It all started with Sara Ann Luther’s broken heart. But, thankfully, there was a Whataburger happily-ever-after in store.

Treasure Hunt

On a June afternoon in Burnet, Texas, two men and one woman gathered in the sun-baked parking lot and methodically slit open bags of garbage from the Whataburger dumpster.

Together, they shook out each bag and sifted through half-full tubs of Spicy Ketchup, stained tray liners, and cups of melting ice.

All on the hunt for a ring that had slipped off Sara Ann Luther’s finger.

The simple diamond solitaire engagement ring had belonged to Luther’s mom, who died in 2014. Luther’s dad purchased it in 1964 with money he earned selling raccoon hides.

“I’ve worn it on my finger every day for almost five years,” Luther says.

But that day, it went missing after she and her husband, Jim, ate lunch at Whataburger.

A Call for Help

Panicked, Luther returned to the restaurant to search for the ring. She was ready to roll up her sleeves and scour every inch of the restaurant.

But General Manager Shaun Dilworth told her he would do the dirty work. He called in his wife, Jessica Featherston, to help. And Janos Bajnoczy, the assistant manager, dove in, too.

It was a no-brainer for Dilworth. “My wife wears a ring that was passed down from my grandparents,” he says. “If she lost it, I would want someone to help us look for it.”

Together, the three of them spread cardboard around the dumpster, pulled out the garbage bags and sifted through the day’s trash.

“I’ve had experience doing this,” Dilworth says. About a year ago, he helped find a customer’s dentures in the garbage. “I understand how expensive or how meaningful things are to people. And if it happens to me, I hope the good karma will come back to me.”

But despite hours of searching, the ring did not turn up.

That’s when Bajnoczy took one more look in the women’s restroom. And there, tucked in the folds of the plastic trash bag, was the ring.

“They could have just said that was bad luck for me and not looked,” Luther says. “But they did what they said they would do. And they did it with so much care, and they don’t even know me.”

The customers are what Whataburger’s all about, Dilworth says. “If it weren’t for the customers, we wouldn’t be here as a business.”

Shoes tied, backpacks strapped, and sunscreen slathered, Greg and his 12-year-old son, Jack, took off on a 50-mile quest from their home in Arlington, Texas, to Greg’s mom’s house in Springtown.

Their goal? 50 miles. In two days. On foot. Fueled by Whataburger.

The orange-and-white roofs were a beacon for the pair, which stopped at every Whataburger on their #Whatajourney – nine in all.

Decked out in Whataburger T-shirts, the duo made it from Arlington to the first Whataburger in Fort Worth in less than two hours.

Greg chowed down a Honey Butter Chicken Biscuit. Jack got a sugar high from a cinnamon roll and Strawberry Fanta, the first of many he would guzzle on the walk. Only 47ish miles to go!

_________________________________________

“The goal is to get something different at each stop,” Greg told a growing group of social media followers during stop No. 2, while they cooled off inside another Fort Worth restaurant.

The real goal? Time together. There were jokes and guy talk and serious conversations about church and what life will be like for Jack when he enters seventh grade in the fall. And lots of talk about their next Whataburger stop, and the cold, cold air-conditioning awaiting them.

_________________________________________

They broke for lunch in the city of Hurst. “Just an easy-breezy 6 miles since the last stop.”

In a video-game, phone-focused world, this adventure gave the father-son duo quiet time outside. After seeking out the best path across a creek, Greg and Jack talked about getting past obstacles in life. “That led to even more great conversations about life,” Greg says.

_________________________________________

Last stop of Day 1 in the town of Saginaw. The Haugens snapped a photo with the Whataburger staff, who were quick to serve up meals – and cold drinks.

At a hotel just across the street, Jack crashed quickly, and Greg nursed blisters on his feet.

“I was worried … that the second day wasn’t going to happen,” he says.

_________________________________________

But Day 2 dawned with new energy – and a renewed commitment to their quest.

Counting American flags – 326 in all – took the focus off their feet. And they played word games and sang songs.

“Any time there’s a chance for adventure and a chance to be silly, that’s the route I’m going to take,” Greg says.

