Everyday Hero Stories

Where did your values come from?

We've all had people in our lives who have made a positive impact on us. A parent or grandparent, a sibling who was there for us, or maybe even just a guy who shines shoes for a living? Whoever they are, tell us their story so they can inspire us even more.

Tell Us Your Story
CARING
DAVID N My grandfather, David, died in 1999; he lived only half a mile up the road from where I grew up in upstate New York. Every day, he would walk down to our house to bring my dad the newspaper. Along with the paper he would bring a small bag of treats for my two brothers and me. Sometimes it was candy, and sometimes...
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MOTIVATION
KINDNESS Today a representative came to talk to my school about Rachel Scott. She was a great person who died in the horrific Columbine High School tragedy. The assembly was inspiring and really moved me. Before the day of the assembly, I had been trying to better myself by simply being kind to others. After the...
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HELPING OTHERS
SNOW ANGEL Many years ago I was driving my infant daughter over a two-lane highway through southwest Wyoming when a blizzard came up suddenly, as they tend to do in that part of the country. The snow was swirling everywhere and any oncoming vehicle dusted my little VW so thoroughly that it would take a long few seconds...
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CARING
GEORGE H My Dad has been an English teacher for the past 50 years; he now mentors young teachers. I can't tell you how many times former students of his have told me that he was the greatest teacher they ever had. Growing up, my mother didn't work and there were nine kids in our family, so we certainly did not live...
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REACHING OUT
CHRISTIANE D My roommate Christy recently gave up her high-paying position to dedicate her time to care for an 8-year-old boy with Autism. He is an adorable boy with a heart of gold, but definitely a challenge at times! Christy has nothing but patience with him and because of her efforts he has made amazing advances socially...
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APPRECIATION
BEAUTIFUL I came to work in the operating room after nursing school was completed. I was so excited about my new job that I would alternate between being exhausted and not being able to sleep properly. Like many jobs, the newness and excitement wore off and I found myself in drudgery. One night (when I was staying late,...
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HELPING OTHERS
CHARLIE B My hero is my friend Charlie, a 15-year-old from South Carolina. To me, there is nothing more inspiring than a young person giving boxes of clothes to the needy, while having barely any himself. Charlie has dedicated his life to clothing the poor. He has given almost all of his clothes away, keeping the bare...
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CARING
OPAL "TOOTIE" O My grandmother has always been my hero. She is the sweetest person in the world and thinks of everyone before herself. Last Christmas, she suffered a terrible stroke, which took away her ability to both speak and walk. While in the hospital waiting room after her stroke, we heard so many stories of generosity...
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CARING
JARED M My hero is my husband. While stationed in Iraq with the Marines during the 2003 invasion of Baghdad, he left his covered position and ran 400 yards, through enemy and friendly fire, to rescue an Iraqi civilian. Once he reached the man, he had to get both of them back to a safer area, so he picked the man up and...
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REACHING OUT
JOHN M John has worked in the field of vocational rehabilitation for nearly 40 years. During the short amount of time that I have worked under his tutelage, I have found myself constantly in awe of the qualities he exhibits daily. John is the ultimate social worker, unwavering in his commitment to serving others. He...
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APPRECIATION
MY DADDY I still remember the first time I was "qualified" to go to a football game with my daddy. My parents had eight children; so they had a million rules for when you could "qualify" to do things. It was a cold fall day, and I had just turned eight years old, the magic University of Utah football eligibility age. The...
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ENCOURAGEMENT
THATS WHAT PARENTS ARE FOR.... I still remember it so well, that night before my boards exams... Even though I was a topper of my class, subjects like history and geography sent chills down my spine. At around 10pm, my brother went to his room, and my parents also left. No one asked me how was I feeling...I had so much anxiety; I felt like...
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LIVE LIFE
CANCER AS A BLESSING When I was 35, I was diagnosed with cancer. It was a nightmare. While you instantly slip into "poor me" or "why me" mode, times like these can also remind you of just how many people care about you and at a time of need, how many people will come out of the woodwork. Sadly, it sometimes takes a drastic event to...
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CARING
FREDERICK O Frederick O., a Vanderbilt medical student, has drummed up support from numerous global health experts, high school, college and middle school students in the US to raise funds to build and run a clinic in the rural village of Lwala, Kenya where he grew up. The clinic provides care for a village with HIV...
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REACHING OUT
KINDNESS When I was in 8th grade, I had lots of friends, I wasn't lonely or anything. But in my P.E. class, I saw this 7th grader who was not liked by many people. No one ever chose him to be on teams. He sat near me in P.E., so I started talking to him, and I was always nice to him. Whenever I became captain of a...
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TRUST
ME, THE COOS BAY BEST WESTERN MOTEL AND GRANDPA Yesterday I was fortunate enough to find one more person in our world who is genuinely kind and caring. It was about 11:00 p.m. when my telephone rang. The caller ID showed the number of a Best Western Motel. Normally, I would ignore this type of call, letting the machine pick it up. For some reason, though, I...
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APPRECIATION
