Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2025 i Reader's Digest

WE PUBLISH a lot of nail-biters. Our Everyday Heroes and Drama in Real Life stories are important parts of the DNA of Reader's Digest. People fall off boats, tangle with wild animals, veer off trails and into dangerous wildernes … then, thank goodness, other people come along and step up to save them. As you've undoubtedly notice (spoiler alert!), even in our scariest stories, everyone lives to tell the tale. In this issue, our cover story, “I Survived!” (page 44), shares the miraculous stories of three people who survived something harrowing: a brain aneurysm; an unusual and potentially deadly addiction; and recurring hallucinations. Our Drama in Real Life (page 82) takes you on board a boat with a family, then, terrifyingly, below deck when a mom and her daughter get…

MIKE PAVLIK SEES a lot while recovering stolen bikes around Minneapolis. Once, pretending to be a potential buyer, he dressed up in khakis and a sport coat and met a seller. Pavlik took note of the bike's make, model and markings, confirming it was the one he was hunting. He asked to take it for a test ride. The seller wanted some collateral. “Do I look like the kind of guy that steals bikes, dude?” Pavlik recalls asking the man. Then he just pedaled off. An hour later, the seller texted him “I guess you're not coming back?” Pavlik is part of an unusual army: amateur sleuths who find stolen bikes and return them to their owners. As bike theft becomes more profitable grassroots efforts to thwart thieves are springing…

TIME FOR CHINESE? Stop right there! If you typically take your takeout and spoon it into a separate dish, you're doing it wrong. Instead, simply tear apart the sides of the carton and watch as it unfurls into a plate you can eat from—or serve from, if you're sharing. Ironically, the box's design is American, inspired by the Japanese art of origami. Best of all, it makes cleanup much easier after chowing down on chow mein.…

I needed a jump start to trim down but wasn't comfortable using one of the popular injectable drugs like Ozempic. I decided to try the Pendulum GLP-1 Probiotic instead. According to the product description, it's formulated to train the gut to produce hormones that help manage metabolism, blood sugar and hunger. Within the first week of taking it, I was noticeably less hungry, indulging my afternoon sugar craving became a choice, and I was sleeping better. After a couple of months, let's just say that body parts that had started to rub together or limit my mobility had trimmed down again. Another big bonus: For the first time in memory, I didn't feel as if I needed a nap by midafternoon. Pendulum's chief medical officer, Adam Perlman, MD, says the…

A man approaches a priest with a huge grin. “Bless me, father, for I have sinned,” he says. “I've spent the week with seven beautiful women.” “Do not fret, my son,” says the priest. “Just squeeze seven lemons into a glass and drink.” “Will that cleanse me from my sin?” “No, but it'll wipe that stupid smile off your face.” —GLANMIREPARISH.IE Whenever I try to eat healthy, a chocolate bar looks at me and Snickers. —Submitted by JOYCE KALUSCAK Cleveland, OH The expression “When one door closes, another opens” is about the complete lack of privacy living with kids. —X@IHIDEFROMMYKIDS Finish your haggis and down your scotch, then enjoy these jokes from the recent Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland. ♦ My dad used to say to me “Pints, gallons, liters,” which,…

I had been up since 4 a.m., running 27 miles in the dark, in training for an upcoming marathon. When I completed my run in just over four hours, I jumped into my car, bypassed my house and headed to the gym for my regular workout of high-intensity kickboxing. I would do that for an hour and follow it up by lifting weights. I made it most of the way through my kickboxing class before passing out. A friend carried me downstairs, and I lay down on the dirty gym couch. I stayed like that until I could sit up without the room spinning. Even then, I tried to head to the weight room, but my friend insisted that I go home, packing me into my car with a stern…

Not in the mood for love this Valentine's Day? If revenge is more on your mind, name a bug after the person who broke your heart. For just $5, Lehigh Valley Zoo in Pennsylvania will name a cricket after your ex and then feed it to one of their turtles, lizards or another of their hungry animals. This “Bug Off" initiative has caught on—both among the brokenhearted and among zoos as a way to raise funds: The San Antonio Zoo's similar “Cry Me a Cockroach" campaign raised $80,000 last year.…