Jack branched out to Orange Fanta at stop No. 8, a different restaurant in Saginaw.

_________________________________________

Seven hours and 12 miles later, stop No. 9 “was simply spectacular!”

Family and friends surprised them, and Family Members at the restaurant in Azle threw a party to celebrate their journey. “We walked in to applause and cheers,” Greg says. “We felt like Whatakings!”

Less than 4 miles to go!

_________________________________________

Kathy Haugen greeted her weary son and grandson at 9:35 p.m. on June 28.

_________________________________________

The trek allowed Greg to really see things along a route he’s traveled his entire life. “We’re missing a whole lot of what’s going by when we don’t take an opportunity to look around us,” he says. “I’m going to try to be more in the moment from now on.”

He sings, he dances. He hands out high fives, fist bumps and hugs. And all Anthony Bragg wants in return is a smile.

“If I can bring a smile to your face, I’ve done my job for the day,” says Bragg, a security guard at the front entrance of Phoenix Children’s Hospital. In his seven years on the job, Bragg has become the face of Phoenix Children’s for many patients and their families.

“His smile beams from the distance,” says Lisa Rysavy of Phoenix Children's Hospital Foundation. “Families look for him as they drive into the parking garage.”

As families approach, Bragg might bust a move or sing Snoop Dogg’s “Beautiful.” He’ll offer a fist bump or a hug.

“You never know what people are facing as they come in. I just try to provide hope,” Bragg says.

Before taking the post at Phoenix Children’s, Bragg disliked hospitals – and he almost turned down the job offer because of it. “All the way home, I wondered why I said yes.”

Now he knows.

“What I didn’t understand was that I needed to go there, and there was a purpose to go there,” he says. “I’ve been blessed and enriched for being there.”

He’s had parents cry on his shoulder, and he’s danced with families because they’re going home from the hospital.

“You see miracles and blessings. It humbles you and grounds you,” he says.

Bragg cherishes the relationships he’s built with families.

A picture of one boy, also named Anthony, hangs on Bragg’s refrigerator. The boy’s family donated his organs, and they asked Bragg to sing during the procession honoring his life and his family’s decision.

As family and hospital staffed lined the hallway in Anthony’s honor, Bragg sang “Amazing Grace.” The family played a video of the scene at the boy’s funeral.

If it was up to Bragg, no child would ever need a hospital, he says. “I can’t do that. But I can be that smile and that glimpse of positivity.”

Tavits Photography

When her husband asked her to move to some land out in the country, Trisha made her conditions clear: “I’m not moving unless I can drive to Whataburger in 10 minutes or less.”

Also, she told him, I want some chickens.

She got her wish.

Trisha calls herself the Krazy Funky Chicken Lady, and she’s made sure she lives up to the name. As self-professed “mom” to more than a dozen chickens, she keeps them happy, keeps them safe, and keeps them stylish in custom-made orange “saddles” and bibs.

She also names them: Mashed Potato. Meatloaf. Moo. Tater Tot. Greasy Grizz. Bluebell. Frankie. Fiona. Chewbacca. Snoop. The Boss. Kirby. Petunia. Daisy. Daffodil.

She has her very own Whatacoop, inspired by (what else?) her favorite restaurant. It came about when she pointed out to her husband that while she could still drive to Whataburger, she couldn’t walk there anymore. “Fine,” he told her. “I’ll build you your own.”

Her husband worked from an A-Frame plan and customized it to their needs, creating cozy spots below for them to perch, hide away, or socialize with one another, as well as unique areas up top for the chickens to lay eggs.

“I'm not even a huge egg eater,” Trisha says. “I just think that the chickens are so freakin' cute. They waddle. They're fluffy. They're sweet. They poop. But they're great fertilizer. Our grass is so green.”

Like Trisha, her “Whatachick’ns” have grown to love life in the country. They eat all the bugs they can find, play in the sandbox Trisha built just for them, peck the orange flowers around their coop, and come inside whenever it gets too cold. “Our chickens are pets,” she says. “We love our chickens. We don’t eat them. We just play with them”

Most of her flock are Sillkie chickens, fluffy chicks who are soft to the touch. “They’re big, fluffy balls that look like teddy bears” Trisha says. “They don’t have regular feathers like other chickens do. They have a big giant cottontail, like a bunny.”

