From furry friends and adorable little girls to police officers breaking down with emotion, these stories made us shed tears. Watch video
From furry friends and adorable little girls to tough police officers breaking down with emotion, these stories got the waterworks flowing this year.
Get your tissues ready.
These stories made us cry, weep or moved us to tears in 2016 - mostly tears of joy.
Hero Cop Tears Up
Linden Police Officer Angel Padilla had visited Linden school children before to talk policing or shoot some hoops with kids. And he's active in the PTA at School No. 5.
But just three days after he took a bullet to the torso during a shootout with alleged terrorist bomber Ahmad Khan Rahami, Padilla was back at the elementary school to thank the children for the cards they sent him thanking him and other officers for protecting them.
Padilla was overcome with emotion - as were many others present - and choked out a "Thank you," to each student who praised him as a hero, and lined up to give him hugs.
"I Got This"
Pick your teary moment with Laurie Hernandez, the 16-year-old breakout gymnastics superstar from Old Bridge - who's also been called the Human Emoji.
Was it when she won a gold medal at the Rio Olympics? Or the individual silver she nabbed as well? Or when footage of her confidently mouthing to herself, "I got this," before starting a beam routine in Rio?
Or when she displayed professional-like dancing moves in winning the mirror ball trophy on "Dancing with the Stars" in November?
A Piece of Her Comes Back
John Wyckoff has found many things left behind by visitors to his tree farm in White Township, but never a valuable wedding ring like the one David Penner lost there 15 years ago.
In early December, Wyckoff spotted the band in the dirt from a tractor. He asked the public for help in getting back to its owner, describing its inscription, "To David. Love, Nancy."
Days later, Wyckoff was reuniting it to an astounded Penner, who had been back to the farm many times and never found the ring - which he had never replaced.
"I thought it was a miracle," said Penner, who is 68 and lives in Great Meadows. His wife Nancy Penner passed away in September, and they were married for 42 years. He said the ring's return makes him feels like his wife is back with him. "This was a piece to come back to me, in her absence," he said.
Small Note with a Big Response
Princeton school bus driver Cindy Clausen consistently saw a brother and sister on her bus helping a classmate with a disability. Touched, she wrote a short note to their parents describing the helpful and compassionate acts she witnessed.
She ended the note saying, "I know you know how wonderful your children are, but I wanted you to know that it shows!"
The note wound its way online, first posted on Lovethispic.com, and went viral, with people saying how moved they were by Clausen's letter.
Can They be Any Cuter?
The McClure twins of West Orange are already stars of their family's YouTube channel/vlog, where their parents post adorable interviews of 3-year-old identicals Alexis and Ava, and rack up impressive Internet traffic.
In October, a video titled, "Twins realize they look the same!" went viral and you might cry from laughing at their pouty disappointment.
During the interview, Alexis has a meltdown when realized Ava is 1-minute older and later Ava has a meltdown when told Alexis is taller. The video of extreme cuteness is closing in on 2 million views.
Teen who 'Died' Returns to Hospital
In October 2015, Florence teen TJ Drahuschak was so badly injured in a crash in Trenton that a trauma team had to revive the broken 16-year-old from death three times in just a few hours.
Capital Health Dr. Michael Kelly was skeptical the Notre Dame High School student and football player would live through the night.
Drahuschak survived, ("I died three times," he said with grin), and in August, the teen walked into the Trenton trauma center, put his crutches to the side and personally thanked Kelly and the team of nurses and specialists who put him back together.
"I want to to thank them immensely for keeping me alive," he said.
Is Pedals the Famous Upright Bear Dead?
In 2014 and 2015, videos surfaced online showing a bear walking upright like a human as it scampered through backyards in the Oak Ridge and Jefferson areas.
The bipedal bear, suffering an apparent injury to his front legs, got the name Pedals. State wildlife officials asked for help locating him, and residents worried he would not last through upcoming winters.
But Pedals likely did not survive this fall's state bear hunt. On Oct. 10, officials said, a bear with injured limbs was brought to a weigh-in station.
The state it would never really know, because Pedals was never tagged or had a DNA sample taken, but the bear weighed on Oct. 10 appears - from his paws to the blaze on his chest - to be Pedals.
Man Wins Freedom after "Half A Life" Behind Bars
In July, Duquene Pierre walked out of a New Jersey jail into the jubilant arms of family members - freed from a one-time 60-year sentence for murder.
He smiled, they cheered and mobbed the 44-year-old, who spent exactly half his life behind bars for a crime he did not commit.
A few days later, he described the rollercoaster ride he took through the state judicial system. It started with the dungeon-like prison in Trenton where he was first incarcerated - "It felt like everything was closing in."
To the moment last year when he found out the state Supreme Court would look at his case. "I jumped up like a kid," he said. At a new trial this year, a judge dismissed the charges, and Pierre broke down in tears.
"I'm with my family. I'm moving on with my life," he said.
From Hoarding Home to Loving Home
The scene and numbers were staggering. Investigators on the scene of an "extreme hoarding" situation found nearly 300 dogs in 10 hours after searching a one single-family home in Howell.
The smell was overwhelming, the excitable sounds of barking dogs everywhere and authorities said some were just 15 minutes old when taken from the home. Officers even used firefighters' thermal imaging cameras to locate dogs in holes in the walls.
But from the hoarding came several adoptions, as people stepped up gain a new furry friend. The first adoption was Elena, a bulldog mix, who joined the family of Alaina Casha, an SPCA volunteer.
"Yesterday she had just come out of surgery and I saw her laying there and she just came right up to me and there was something in my heart," Casha said. "We can't wait to bring this dog in and give (her) the best love and all the attention we possibly can give."
Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@kevintshea. Find NJ.com on Facebook.