she estimated its worth has likely doubled or tripled. Other items returned to Mongolia include a clutch of dinosaur eggs and additional fossilized remains. All of the items will be sent back to Mongolia for study and restoration before being put on display at a new national museum currently in development. “This is very important for me and for all the Mongolian people,” Chinbat said. “These fossils will be sent back and studied and restored.” The skeleton was stolen by a group of traffickers that included French, Belgian, and German nationals. According to A News, the network funneled the fossils through international channels before French officials intercepted them. The global market for dinosaur skeletons has seen renewed interest in recent years. A juvenile Ceratosaurus sold for $30.5 million at Sotheby’s in July, and just last month, a Triceratops fossil fetched $5.4 million at Phillips’s debut dinosaur auction. The fascination with dinosaur fossils traces back to the early 20th century, when American explorer Roy Chapman Andrews led expeditions into the Gobi Desert and helped spark a global obsession with paleontology. Andrews would later become director of the American Museum of Natural History and is widely considered one of the inspirations for the Indiana Jones character. But alongside that long-standing fascination, calls have been growing louder for the return of looted fossils to their countries of origin — part of a broader push to repatriate cultural heritage. This isn’t the first time Mongolia has received smuggled fossils back. In 2014, U.S. officials returned a collection of dinosaur skeletons, including another Tarbosaurus bataar. The following year, actor Nicolas Cage voluntarily returned a Tarbosaurus skull he had bought at auction for $276,000, after learning it had likely been illegally exported. He had outbid Leonardo DiCaprio for it. With France’s latest return, Mongolia is one step closer to reclaiming a fuller picture of its prehistoric past — and putting that history back on public display, where it belongs.
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Tiny Robot Lost Under Antarctic Ice For 8 Months Comes Back With Rare Data
A tiny robot that scientists feared was lost beneath the ice in Antarctica has returned — and it brought back priceless data from one of the least explored regions on Earth. In 2020, researchers with Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, deployed an Argo float — a small, free-drifting ocean robot — near the Totten Glacier in East Antarctica. The plan was for it to collect basic oceanographic data. But soon after, the float vanished under the Denman ice shelf, swept away by unpredictable Antarctic tides. “We feared the worst,” the team wrote in The Conversation. The float had no GPS signal and was deep under the ice. But nine months later, it surfaced — alive and loaded with data no one had ever seen before. That accidental detour became a scientific windfall. The robot had recorded the first-ever temperature and salinity measurements from beneath the Denman and Shackleton ice shelves — information that could help researchers better understand how rising sea temperatures are melting Antarctica’s frozen frontiers and accelerating sea level rise. The findings were published recently in Science Advances. “This is an amazing story of the little float that could,” said Delphine Lannuzel, an oceanographer at the University of Tasmania, who was not part of the study but has worked with the team on related research. Ice shelves are massive slabs of floating ice that sit between Antarctica’s glaciers and the ocean. They act like natural barriers, slowing the flow of ice into the sea. But warming waters can slip beneath them and slowly melt their foundations, weakening the structure and threatening to unleash massive amounts of land-based ice into the ocean. Getting beneath these shelves to measure that process has always been a major challenge. Ice shelves can be hundreds of meters thick, making direct observation extremely difficult. Until now. The Argo float, during its 2.5-year mission, gathered 195 profiles of ocean temperature and salinity — many from places never previously sampled. Crucially, it did this while blind. Once submerged, the float lost GPS access. But by noting when the robot bumped its “head” into the underside of the ice, the researchers were able to estimate the depth of the ice shelf and retrace the float’s path. “Each time the float bumped its head on the ice, it provided a measurement of the depth of the ice shelf base, or ice draft,” explained study lead author Steve Rintoul, a CSIRO oceanographer. “We could compare the ice draft measured by the float to satellite measurements of draft to work out the path.” What the float found was a mixed picture. The northernmost Shackleton ice shelf appeared to still be protected from warmer waters. But at Denman Glacier, the data pointed to active melting already underway. The float also captured delicate thermal layering under the shelves, suggesting the current stability of these systems may be more precarious than it appears. This robot’s unexpected mission is already shaping future plans. Researchers are hoping to send more Argo floats into other hard-to-reach areas of the Southern Ocean. They admit the floats still can’t fully “see” through the ice or operate as precisely as a guided mission, but the data they bring back could fill critical gaps in climate models. “Float measurements will be used to improve how these processes are represented in computer models,” the team wrote, “reducing the uncertainty in projections of future sea level rise.” For now, the little float’s survival is a rare bit of good luck in a region where the climate outlook is growing more dire. It’s a small robot, but it’s giving scientists a better view into one of the planet’s most important — and vulnerable — systems.
