Children launch "khom loy" lanterns into the sky during the Yee Peng Festival in Lamphun, Thailand, on November 20, 2021. The Gassan Panorama Golf Course in northern Thailand hosted its annual Yee Peng Festival, the festival of lights, during which Thais launch khom loy lanterns into the sky on the 12th Thai lunar month. Yee Peng 2021 was the first major festival held in Thailand since the country reopened to international tourists on November 1, 2021. #

Lexa Voss, a personality-development coach, cuddles Karlotta the sheep at her farm, where she has held sheep-cuddling seminars during the COVID-19 lockdown in Hattingen, near Wuppertal, Germany, on March 11, 2021. #

Fumie Takino, 89, founder of a senior cheer squad called Japan Pom Pom, and other members pose for commemorative photos before filming a dance routine for an online performance in Tokyo, Japan, on April 12, 2021. "It's dancing. Moving your body is nice," Takino said. "And the costumes are unbelievably showy. Some people join just so they can wear them." #

A stranded bride and groom, rescued by helicopter to get them to the church on time, kiss in front of a flooded bridge that blocked their five-minute drive into town, in Port Macquarie, Australia, in this picture obtained from social media, dated March 20, 2021. #

Stephanie Arce receives equine therapy at a Costa Rican Mounted Police facility in San Jose, Costa Rica, on March 23, 2021. Emotional support horses were on site to help people coping with physical- and mental-health conditions. #

Allyson Felix celebrates with her daughter Camryn after finishing second in the women's 400-meter final on day three of the 2020 U.S. Olympic Track and Field Team Trials at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, on June 20, 2021. #

A health professional holds the hand of a COVID-19 patient in the intensive-care unit of the Virgen de Fatima contingency hospital in Sullana, Piura, Peru, on October 19, 2021. #

Japanese musician Manami Ito, who is also a qualified nurse and former Paralympic swimmer, plays the violin using her prosthetic arm during a photo session in Shizuoka, Japan, on August 28, 2021. Ito gave a brief but show-stealing performance at the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Paralympics. #

Recep Mirzan, a 63-year-old retired postman and Garip, a female swan that he rescued 37 years ago, share a moment at his farmhouse outside Karaagac, in Turkey's western Edirne province, on February 6, 2021. Mirzan found the swan wounded, with a broken wing, in an empty field and took her to his home to protect her from other wildlife. The swan follows the man whenever she is out of her pen, accompanying him when he is doing his chores around the farm and for his daily evening walks. #

Customers enjoy drinks at tables outside the bars in the Soho area of London, on April 12, 2021, as coronavirus restrictions were eased across the country, moving England out of its third national lockdown. #

Ridwan Sururi, the founder of Kuda Pustaka ("Horse Library"), works with a horse that is carrying books for children who are waiting to exchange older titles for newer ones in Pesanggrahan village, Purbalingga, Java, on November 4, 2021. The Horse Library has collected 7,000 books since 2014, and Sururi has opened a library at his home so that residents, children, and students can visit and borrow books. #

Joint gold medalists Gianmarco Tamberi of Italy and Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar celebrate after both failed to clear 2.39 meters during the Men's High Jump Final, resulting in a gold medal tie after identical jumps at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games on August 1, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. Rather than move forward with a tie-breaker, the athletes asked to share the gold medal. #

Marian Nabil and her daughters, Meray and Maybel Peter, hold hands after praying during Egypt's Coptic Christmas Eve Mass in their home, as churches were closed amid restrictions due to the COVID-19 outbreak, in Shubra El Kheima, Al Qalyubia Governorate, north of Cairo, Egypt, on January 6, 2021. #

Therapy dog Morron is seen at the Exequiel Gonzalez Pediatrics Hospital during a session with girl who was scheduled for surgery in Santiago, Chile, on July 28, 2021. At the children's hospital in Santiago, a group of trained dogs help children cope with anxiety ahead of surgeries, but amid the pandemic, they also help exhausted health workers reduce stress. #

Kyle Seager of the Seattle Mariners kisses his daughter Audrey before the game against the Oakland Athletics at T-Mobile Park in Seattle, Washington, on June 2, 2021. #

Military police officer Everaldo Pinto, dressed as the superhero Captain America, greets children and encourages them to protect themselves during the COVID-19 pandemic in Petropolis, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, on April 15, 2021. #

With music playing through wireless headphones, Chase Beckerman, a 37-year-old mother of two children, and other participants dance on the beach during a weekly event hosted by Ecstatic Dance LA on Venice Beach in Los Angeles, on September 29, 2021. "Ecstatic dance here at the beach has been my church since May," said Beckerman. "I can come here by myself as a woman and dance. There aren't many places where you can feel safe to do that." #