THE GRACE OF SMALL KINDNESS Every good story has a lesson, and any good lesson is really a gift. I often need to re-learn this lesson, and I can't always find the gift in it, but I can say that this is the story of how I received grace and learned how it is possible to carry that gift everywhere we go. I learned this from my late-husband,...
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RISING ABOVE
LIFE GOES ON I am a 20 year old boy and a student of Ateneo de Naga University, Pillipines. I had a fracture in my left arm while playing skateboard in a skate park. My family is not rich but spent 70 thousand philipine peso working abroad to pay for my medical bills. When I had that accident I thought that my life would...
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COURAGE
KATLYN T Katlyn and her twin sister were born three months early. Two years later, doctors discovered a large brain tumor in Katlyn's head. She had surgery to remove it, and recovered beautifully but was left with a plate in the back of her head where her skull once was. Though that would be more than enough trauma,...
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LOVE
LOVE WAS MY SAVING GRACE A few years ago, my husband of nearly twenty years died of cancer. The love of my life. We had been high school sweethearts, and married at the age of eighteen. I was devastated, heartbroken, and totally consumed by grief. I couldn't eat or sleep. The noise in my head was so loud and my heart so heavy, I could...
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COURAGE
FRANK L About a year ago, my nephew Trevor and I took my dad, Frank, a World War II veteran, out to see an EA17 World War II Bomber. My dad had served as a tail gunner on a B17. While we toured the plane, Dad began telling us stories of his experiences. As he spoke, two people nearby drew closer so that they could...
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VISION
IN THIS MOMENT, WHAT IS MOST IMPORTANT? With the daily frustrations, busy lifestyles, desires of success, and the expectation to be and do everything, we sometimes forget what is most important at this moment. Everyone has heard the sayings, "Live in the moment," "Live as if today could be your last." You don't know when your last day will be. Or...
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CARING
FINE EXAMPLES My mother through her fine example instilled within me the desire to help others. She taught me to notice those whom others ignore. She was compassionate. The railroad tracks were within a mile of our house. "Beggers" and "Bums" (as they were known) frequently would knock on the doors in our neighborhood in...
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AMBITION
NICOLE D She is the most amazing person I have ever met. She is my inspiration, my teacher, my mentor and my friend. She opened my eyes to the world not only because she taught World History, but also because she popped my "small-town-bubble" which closed me off from the world. After meeting her, I finally realized what a...
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APPRECIATION
A REAL CHRISTMAS TREE We'd always wanted a real Christmas tree—a tall, lavishly decorated one, like other families had. It would have had singing lights, silver tinsel, blown-glass ornaments, and icicles dressing its snow-tipped branches. And, of course, underneath it would have been overflowing with presents for us children. But...
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HELPING OTHERS
STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT I was 18 and on my way back to my college dorm, from babysitting, in the middle of the night. It was snowing and the streets were already covered with ice. As I approached the intersection, the light turned red and I stopped with no problem. But when the light turned green, the tires could not find traction....
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OVERCOMING
TRUE FRIEND There is a boy I know who used to always get picked on. He was insulted, he was pushed around, and he was taunted by bullies. One day, he decided he couldn't take it anymore, and he wasn't scared. When the bullies came to pick on him, he wanted to stand up for himself. Then, one of the bullies was about to throw...
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TEAMWORK
TEAM SPIRIT Once there was a race for handicapped children, with one gold medal to be won. The race started, and was only 100 meters. There were seven children competing for that one gold medal. Soon after the race began, the last place runner fell down. Without hesitation, the sixth child stopped to pick up the seventh....
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COMMITMENT
SIMPLE ACTS OF GRATITUDE This summer I directed my first theatre production. When I started, I had no idea how much time and energy such a task would require. My entire July month was filled with late-night sewing, constant rehearsals, and the utter stress and worry of our progress. I felt tired and overworked. The weekend before...
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INSPIRATION
A LESSON TO US ALL My senior year was supposed to be the "best" year yet. I anticipated being "cool" and having younger students look up to me. Now 23-years-old, however, I look back on my senior year in high school and the thing I remember most vividly wasn't being "cool" or having underclassmen admirers. The day I remember is...
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CONFIDENCE
WHY DO I STUTTER? I stutter. When I was younger, I didn't know what it was and I was often ashamed of it. I even was home-schooled because of it. I had no friends and thought no one liked me 'cause I was different. Well, 2 years ago I started speech therapy and began to realize that I wasn't alone. There are a lot of people...
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LOVE
MY NO.1 SON My son was away for a few days when his tooth fell out. And he didn't want to spend his money 'till he got home to me. So, the morning he got home, he asked if he could go across to the shop because he wanted to buy some sweets. When he came home, he hadn't bought himself anything. Instead, he had bought me a...
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LISTENING
THE ONLY ONE THERE My life had been going downhill since the beginning of high school. I hated school and I didn't care about anything in my life. But something my brother had told me about my high school was sitting in the back of my mind through the beginning of the year. He told me, "If you ever needed someone to talk to, the...
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