Skip to content
  • Happy Health
  • Happy Mindset
  • Animal Wonders
  • About Us
    • Team
  • Subscribe
Menu
  • Happy Health
  • Happy Mindset
  • Animal Wonders
  • About Us
    • Team
  • Subscribe
Happy News

The Chance Encounter That Changed Everything

Author Richie Frieman was attending an Alzheimer’s walk to honor a friend’s father when he heard Dennis Myers share his story about living with young-onset dementia and finding hope through an unlikely friendship with two other men. Dennis, Jim Hursey, and Mike Razzi had met through a support group and dubbed themselves “The Optimistics,” choosing to celebrate their bond rather than focus on their devastating diagnoses. Richie couldn’t stop thinking about these three men from different backgrounds who had opened themselves to vulnerability and brotherhood in ways that defied traditional masculine expectations.

What started as a chance encounter became a life-changing journey as Richie gained the families’ trust to document their stories in his book “The Optimistics.” Through months of attending support group meetings, Richie witnessed not just the three men’s friendship but discovered an entire community of people facing young-onset dementia with courage and grace. The experience transformed Richie’s understanding of what truly matters when Dennis shared three simple but profound words: “Time is important.” Though the group lost Jim in 2025, their legacy continues through Richie’s book, which honors not just those living with dementia but the care partners who love them, proving that even in life’s darkest moments, optimism and human connection can create light.

PrevPreviousThe Rag and Bone Gypsy Creating Magic
NextThe That Dad Got His Baby’s Scars TattooedNext

Recent Articles

Happy News

CDC Admits The Truth About Monkey Testing

December 6, 2025

In a seismic victory for animals and science, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has announced it will phase out all cruel experiments on monkeys in its laboratory, ending a practice that failed to produce a marketable HIV vaccine despite four decades of trying while putting public health

Read More
Happy News

Anonymous Donor Just Changed Lives With $50 MILLION Gift

December 6, 2025

An anonymous donation expected to exceed $50 million will cover tuition costs for medical laboratory science students at the University of Washington for the next half century, with the dean of the School of Medicine making the surprise announcement Monday to about 30 grateful undergrads who will each see two

Read More
Happy News

He Started Walking In 1998 And Still Hasn’t STOPPED

December 5, 2025

Karl Bushby set off from Chile in 1998 hoping to become the first person to complete an unbroken round the world walk, and now 27 years later the former paratrooper from Sutton Park has less than 2,000 miles left before he arrives at his home city of Hull. Since starting

Read More
« Previous Next »
  • Privacy Notice
  • Accessibility Notice
  • Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information
  • Unsubscribe
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Privacy Notice
  • Accessibility Notice
  • Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information
  • Unsubscribe
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
Copyright © 2025 HappyNews.