And, yes, she says: They definitely have their own personalities. “You come home, they come running,” she says. “Just like a dog.” It might have something to do with the cantaloupe and grapes Trisha offers them up as a treat, she concedes. “If you have food, they’re your best friend. That’s pretty much the way it works.”

For Trisha, her chickens are just plain fun. “I work 55-60 hours a week in a corporate job. So when I come home, I just want to play,” she says. “I’m not your average chicken lady … I’m your Krazy Funky Chicken Lady. We like to keep it fun.”

Her flock is 15 strong right now, with possible plans to expand. “I just like them 'cause they're cute,” Trisha says. “I think that I'll probably wind up with … I don’t know -- maybe 20. Maybe 25. I’ve got enough room, and we’ll just build another Whataburger coop. Or maybe we can put in a drive-thru.”

The coop as it is has been a hit in her rural neighborhood. “You can see it from the street, and everyone stops, gets out, and takes pictures,” she says. “Everyone says, ‘We love your Whatacoop!’ “

Last year, almost 2 million people came out to share in the excitement of Major League Baseball’s Cactus League Spring Training in Phoenix, Ariz.

And while fans are there for the baseball – there are more than 250 games in the area in just a few weeks – quite a few make sure to stop in at Whataburger.

Brian Clute grew to love Whataburger when he was a college student in Arizona, where his dad still lives.

Now, he and his son, Thomas, live in Camas, Wash. – without a Whataburger in sight. So when they came down to Arizona for Spring Training and a visit with Thomas' grandfather this year, Brian made sure all three generations stopped in for some Whataburger.

“I’m here with my dad and my son to watch some Spring Training and eat some Whataburgers,” he says.

Fueling Up

Whataburger has been part of the Phoenix landscape since 1962, and there is a restaurant less than a mile from Tempe Diablo stadium, which means the store is often jammed with baseball-hat-wearing fans enjoying a meal together before or after a game – not to mention players who stop in to fuel up.

Sometimes the Family Members working at the restaurant get a little star struck – and sometimes their own families do. “We have the players coming in before and after they play,” says Deatrice Burden, who works at the restaurant by the stadium. “My son, Isiah, thinks it’s cool. He’s 10, and he’s like ‘Can I come to work with you today to see the baseball players?’ “

At the Game

On the field, Whataburger is part of the excitement too, sponsoring teams and setting up booths at games to pass out coupons and share in the fun with fans.

“It’s great for us to be a part of it all,” says Haley Proulx, a brand development coordinator for Whataburger. “We’re baseball fans too, so being out at the games – connecting with our fans there – it’s such an important way for us to be able to give back to the community.”

And he’s got his Whataburger.

San Antonio resident Tommy Guitron recently marked his 100^th visit to Whataburger since he downloaded the restaurant’s app last year. (And since every five visits means free food, that means this dude has stacked up 20 free menu items in the past year.)

No wonder he's celebrating. Check it out.

The Whataburger restaurant in Liberty, Texas, was on fire.

An electrical fire had started in the roof about 5 a.m. May 31, and the store would have to be closed for sev­eral months.

Tamminga knew what that would mean for the 50 Whataburger Family Members at the restaurant: months of uncer­tainty – without a paycheck.

“They have bills to pay and families to take care of,” he says. “We wanted to take care of them, the same way they take care of us.”

So Whataburger decided to lift up their Family Members and invest in their community at the same time by paying Family Members to volunteer at local nonprofits.

“It’s a way for us to stay connected to the com­munity and with our Family Members while we get re­built,” Tamminga says.

It’s an effort that Whataburger corporate stores and other franchisees have done before when a unit has been shut down for repairs — and it’s been a win-win.

See how their efforts impacted the community of Liberty.

1. A New York firefighter helping Texans in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey tried Whataburger for the first time – and his life will never be the same.

2. People love their babies. They love our food. It just makes sense to put them together like this Houston couple did. Who needs a smash cake, when you can have Whataburger?

