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
DO YOUR PART
BE GRATEFUL My grand parents were the people who raised me. I am now an adult and I still need them in my everyday life. But they are no more, my grandpa, that I called Papa, passed away 2 weeks ago and I still cannot believe it. We are sometimes so ambitious and busy that we don't take time for our loved ones. I know...
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LOVE
SHANE M My Brother; we have been through so much in twenty years and I wouldn't take any of them back and I wouldn't want to share them with anyone else. You mean the world to me and if I lost you I wouldn't know where to go or what to do with my life. You are my hero because you're always there for me. Right or wrong I...
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MAKING A DIFFERENCE
ON TEACHING CADETS Teaching is undoubtedly one of my heart's desires. More than a profession, it is a passion. Today, I want to share my unique experience teaching First Class Cadets of the Philippine Military Academy. In PMA, they are the graduating mammals who, in few months time will now become young officers of the armed...
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COMPASSION
JENNY N My mom is my hero! I started my life as the daughter of a drug-addicted, alcoholic 19-yr-old. When I was 5, Jenny rescued me. At only 23, she took me and my little brother in and raised us as her own and even after giving birth to two children, she never treated us any different. She never treated us as less than...
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DETERMINATION
HOBY W Hoby caught my attention in a graduate chemistry class by being the first student to begin questioning our instructor. Throughout the weeks, he impressed me with the quality of his questions which belied the depth of his knowledge. After a few weeks, I had to get to know this person, so I introduced myself after...
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DEDICATION
CLIF AND CHRISTINE C My parents are my heroes. We have had many struggles in our lives, mostly monetary, but my parents still work day and night to provide for my sister and I regardless of their own wants. They both came from impoverished families and both pledged that they would never let their kids go through the same pains they...
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COURAGE
LORETTA G To my mom who has been the angel in guiding me through my eating disorder. She has always been there for me and is so strong. I wouldn't be here without her.
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FRIENDSHIP
STEPHEN G My close friend, Stephen, is one of the most important people in my life. If it wasn't for the kindness of his heart I wouldn't be typing this message. Last year was a rough year, especially for me. I had some rather unpleasant ideas in store for my future. The ideas of cutting and suicide were eminent in my...
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HOPE
LIGHTS OF LIGHTS Lights of Lights The lights were dim with a candle flaming blue, red, yellow waving slowly and the view of moon as if it’s listening to the conversation that is taking place through the window. Rias was gazing closely at the flame meditatively and probed “Did you realize that this beautiful flame will be gone...
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COMMITMENT
DAVID D My daddy is the most amazing man that I have ever had the opportunity to meet! God has truly blessed me with the precious gift of a wonderful daddy! He is the epitome of a true hero! He encouraged me as a young child to make the most of my mistakes and learn from them, to always stand up for who I was as a person...
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INSPIRATION
SARAH ROSE B My Daughter, Sarah Rose has just turned seven years old. My family has hit the hardest of times. We have been homeless for over a year. Even though my daughter has gone without and struggled, lived in shelters, she has not changed. We were at Wal-Mart on Sunday night. Sarah went to the bathroom around closing...
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LOVE
AL R Al is my brother. For years we had a pretty good relationship. With 8 years difference between us in age, we really didn't do a lot of things people imagine brothers doing together. Things like playing ball or hanging out a lot. We did do some things together and my brother was always very good to me in my...
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LOVE
LOVE While growing up my father was a tyrant, and I could do no right. When I told him I am a lesbian, he wouldn't let me talk about my family; or acknowledge my partner and children. My last living grandmother just died, and my father called to see how I was doing. We talked about my childhood, and he realized he was...
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INSPIRATION
SISTERS AND A BROTHER WHO ROSE ABOVE When my three sisters and I were young we were with our biological mother and father, but my mother would leave us all the time and my father had to take care of us until we were almost in middle school. I was 12 at the time, my sisters were 7, 13 and 14. We were taken from our home and split up into different...
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REACHING OUT
I CAN'T HEAR YOU Last week I was in the boarding area of the airport excited for my Easter trip home to see my parents and brother. I was preoccupied with plans for the weekend but was brought out of my daydreaming by an elderly woman talking loudly into her cell phone. She kept asking the person to meet her where she was and was...
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ENCOURAGEMENT
YOU ARE MORE POWERFUL THAN YOU THINK I have personally helped to encourage a special person in my life. He came from a very unfortunate situation where he was put down everyday and told not to try new things. He was told not to ask questions and that it wasn't necessary to get educated. I made it my goal to change his life for the better, to really...
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INSPIRATION
WOODEN ANGELS My grandfather was a great man...I always knew that but the older I got I realized that everyone who knew him thought so as well. Papaw's mission in life was to hand out wooden angels that he hand made himself to people of all walks of life and in all circumstances. He would hand them out to doctors and any...
