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
ACE C Ace Christensen is a veteran of W.W.II who was captured in the Philippines at the beginning of the war and survived unspeakable horrors and loss of comrades in Japan. As a small boy I loved his enthusiasm for life and selfless attitude. He was our mailman and later a bus driver. He lost his leg in an accident but...
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INSPIRATION
JULIE A My hero is Julie Andrews. To me she seems to be perfect. She is talented, strong, smart, and most importantly so sweet and caring. She is so strong in everything she does. What I like about her is that she is very positive. She takes any negative in her life and turns it into a positive. For example, when she...
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STRENGTH
PEARLY Today I met a 60 year old woman working at Walmart by the name of Pearly. Pearly was on her break. As I sat waiting for my tax return, hoping it would be enough to pay my bills, since I am without a job and a single mother. I realized after speaking to Pearly, that this woman on her break not only was raising her...
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REACHING OUT
SFC JOHN W My hero is my AJROTC Instructor SFC Weeks. He truly leads by example and will help anyone in need. When I started high school I was not a very good kid, I was into bad things and he accepted me and encouraged me to do right. Now that I am a junior I truly appreciate his help and look up to him, hoping that one...
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COURAGE
JOSEPH A Joe was a 19 year old hero, who put everyone in front of his own needs. I know this because I'm his Mom!! Joe fought leukemia twice and got a GBM brain tumor that took his life November 5th. You can read more about my hero at www.caringbridge.org/visit/joealvarado. In his loving memory, Stephanie L. Leyrer
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MAKING A DIFFERENCE
RAY B My hero is my grandfather. He was both blind and deaf, and yet, he taught me to read at the age of four. At a time when children who had severe learning difficulties were told to not bother going to school...there was no place for them, he taught me to read. The school could not turn away a 4-year old who could...
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GIVING BACK
GENEROUS WAITRESS We were traveling to Michigan two days before Christmas, and stopped in a Huddle House for breakfast. The restaurant was mildly full, but service was a little slow because there was only one young waitress trying to handle all the customers. She was working at full speed, yet had a smile for everyone. Her young...
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LOVE
LIFE LONG FRIEND I believe that we are blessed to have one true friend in our lifetime. That friend, for me, would be Liz. We met in 1964, both newlyweds away from home. We were in the same town for a little more than a year. How could we know that in 2011 we would still be the BEST of friends living 300 miles apart. Even with...
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CARING
TAKE TIME TO NOTICE THOSE AROUND YOU After a long day of hassles and shopping. I was tired, hungry and ready to point my car in the direction of home. It seemed like every time I turned around something was going wrong and I was weary and recalling all my struggles in my own mind as I pushed my basket full of stuff out of the store. I happened to...
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HARD WORK
HAMLET T My little brother is my hero. He was a wild teenager. Everybody expected him to end up in trouble. When his girlfriend got pregnant, he didn't run away, he moved his girlfriend to an apartment and got two jobs to support her and her son from a previous relationship. I saw him put a crib together and wait for the...
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FRIENDSHIP
MY FIRST BEST FRIEND. I am in my late 50's now and all the racial discord going on in our world these days makes me so sad. I was born in the south and we moved to a small farm when I was probably about four. Our only neighbors were a wonderful and loving black family. Their daughter, Linda, was a little more than a year younger than...
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HUMILITY
CHARLESTON C My hero is a man named Charleston. He is the grocery store clerk at a local grocery store here in Wisconsin. My family never had much of anything and we were okay with that. Charleston knew that we struggled and helped us a great deal. He always had a warm smile on his face every time we would come in and he...
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PERSEVERANCE
JOHN S My hero changes my life every day. My hero always loves me, cares for me, nurtures our relationship, helps me be the best "me" I can be. My hero is my big brother. He was born physically challenged but that did not stop him from being the best man I know. When he rolls into a room, everyone smiles! Those of us...
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INSPIRATION
TUCSON: OUT OF THE ASH SPRINGS THE FLOWER I listened to the speech President Obama delivered at the Tucson Memorial for the fallen and wounded. And while there remains a different kind of wound in all our hearts, I was captured by his appeal for the ‘better angels of our nature’. The horror that felled people at the Safeway store in Tuscan while Rep....
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COURAGE
GLENDA M My hero is my mother who always knows what to do and makes everyone happy. She is very friendly and nice to people. Everyone that knows her loves her sense of humor. She makes everyone laugh and feel good. And that is why she is my hero.
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DO YOUR PART
CHRISTOPHER H My youngest child is my hero. In high school he completed 4 years of NJROTC. His junior year he enlisted in the US Navy. May of 2010 he graduated high school. June of 2010 he turned 18. August of 2010 he left for boot camp. He has people constantly approaching him and saying thank you. His response is, "I haven't...