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AI-Enhanced Bionic Hand Revolutionizes Life For Amputees
A bionic hand powered by artificial intelligence is helping amputees regain the ability to perform everyday tasks — without overthinking every movement. Researchers at the University of Utah have developed a new generation of smart prosthetics by giving a robotic hand what they describe as a “mind of its own.” The breakthrough uses AI to take over part of the work the brain would normally do, making the act of gripping a cup or picking up a small object feel far more natural for the user. “As lifelike as bionic arms are becoming, controlling them is still not easy or intuitive,” said Professor Jacob George, senior author of the study published this week in Nature Communications. For people with prosthetic hands, even simple tasks require conscious, effortful control. Unlike a natural hand — where fingers automatically adjust based on object size, shape, and weight — most bionic limbs still need to be told exactly what to do, one movement at a time. “Nearly half of all users will abandon their prosthesis, often citing their poor controls and cognitive burden,” said lead author Dr. Marshall Trout. The Utah team wanted to offload some of that burden to the prosthetic itself. They started by modifying a commercial TASKA prosthetic hand with upgraded fingertips — ones that could detect pressure and use proximity sensors to "see" how far away an object is. Then they trained an artificial neural network using that data. The result? A hand that doesn’t just react to touch, but anticipates and adjusts its grip in real time — just like a natural one. Because each digit is outfitted with its own sensor, every finger can move independently to form a stable grip on any object, even soft or oddly-shaped ones. In testing, the system was precise enough to sense the impact of a dropped cotton ball. To make the prosthetic even more intuitive, the team created a shared control system that balances human input with AI assistance. For example, if the user wants to release an object, the AI helps open the hand in the most efficient way without needing detailed instructions. “What we don’t want is the user fighting the machine for control,” Trout explained. “In contrast, here the machine improved the precision of the user while also making the tasks easier.” In tests with four participants who had below-the-elbow amputations, the AI-assisted hand allowed them to perform everyday activities — like raising a cup, picking up small items, or gripping a fragile object — with improved dexterity and less mental effort. And importantly, they didn’t need weeks of training to learn how to use it. “By adding some artificial intelligence, we were able to offload this aspect of grasping to the prosthesis itself,” said George. “The end result is more intuitive and more dexterous control, which allows simple tasks to be simple again.” The work is part of a broader effort by the Utah NeuroRobotics Lab to improve quality of life for amputees. The team is also exploring implanted neural interfaces that could allow users to control prosthetics directly with their thoughts — and even feel sensation again. Eventually, George said, they hope to combine all these systems: advanced sensors, thought-based control, and intelligent AI coordination — so the next generation of prosthetics won’t just mimic a human hand, but feel like one.
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This Homeowner Turned a Halloween Nightmare Into a Christmas Miracle
After arsonists destroyed his Halloween display in October, Stan Yanetta thought he was done for the year. But now, he's back — and lighting up Christmas for the kids in his neighborhood. Yanetta, who has turned his South Shields home into a glowing holiday destination for over 15 years, initially said he didn’t have the heart to continue after the attack. CCTV footage showed a man in a balaclava dousing his Halloween decorations with accelerant and setting them ablaze. The fire quickly spread, damaging nearby properties. “It was the night before Halloween. It was horrendous,” Yanetta told the BBC. “I lost all heart.” The destruction was so severe that he felt he had “just lost everything.” But then came the community. In the days that followed, Yanetta began hearing from local children — and it changed everything. “I’ve spoken to young kids since then. They all love seeing the lights and that’s changed my mind,” he said. Now, the lights are back on. Yanetta’s Christmas display has always been more than just festive — it’s a fundraiser. Over the years, he’s raised thousands of pounds for local charities. This year’s efforts will benefit Pawz for Thought, a Sunderland-based animal charity; the Tiny Lives Trust, which supports premature babies and their families; and SURT: Stopping Unsafe Relationships Together. Neighbors are relieved and grateful. “It’s great that it’s back,” said Zoe Davison, who lives on the same street. “The kids were devastated when they heard about the fire and thought it wasn’t going ahead. Stan makes Christmas for us.” She added that her own family travels from Wales each year just to see the lights. Yanetta’s comeback display is more than a community tradition — it’s a reminder of resilience, generosity, and the power of a few kind words from kids to help mend what was broken.