HALFWAY THROUGH GETTING her palms tattooed, Long Island mom Angela Sarro realized: This was a big mistake. She was getting the red and blue pills as seen in the movie The Matrix, one on each palm—the red representing a yearning for truth, even if it's disturbing, and the blue guaranteeing blissful ignorance. “I looked down and started crying,” says Sarro. The red one looked like a jelly bean. She asked the artist to stop. “And he said, ‘Nope. You already paid. You're getting the blue one too.'” Blissfully ignorant, but soon to learn the disturbing truth, she went along with it. A few weeks later when her son started fourth grade and his new teacher waved at her, “I was too mortified to wave back,” says Sarro. She didn't want…

The Heart of Winter By Jonathan Evison Author Jonathan Evison draws the blueprint for a successful marriage in his newest novel. Abe and Ruth Winter's 70-year union isn't perfect. But it is steadfast in the face of a daughter's death, hints of infidelity and now an unexpected diagnosis that challenges one near-nonagenarian to care for the other. Opposing political and philosophical views since their college days could've easily become grounds for divorce, but instead become a pillar of their union. That Abe and Ruth stay together isn't the point—it's how they do that's extraordinary. —Wendy Wilson Ingrained By Callum Robinson An old trade gets new life as woodworker Callum Robinson, who thought he was doing the shaping, here reflects on how the craft has shaped him. Robinson is the eldest…

SPECIAL OFFER New Year, New Jokes! Stir up some warmth this winter with wits like Ed Asner, Rita Rudner and Jerry Seinfeld. They're all in our latest humor collection, Laughter the Best Medicine 2025, along with funny cartoons and quotes—including quips contributed by wisecrack readers like you! Get it now for just $10, and we'll also send you our puzzle book Word Searches for Word Lovers. To order, visit rd.com/LG2501EP. WHERE, OH WHERE? (page 112) A. Priest Lake, Idaho. (Although all the answer choices are great spots to see the northern lights.) BRAIN GAMES (pages 107-108) Get Out Over Your Skis The middle skis are the only ones with the right ski crossed over the left. (The others all cross the left over the right.) Gimme Five Snowflakes All three…

Every year, readers write us to share good things happening in their communities. We are privileged to tell their stories in our annual “Nicest Places in America” compilation. Greg Hudnall, a lifelong RD reader, told us how people in his home of Provo, Utah, mobilized to halt a youth suicide epidemic, and it became part of our October cover story. “Our world is a crazy world, but there are a lot of great things happening that we have to share so we can learn from them,” he says. “Any individual proud of what their community is doing to make life better for other citizens should have the courage to reach out.” Scan the code or go to rd.com/nicest. Your town, block, community center or anyplace could be our next Nicest…

Bringing the Heat Winter brings brutal cold to Wood-stock, New York. And with a cord of wood going for up to $350, not everyone can afford to fill their fireplaces and woodstoves. But a local man, who prefers to remain anonymous, makes sure his neighbors have enough wood to stay warm. It began a few years back when he sold firewood from a stand on the honor system, then donated the proceeds. After some people didn't pay, he posted a sign saying if anyone couldn't afford the wood, “just ask me and I will deliver.” That's what happened when the power went out for an elderly couple. They were huddled under blankets when the woodsman's truck pulled up. He brought them wood, which got them through the cold until their…

BY MY EARLY 40s, I had exhausted all the hobbies that were supposed to make me feel better about entering middle age. I had taken an improv class, started learning a new language, launched myself into an unsuccessful pursuit of a craft only to amass a collection of unevenly stitched handmade books, and given yoga a second chance. I'd even bought a recliner to help alleviate the malaise. And then, at the height of my low-grade desperation, I decided to sign up for a ballet class. “But you're not very flexible,” my husband gently reminded me. He wasn't wrong. I nearly injured myself the one time I tried to lift my leg onto our bathroom vanity in an attempt to stretch. Also, my track record for committing to physical activity…