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COMPASSION
TRACY A The definition of a hero in the dictionary is, "someone distinguished by exceptional courage, nobility and strength." I know this is going to sound cliche, but my mom is my hero. She takes care of me and my family, she goes to work and is usually happy. But the main reason why I idolize her as my hero is because...
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HELPING OTHERS
GLORIA S My hero, is my friend Gloria! Our life paths crossed about 22 years ago, while working with the phone company. During those years, of working together, I began to know what she really wanted to do in life and that was to help women, children and the homeless. Gloria spent many hours working with a local coalition...
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CHARITY
BEST FRIENDS SHARING THEIR LOVE FOR ANIMALS The local paper picked up a story about 2 girls from my son's elementary school. Here is the link: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/jan/07/its-their-party-so-birthday-loot-goes-to-needy/
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LOVE
MANJU K My Hero is my 'Mother'. Despite early widowhood caused by life-altering traumatic death of our dad, my mother chose to remain sane and move ahead in life! She raised her two daughters single-handedly and beautifully, instilling positive values in them. She is the epitome of a 'woman 'with strength,grace and...
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FRIENDSHIP
TRICIA S My hero is not someone who has faced war or has saved many lives from a burning building. No, my hero lives among us. Just like you and I. She has an average life but has changed mine greatly. I first met my hero about 2 years ago when I was 12. It took me 6 months to actually start talking just about little...
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PERSEVERANCE
REESE W My cousin Reese is my hero because of her determination, stubbornness, and will to get out of that hospital bed and into her wheelchair. From the chair to her knees. From her knees to her walker. From her walker to her cane. And someday from her cane to her feet. With perseverance, I know she can do it. I love...
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CARING
JOYCE M My hero is my mother. She was one of the most truly honest, compassionate and loving people I have ever known. If someone said something hurtful to her she would not respond. Instead she would change their heart by giving them a kind word and treating them with respect. I am thankful for her always being there...
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GRATITUDE
I AM TRULY GRATEFUL FOR MY WORK I have been a nurse in geriatric and nursing homes for over 25 years. When I meet new people and tell them what I do, they say "I could never do that". Honestly, I can't imagine doing anything else. I am grateful that God saw that I needed my patients, more than they needed me. My patients over the years have...
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CHARACTER
MEGHAN C My hero is my daughter, Meghan. She continually shows me the struggle of the human condition. It is not always easy, but it is something we have to face day-by-day; minute-by-minute. At every moment we have a choice to love or be afraid. Being afraid is easy. It causes you to have lots of company when sung in a...
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FRIENDSHIP
MY BEST FRIEND In my life, a lot of friends have came and gone. But this all changed when I met my new best friend, Ellen. No one has ever made me feel so comfortable with who I am or shown me how wonderful life can be. It truly was a blessing meeting her,having her in my life,and being friends with her. I love her. Thank you...
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LOVE
SUSIE M My hero is my grandma, she is my BEST friend. She knows all of my secrets and other things that nobody else knows about me. I tell her everything when I'm having problems. And when I'm hurt she actually cares and listens. She makes me feel like doing GREAT things that I have never even dreamed of doing. She knows...
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GENEROSITY
WHAT WOULD YOU DO? At the checkout in Wal-Mart the other day, a woman (apparently disabled and in a wheelchair) was checking out with her grandson (assumed) in front of us. She was having trouble with a gift card given to her (it appeared that there was NO money on it instead of the $50.00 there should have been). After several...
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GRATITUDE
GRATITUDE I am grateful that people seem to be turning towards concepts like this - a public request for values - in a world that also seems full of hatred & irresponsible greed. I am grateful for people, hopefully in greatly increasing numbers, who stand up & say "No More!" to vitriol & incendiary hate speech & the powers...
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OVERCOMING
TYLER A Tyler, from birth, has had a really hard battle with life because he was born with one kidney. However, he overcame having one kidney and started for the Buffalo Bison's football & basketball teams. He is always a lot of fun to be around. He is the heart and soul of the Bison basketball team. He has also achieved...
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LOVE
LORETTA B My Granny is my hero! She gave up her own day-to-day life to take care of her child that is mentally retarded and requires everything to be done for him without verbal ques. She taught me that just because things are hard, you can prevail. I could not be more proud of her because I know a lot of people that would...
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INTEGRITY
PAUL W My Dad. The greatest man I've ever known. Wonderful role model, my dependable rock that I can always count on to be there for me when I need advice and counsel. He's my hero and I love him.
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PEACE
A SACRED SPACE In the brilliant space of time where the roar of the workweek echoes into silence, I was in the kitchen. I cleared the counters of crusted dishes until they dripped and shone in the rack. The clothes dryer hummed. An occasional car engine whispered by. Earlier that morning, my pregnant wife assisted our three...
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