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This 44-Year-Old NFL Veteran is Making His NFL Comeback, After Becoming a Grandfather
Philip Rivers is officially unretired — and making NFL history in the process. The 44-year-old quarterback, who last played in 2021, has signed with the Indianapolis Colts and is joining their practice squad, the team confirmed Tuesday. Rivers, who celebrated his birthday just one day prior, returns to the league as the oldest active player and one of only two known grandfathers ever to suit up in the NFL. The decision comes after a brutal week for the 8-3 Colts. Starting quarterback Daniel Jones tore his Achilles on Sunday, Dec. 7 during a game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. He’s out for the season. Backup Anthony Richardson is already on injured reserve with a fractured orbital bone. And rookie emergency QB Riley Leonard is also dealing with a knee injury, leaving the team scrambling for help. Enter Rivers, who reportedly impressed during a tryout on Monday. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler said he “threw the ball well,” despite being out of the league for nearly four years. The Athletic reported that the team quickly signed him to the practice squad following the session. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport says Rivers is expected to serve as a backup to Leonard once he’s healthy, but depending on how injuries unfold, the veteran may see game time — potentially throwing passes to teammates younger than his own children. Rivers’ oldest daughter, Halle, is 23 — the same age as Leonard. She also made Rivers a grandfather last year, meaning the former Chargers and Colts QB will become only the second known grandfather to play in the NFL, after Brett Favre, who hit that milestone in 2010 while playing for the Minnesota Vikings. The Colts are currently in playoff contention, leading the AFC South. Rivers, known for his durability and leadership during a 17-year career with the Chargers and Colts, could offer stability if called upon — even if the comeback comes with an unconventional résumé. Ten kids. One grandchild. And now, one NFL return.
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This Couple Celebrated Their Engagement One Year After a Fateful Train Encounter
Steve Higgs and Payal Pandya’s love story began with a small act of kindness on a late-night London train — and came full circle exactly one year later in the most unexpected, joyful way. In November 2024, Higgs was on his way home from a night out with friends when he boarded the 23:09 London Northwestern Railway (LNR) service from Euston to Milton Keynes. Standing nearby was Pandya, who’d just come from a first date that hadn’t gone well. Higgs, 56, offered her his seat. The two struck up a conversation. "I remember she mentioned she’d just been on a first date where – luckily for me – sparks had failed to fly," Higgs said, according to a statement released by LNR. “Although we were only speaking for twenty minutes or so, I knew I wanted to see her again.” Pandya, 49, recalled that she had told Higgs she met her date on a dating app. When she got off the train at her local station in Harrow, she thought that would be the end of it. But Higgs had already found her dating profile and reached out. “We set up our first date not too long after and the rest is history,” Pandya said. Over the next year, the couple marked that chance encounter every November on the 23:09 train, calling it their “encounter-versary.” What Pandya didn’t know was that Higgs was secretly working to turn the anniversary into a proposal. He reached out to LNR ahead of time to ask for their help. When the train operator made a special announcement during the ride, that was Higgs’ cue. He got down on one knee and proposed on the exact train where they first met. “I can't believe Steve asked me to marry him on that same service and managed to get the conductor involved without me knowing!” Pandya said, after saying yes. The couple now plans to move in together next year and is aiming for a summer wedding. LNR staff were happy to play a role. “Their story is a brilliant example of the way the railway can connect people, not just to where they need to go, but to the people they’re travelling with too,” said Jonny Wiseman, the company’s customer experience director. It started with a seat. It led to a conversation. And now, it’s heading toward a wedding.
