Arts & Entertainment
Ellen DeGeneres surprises local gay dads with generous gift
the couple have launched Comfort Cases to aid foster kids

(Screenshot via YouTube.)
Ellen DeGeneres shocked two gay dads with a generous gift on Monday’s episode of “The Ellen DeGenres Show.”
Rob and Reece Scheer from Darnestown, Md. shared their story of how they went from a family of two to welcoming four kids into their home.
The couple explained they had only wanted to adopt one child from the foster system but received a call for a brother and sister. Not wanting to separate the kids, they decided to adopt both.
Three months later, the Scheers received a call for a six-month-old and a two-year-old and the youngest kids became the new additions to the family.
The Scheers were honest that it wasn’t always easy raising kids from foster care.
“When the kids arrived, we knew that they came with baggage, from homes that just lacked love in general,” the couple told DeGeneres. “We had a child who was hoarding food in her bedroom because she was scared she wasn’t going to eat, a son who couldn’t talk or walk, another child that didn’t know what it was to hug.”
Despite the challenges, Rob says their children are their greatest joy.
“That’s what family’s about, you just make it work,” Rob says. “They don’t care that we’re white and we’re gay, they care that we love them. People say all the time that our kids won the lottery but we won the lottery.”
Rob says he was also a foster child and remembered having to put his belongings into a trash bag. Years later when his kids arrived at his home, Rob noticed they also carried trash bags filled with their belongings.
The Scheers decided to launch Comfort Cases, an initiative to provide luggage for foster kids. Inside, there would be a brand new pair of pajamas, a book, a blanket and a toothbrush. A GoFundMe has been launched to raise funds.
DeGeneres gifted the couple $10,000 and $40,000 worth of Samsonite luggage to aid their venture.
Comfort Cases is available in D.C., Maryland and Virginia but the Scheers aspire to reach the entire United States.
Watch below.
The 2026 World Pride March was held on Saturday, Aug. 8 in Amsterdam. Tens of thousands of participants marched from Martin Luther Kingpark to the grounds of the Pride Village at Museumplein.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)








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The weekly drag show “Daddy Issues” was held at Kiki on Wednesday, Aug. 5. Performers included Evry Pleasure, Indiana Bones and Tiara Missou-Sidora.
(Washington Blade photos by Landon Shackelford)









Books
Something’s off about Dad. When is it time to step in?
‘When Memory Fades’ can help when families face dementia
‘When Memory Fades’
By Nathaniel Chin, MD
c.2026, St. Martin’s Essentials
$30/422 pages
Mom called you in a panic the other day.
She’d lost her keys and by the time you arrived to help, she’d found them. In the refrigerator.
These kinds of things keep happening, not often but often enough, and you don’t know quite what to worry about. But in the new book “When Memory Fades” by Nathaniel Chin, MD, you’ll learn about the journey ahead, for both of you.
You can’t remember why you walked into a room. You got lost last week, going to the bank. Popular wisdom says that things like that are normal as we age, but Chin says that’s not true – although the answer may not be a worst-case scenario, either. Yes, memory problems could just be signs of stress, dehydration, or lack of sleep – or is it time to see a doctor?
Chin says maybe, yes.
He was working his way through medical residency when his father, a geriatrician in Madison, Wisc., was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Chin, now a geriatrician, was blindsided, but that diagnosis also changed his life.
Here, he writes about the brain, and how Alzheimer’s and dementia are diagnosed, explaining that dementia has many faces and, depending on a doctor’s evaluation, memory problems might be slowed or improved. He shares his father’s illness with readers, but he also writes about his mother, a steadfast, steady caretaker.
Her story reminds reader-guardians to care for themselves, too.
Know how to talk the talk, so that you can have “a more productive” conversation with your doctor. Understand that there’s nothing “normal” about dementia or Alzheimer’s. Know the statistics – African Americans are affected with dementia twice as much as whites – and know how to lower your risks. Learn here what questions to ask, how to break the news to everyone, and any legal matters that will be important soon. And know how to tend to you.
Says Chin, “The best action you can take is to educate yourself… The more you understand, the better equipped you are to make sound judgments.”
Something’s off about Dad, just a lot of little things that don’t add up. When is it time to step in? “When Memory Fades” can help you decide.
Wise, wide-spread, comprehensive, and compassionately helpful, this is a book you can read and then take it to the doctor with your loved one. It’s a book that makes sense when nothing else does, and its biggest feature is that it smoothly transitions from easy-to-grasp science and charts, to gentle coaching for caregivers. Author Nathaniel Chin, MD writes with storytelling, humility, grace, and experience from both sides of the Alzheimer’s/dementia issue, and his words are reassuring but also urgent. Learn, but don’t wait, he says. Know how to safeguard yourself. See your doctor, and don’t fear testing. Watch for signs of depression. And never, ever stop asking for help.
Read those last seven words, and find “When Memory Fades” now. It’s a book to have on your shelf, whether you’re 45 or 95 because, as you’ll see, dementia happens and knowledge is key.
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