ARE YOU A CITY MOUSE OR A COUNTRY MOUSE? People can be lonely and depressed no matter where they live. But a study of more than 5,000 older adults in China found that the rate of depressive symptoms among those who lived in rural areas was 1.37 times higher than in the city dwellers. Of course the solution isn't for everyone to move to the city, but the study, published in the journal Psychology Research and Behavior Management, points to the importance of participating in social activities. People in rural areas were less likely to do so very often, but those who played cards or mahjong at least once a week, or participated in other organized social activities at least once a month, were at less risk of depression. “Dancing…

There was a monkey perched on the IV drip stand to the right of my hospital bed. It scowled at me, but I wasn't afraid: A brief simian visit was part of my daily routine. I never questioned why there was a monkey in the hospital. I wasn't lucid enough to recognize that my mind was playing tricks on me. On Oct. 24, 2020, I visited the emergency room at the London hospital where I worked as an orthopedic surgeon. An hour earlier, I had developed such severe abdominal pain that I dropped to the floor in agony while teaching a medical education class over Zoom. I couldn't catch my breath because of the searing pain in my midsection. It felt like a knife stabbing me. I had intense waves…

Love at First Flight My cousin had been boasting about her husband's tall, handsome, single flight instructor for a while. It turned out Bill is quite shy, so when he finally asked me out, he really wanted to impress. He picked me up to go to the airport, where we boarded a Cessna 172. We flew from New Jersey to Connecticut, landing at an airport with an excellent restaurant. We flew to Pennsylvania for dessert. Then we flew over Manhattan to marvel at the lights and Empire State Building. When we landed, my head was spinning with excitement, and I knew we'd be together for a lifetime. —LOIS KLOTZ Englewood, FL And the Class Goes Wild This is more about “the ask” than the actual date. My future husband and…

The date was March 24, 2018, and though Molly Baker didn't know it yet, her world was about to change forever. On that cloudy Saturday morning, she'd just returned to her home in Sammamish, Washington, after a chilly trail run. Her husband, Marlin Baker, an avid skier, had set out early for a day on the slopes of Crystal Mountain, about two hours away. Their 14-year-old son, Samuel, was at a friend's house. Molly, then 52, was catching up on her work as an accountant when her cellphone rang. She didn't recognize the number, so she ignored it. Then came a voicemail from the Crystal Mountain Volunteer Ski Patrol: Marlin had been in a skiing accident. Her heart fluttering, she immediately called back. Her husband had been killed. In that…

My response to anything that happens, good or bad, is to keep making things. —Taylor Swift, MUSICIAN, IN TIME A lot of us think that we can stand on the side of the pond and figure out how the pond feels. And you really can't. You've just got to jump in. —Ina Garten, TELEVISION COOK, ON THE SUPER U PODCAST I love the fact that you can never be perfect. You can be really, really good, but you can't be perfect. There's always something to chase. —Stefon Diggs, FOOTBALL PLAYER, IN GQ I'd like to be remembered as the girl that gave it a go. It's going to be someone, so why not me? —Rochelle Humes, BROADCASTER, IN THE GUARDIAN For steady satisfaction, work on improving your worst days rather than your best days. —Kevin…

1. rizz n. (riz) A charisma B insult C friend group 2. bussin' adj. ('buh-sin) A sluggish B excellent C far away 3. yeet v. (yeet) A bump fists B dance on TikTok C throw forcefully 4. bet interj. (bet) A yes B maybe C no 5. mid adj. (mid) A tiny B so-so C dark 6. Fanum tax n. ('fa-nuhm taks) A bite of a friend's food B rideshare fee C weekly allowance 7. delulu adj. (duh-'loo-loo) A deluxe B delusional C deleted 8. stand on business v. (stand on 'biz-nes) A break the ice B cut corners C walk the walk 9. no cap interj. (noh kap) A that's the truth B oh well C no big deal 10. salty adj. ('sawl-tee) A resentful B relaxed C ridiculous 11. opp n. (op) A gamer B enemy C crush 12. sigma adj. ('sig-muh) A basic B under the radar C supercool 13. ate v. (ayt) A fell down B kept quiet C did well 14. fit n. (fit) A…

