The holidays are the time of year when we struggle to find the perfect gift, often end up buying some overpriced crap, and entertainment becomes more about making us cry with saccharine tales of human achievement and miracles than making us enjoy legitimately good holiday movies and TV. For example, on the Hallmark Channel, you can watch A Wish for Christmas, A Heavenly Christmas, The Heart Calls Christmas, A Rose for Christmas, My Christmas Love, and Journey Back to Christmas, which are all new movies this year. Only four of them star Melissa Joan Hart (JK).

While these TV movies seem super great, I’m sure, the truth is often stranger than fiction. Tales from real life can be inspirational, and what’s even more motivating is that they’re REAL! Just like Santa! Here are five feel-good stories from this year that are better than any Hallmark Channel movie.