In Canada's Beaver Harbour, New Brunswick, Arnold Hawkins -- who's been lovingly dubbed "Canada's Grandpa" -- turned 110 years old on January 30. Pre-pandemic, his family would have thrown him an open-house party. With large gatherings on hold this year, Hawkins' family decided to celebrate another way. Inviting strangers to send a birthday card, Hawkins' granddaughter Cheryl McKinley put a call out to friends on social media: The original idea was to see if we could get 110 cards for 110 years." To their surprise, more than 5,000 cards FROM friends and strangers (and even schools and long-lost family `member`s) across North America, Europe and Australia had arrived by Hawkins' birthday, with more arriving each day. McKinley reads the cards to him for hours every day -- and with the volume of letters, "it might take me until his birthday next year [to finish reading]," she laughs. The amount of love given and the stories people are sending about their own families it's just pretty amazing."
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