AT SOME POINT, maybe after a birthday or the loss of a loved one, you've ended up with more flowers than you knew what to do with. So did friends Rebecca Shelly and Laura Ruth of Harrisonburg, Virginia, after they both lost their fathers in 2023. But it gave them the idea for their nonprofit, Friendly City Florals. The friends reuse flowers after weddings and funerals, delivering new arrangements to nursing homes and hospitals, where the blooms brighten spirits. “When we drop off the flowers, everybody oohs and aahs over them,” Ruth told the Washington Post. “One woman kept saying, ‘Really? These are for me?'”…

A whopping 25% of all U.S. bank robberies in the early 1970s took place in Los Angeles—so many that the FBI began using nicknames to keep them organized: The man who disguised himself with surgical gauze became the Mummy Bandit. The man who wore a single glove became the Michael Jackson Bandit. A two-man team who wore fake mustaches were the Marx Brothers. A guy who waved a knife was the Benihana Bandit. And a group who robbed in threes—one dressed as a biker, another as a cop and a third as a construction worker—was known as the Village People.…

IT'S THE NUMBER we all want to know: the magic number on the scale that would make us look great in clothes (or out of them!) and keep us healthy. Often, we set a goal for ourselves based on a feeling. Or a weight we remember being happy with when we were in high school. Or maybe we consult one of the many different charts and formulas to help us calculate that number. Unfortunately, none of these methods on its own can prescribe a number that's healthy and—just as important—possible to attain and maintain. So how can you determine your “best" weight? It's more complicated—and simpler—than you think. The Problem with Charts and Formulas Formulas for determining a healthy weight range can easily be found online. But none can accurately…

Here's a little-known but disturbing fact: According to the Brain Aneurysm Foundation, about 50% of people who have ruptured brain aneurysms die, and 66% of the survivors have major cognitive deficiencies from brain damage. Luckily, it is extremely rare for aneurysms to rupture—only 1 in 100 do. Unfortunately for me, mine did. What happened? A decade ago, when I was 59, I woke up at our cottage on the Bruce Peninsula in Ontario, Canada, had a shower, made tea and got back into bed. Nestled in my happy place next to my sleeping husband, I read magazines and made notes for some travel writing I was doing. Suddenly, I felt a severe jolt of intense pain in my head. That was the last thing I remember before I lost consciousness.…

Using the word literally non-literally grates at the grammar police. But the word has been used as hyperbole for centuries, as in the following famous works: Charlotte Brontë in Jane Eyre: “Literally, I was (what he often called me) the apple of his eye.” Charles Dickens in David Copperfield: “Perhaps you know. Miss Trotwood, that there is never a candle lighted in this house, until one's eyes are literally falling out of one's head with being stretched to read the paper.” F. Scott Fitzgerald in The Great Gatsby: “But there was a change in Gatsby that was simply confounding. He literally glowed.” Mark Twain in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: “And when the middle of the afternoon came, from being a poor poverty-stricken boy in the morning, Tom was literally…

COMMUNITY MEANS WE'RE collaborating. It means that you help my children and old people, and I help yours. It means we are in this together. Most of us are perhaps a tiny bit self-absorbed, and good at keeping out people who don't look, vote, or act like our friends, and that's very nice. But a good community includes all those other people and those of us at the edges. Welcomes are offered: Hey, come on into the circle—yeah, you. You with your nose in the air, or a neck tattoo, a walker or a Rolls. Through an unknowable force, people join together to fight for what they think is right, or to bird-watch, or feed the poor, to help one another stay sober or rebuild after natural catastrophes … Odd,…