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HOPE
HEAVEN HEAR ME SPIRITS FROM HEAVEN GIVE US DIRECTION DRIPPING TEARS OF LOVE AS I SEARCH INSIDE MY SOUL CLOUDS COME BLOCKING THE SUN I LOOK INSIDE TO FIND MY SUNSHINE SEEDS OF SPIRITS GROW IN TIME I LOVE THAT WE CAN BE KIND.
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COURAGE
EMERY M Emery was born with heart disease. He is a motivational speaker for two companies(AHA, PCH). He has been to Washington D.C. and lobbied for the state of AZ for child health care. He has raised over $120,000 dollars for heart disease. He has been the top fundraiser in AZ for the past 9 years in a row. Emery...
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LOVE
MY TRUE LOVE August,4th,2008. It was my second day of high school and I was still in the childlike thrill of beginning a whole new chapter in my life. I met "him" that day, in my third block class. We became good friends quickly and he showed his affection blatantly, but sadly, at the time I had interest in another. But...
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STRENGTH
BEATRICE H My grandma has always been the strongest person I know. I look up to her because of her amazing attitude about life. She has COPD, but you could never tell she was struggling. She is extremely funny and an inspiration.
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RISING ABOVE
RUTH S My mother in law. I don't know what to say about her really. Ok, yes I do. This is a woman whose husband had left her for her aunt, while she was raising 3 daughters. So for several years, she was a single mother, until she met my father in law. He is just a wonderful man. But back to my mother in law, she has...
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INSPIRATION
UNCLE LOUIE F My hero is my Uncle Louie. The reason why is that my Uncle is strong, smart, kind, courageous, genuine, goal-oriented and carries so many other character values. His persistence and determination keeps me going. He's a leader and not a follower. Family values is important to him and I appreciate him. As a little...
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SPREAD YOUR WINGS
MARY ANN W Mary Ann is my sister. She fought cancer off/on for over 23 years. She was told on October 2010 that the cancer was finally gone. Then in November she started falling for no reason...test upon test and found out the cancer was in her spine. She never gave up...she was an inspiration to all she came in contact...
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STRENGTH
ZACHERY G I am introducing Zachery Lee Gillespie. He was only 18 years old when he decided to end his life. He was my boyfriend and April 22nd, 2011 would have been our year. He committed suicide on April 4th,2011 18 days before our year. I spent everyday with him and have many memories with him. It's hard to think about...
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PERSEVERANCE
MELANIE T Melanie is a determined force of love. She knows what she wants and does not stop until she's won. Being the exact opposite of me as I always quit when things get tough. She became my hero when she was in a car accident and broke her ankle in several pieces. As she was a dancer, she was at risk of never dancing...
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BELIEVE
THE POWER OR FAITH AND FAMILY My mom was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis almost 20 years ago, when I was 10 years old. In 2007 she went to the doctor for a routine check up. She was then diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer, an extremely aggressive form of the cancer. When she got her diagnosis, she was scheduled to take her car to...
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PERSEVERANCE
ALAN P Alan Page is my hero because he managed to transcend defeat and grow from from one world class career achievement to another. Alan was the brilliant and speedy Hall of Fame Defensive Tackle for the Minnesota Vikings who, when interviewed after one of his 4 Super Bowl loses, recognized his success in playing hard...
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LOVE
WALLS My sister and I were 12 years apart. She was severely physically handicapped, but still had the biggest heart I could ever imagine. I told her EVERYTHING, I wanted to be just like her. My parents didn't understand this because I was blessed with being me. To me, I was not good enough, especially to her standards....
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LOVE
SHELLEY JO B She is my wife of 18 years and the mother of our son. She is of a simple family that has shown me who I am, and what I still have to offer to everyone. She never nags, never complains...just has a true heart, that many are drawn to. Perhaps she is a part of the Truth. I am blessed to be her husband.
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KINDNESS
JUDGE JEANINE P My hero is Judge Pirro. She is a smart person with kindness at heart. She's an advocate for domestic violence and child abuse. I love her hard work and encouragement. She is also a mentor and a Judge. She is tough, smart, and cool. I learned that justice is about helping people with problems. Judge Pirro was born...
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APPRECIATION
WE ARE FAMILY I grew up a very very shy child with a single mother on welfare and few friends (and don't worry, this is far from a poor me family). All I had was my mom, a much older sister and a handful of cousins that were in an out of my life and not really expected to go very far in life. By high school, I managed to...
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DEVOTION
DEVOTED TO GIVING MY NIECE A GOOD LIFE When my sister had her first child, she was only 17 years old. I was just 14 when I found out that I was going to have a niece. I was excited when Alyssa, my sister, was in the hospital having her. My sister named her baby girl, Kaylin Jane. When Kaylin was just 6 months old her father walked out on my sister,...
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