3. This fan was coming out of wisdom tooth surgery, when her mom pulled the cruelest joke ever, telling her daughter that Whataburger had closed down. But don’t worry: it all ends well.

4. This Natalia, Texas, teen made sure her Quinceañera photos would get noticed, pairing her pink lace dress with an orange-and-white box of Whataburger chicken strips.

5. PGA golfer John Peterson made headlines when he chose to get down with a Whataburger at his Fort Worth, Texas, wedding to his wife, Amanda.

6. Nothing has given tribute to the magnificence that is the Honey Butter Chicken Biscuit quite like the soulful stylings of Pastor Fred, who sang “There’s Something About This Biscuit” and went viral.

7. In possibly the most-Texas-moment ever, Whataburger teamed up with Southwest Airlines to make Texas Independence Day 2017 the most memorable one yet for some lucky travelers.

Nothing says #TexasIndependenceDay like getting Whataburger on your way into Texas on a @SouthwestAir flight pic.twitter.com/D8xWi26oS6

— Whataburger® (@Whataburger) March 3, 2017

8. A newborn baby. A hungry mom and dad. This Whataburger delivery went viral for all the right reasons.

9. We know Whataburger is the perfect spot for after the game – but these teams actually compete for the rights to claim “their store.”

10. First Lady Melania Trump and Second Lady Karen Pence were in Corpus Christi, Texas, this November – and couldn’t resist stopping by.

On our way out of town, @FLOTUS & @SecondLady decided to stop in to @Whataburger for some lunch! The American chain opened its 1st restaurant in Corpus Christi, TX in 1950! pic.twitter.com/Jh7iYaD0I6

— Stephanie Grisham (@StephGrisham45) December 6, 2017

11. One Whataburger fan was so jazzed to try the Chorizo Burger that she and her husband flew from North Carolina to their closest location in Florida to give it a try. Their verdict? Well worth the trip.

12. And what better way to celebrate a new life together than with Whataburger?

This is goals pic.twitter.com/iRuGaiBvcR

— Maddy (@madalynsanchez_) October 1, 2017

13. Lots of fans work Whataburger into their holiday decorations, but this Houston couple took their spirit to a whole new level. We can’t wait to see their New Year’s celebration.

And, for him, it’s not about numbers.

“It doesn’t matter if you did 1 or 100, you were there to help. That’s all that matters,” he says.

Lann, 39, lives about 200 miles northwest of Houston, in Blooming Grove, Texas. He spent four days ferrying people to dry land from homes swallowed by Hurricane Harvey floodwaters. Despite the physical and emotional demands of the days, Lann talked fast when he pulled off the road on his way home to share his story.

“I’m flying on Red Bull,” he says. “The adrenaline left a while back.”

With a borrowed boat in tow and a social media army behind him, Lann plowed through headlight-deep water in his Dodge pickup truck and arrived in Dickinson Sunday night and went to work.

Elderly people in wheelchairs were neck-deep in water as Lann and other rescuers in the neighborhood helped them to safety. National Guard trucks plied the streets looking for people on rooftops.

“These poor elderly people couldn’t even get outside to put something on their door much less get on the roof,” he says.

On Tuesday in Hardin, Lann helped a family with a baby that had been without formula for a couple of days. “We went and got food and baby stuff,” he says.

“First thing Wednesday, I got a call that Port Arthur was hit bad. I started hauling butt,” he says.

In Port Arthur, Lann teamed with a new friend, Beaumont boxer Quantis Graves, who was with a group of men looking for people who needed help.

Like other rescuers, they responded to social media pleas for help that poured in from concerned relatives all over the country. Lann posted his mobile phone number and urged his followers to use the Zello walkie talkie app to communicate with rescuers.

“We spent 10 to 12 hours on that boat saving people in Port Arthur,” Lann says.

On his Facebook page, Graves posted about meeting Lann and working with him.

“We were a unit, we came together as one team to complete a mission that was sent from God regardless of skin color. He and I saved people of all colors. I am honored to have met such an incredible person who would drive from Dallas, TX to Port Arthur, TX to help everyone that needed it.”

"Real Life Heroes" by James Lann