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MacKenzie Scott Donates Record $7.1 Billion to Nonprofits in 2025
MacKenzie Scott is giving more than ever — and still refusing to play by philanthropy’s old rules. In a personal essay posted Tuesday, the billionaire author and philanthropist revealed she donated $7.1 billion to nonprofits in 2025, her largest single year of giving since she began publicizing her philanthropy in 2019. That brings her total giving to $26.3 billion in just six years. “This dollar total will likely be reported in the news,” she wrote, “but any dollar amount is a vanishingly tiny fraction of the personal expressions of care being shared into communities this year.” The new total marks a major jump from the $2.6 billion she gave in 2024 and the $2.1 billion in 2023. But true to form, Scott's announcement came without much fanfare. She listed no grantee names and made no mention of application criteria — because there is none. Scott doesn’t run a public-facing foundation. There’s no way to ask her for money. And when she donates, recipients are usually informed only after the decision has already been made, often by an intermediary like Fidelity Charitable. The gifts come with no strings attached — no reporting requirements, no directives, no programs earmarked for funding. Despite the quiet process, the scale and style of her giving continue to reshape conversations around wealth, equity, and what philanthropy should look like. Scott’s fortune, currently estimated by Forbes at $33 billion, comes largely from Amazon stock she received in her 2019 divorce from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Since then, her giving has stood out not just for its size, but for its trust-based approach. “She is like an equity machine,” said Marybeth Gasman, a Rutgers University professor and expert on historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). Gasman’s research found that HBCUs received $783 million from Scott so far in 2025 alone — more than in her initial round of donations to HBCUs back in 2020. Some schools received funding for the first time this year, while others did not get a second round. In total, Scott has given $1.35 billion to HBCUs since 2020, according to Gasman. Scott’s latest round of donations also included $70 million to the UNCF, the country’s largest provider of scholarships to minority students. The organization said it plans to use the funds to support a shared endowment for participating HBCUs. Another $50 million went to the Native Forward Scholars Fund, which supports college and graduate scholarships for Native American students. Unlike most large funders, Scott doesn’t require grantees to submit reports or metrics. A 2023 study by the Center for Effective Philanthropy found that recipients have largely used the funds effectively, and there’s no evidence that other funders pulled back after Scott’s gifts were announced. Kim Mazzuca, CEO of California nonprofit 10,000 Degrees, said her team was stunned when they got a call about their $42 million donation earlier this year — nearly twice their annual budget. “I was just filled with such joy,” she said. “I was speechless and I kind of stumbled around with my words.” The money will allow the organization, which supports low-income students through college, to grow faster than they ever thought possible. They plan to expand student outreach, test new tech tools, and launch an endowment. “She comes from a very deep, reflective space, very heartfelt,” Mazzuca said. “And she’s only providing these financial means as a tool for people to recognize they are who they’ve been waiting for.” That last line — “we are the ones we’ve been waiting for” — comes from a Hopi prophecy that Scott herself quoted in an essay earlier this year. In that October post, titled with the same phrase, Scott reflected on how generosity can ripple across generations. She wrote about the people who helped her while she was in college — a dentist who fixed her tooth for free, and a roommate who loaned her $1,000. She later invested in that roommate’s company, which now helps students secure loans when banks won’t. That’s part of a broader shift Scott is making: moving more of her fortune into mission-aligned investments rather than traditional vehicles that focus on maximizing financial returns. In her latest essay, posted Tuesday, she suggested that everyone has a role to play in shaping a better future — not just those with billions to give. “There are many ways to influence how we move through the world,” she wrote, “and where we land.”
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Bride Honors Late Father by Incorporating His Memory in Emotional Wedding Ceremony
Lizzie Dean always knew her father would be part of her wedding day — even if he couldn’t be there in person. Three years after Ron Dean’s unexpected passing, Lizzie found subtle and emotional ways to include him in nearly every part of her ceremony. A TikTok she posted about it has resonated widely, showing moments from a bittersweet day filled with joy, grief, and love. “I knew it would make it more difficult emotionally, but I couldn't imagine not incorporating him as much as I could,” she told Newsweek. She meant it. As guests rose and music from Interstellar played, Lizzie walked herself down the aisle — but not alone. She wore wedding shoes covered with fabric from one of her father’s old pink dress shirts. It was her way of having him walk her down the aisle. “I knew I wanted him to be a big part of the day, and that I didn't want to shy away from his presence,” she said. That presence was felt in other ways too. A special seat at the ceremony was reserved for Ron, adorned with a printed poem: “You may not see me, but I will be there.” Later, during the ceremony, a voicemail he had recorded for Lizzie and her husband, Matthew Valvardi, played over the speakers. “Hi, Lizzie, Dad here. I love and miss you, darling,” he said in the recording. “I hope you and Matt have a fantastic day, and I love you very much! That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it. I am so blessed. I love you so much.” Friends and family watching the ceremony were visibly emotional, as was Lizzie herself. She wrote on TikTok that the ceremony was a tribute to “the infinite love and the bond between a father and daughter.” Ron Dean had been in relatively good health despite some heart issues, Lizzie said. He regularly went on long walks around Washington, D.C., which he jokingly called his “hot girl walks.” Just when it seemed like things were improving, he suffered an unexpected heart attack. Ron wasn’t just a devoted dad — he was “a girl dad through and through,” she said, and had even become something of an honorary sorority member alongside his daughters. The couple made sure his memory showed up throughout the event. He was mentioned in Valvardi’s wedding speech. The cocktail menu gave a nod to him. Even the motif on the invitations carried his influence. And the day after the wedding, the newlyweds held a celebration that coincided with what would have been Lizzie’s parents’ 29th anniversary. “While we may not have seen him, we knew he was there,” Lizzie wrote at the end of her TikTok video. She closed the caption with three simple words: “Love you Dad.”