1 Chris L. chrisladner56@yahoo.com 1 2009-09-02T09:55:27-06:00 983 297 My name is Christopher, and for 10 years I've been a member of the children's service club called Optimist International. I will become the volunteer Governor of the Illinois District in October, and hope that my leadership will increase the Illinois membership. In July, Illinois Optimists spend a day at a camp in Lake Bloomington for children undergoing cancer treatment. We sponsor a day of games and fun so they can be just kids again - not kids who battle a serious illness. The first event I assisted with was a relay race. The boy I was helping had a brain tumor and was blind. I thought he'd pass on the race, or ask for help. Not so - holding his cane like a lance in front of him, he took off at full gallop. He may not have run the fastest or straightest race, but he ran with the heart of a lion. He later said he was tired, because he had chemo that morning. What a hero! Suddenly, my own issue of unemployment seemed small, and I was reminded again that it is giving that we receive. 2009-09-12T00:00:17-06:00 1 0 2009-04-27T10:16:40-06:00 869 262 Rose-colored glasses get a bad name. Whenever I hear someone accused of having rose-colored glasses it usually means they are unrealistically optimistic or ignoring reality. Maybe. But I believe everyone needs a pair of rose-colored glasses. When I was young I got a pair from my brothers, who are my heroes. The �glasses� they gave me have been a gift that has shaped my life.\r\n\r\nWhen I was eight my second brother was born. Before his birth I envisioned all the cool things I would teach him. Visions danced in my head of times when I would teach him how to fish, hunt, play ball and everything else that�s so fun about being a boy. But it all crashed one day when my parents came home from a doctor�s visit and said my baby brother had mental retardation. I was crushed and I sobbed off and on for days as I saw my hopes and dreams for our relationship suddenly fly out the window. Later I came to realize how selfish this was. But at eight, I wasn�t ready to put myself in his shoes. Instead, I saw it as some kind of sentence foisted upon our family. This was the second time. I was just 16 months old when my first brother was born. It never occurred to me to question his mental retardation until I was six, when I became aware that older siblings were the teachers of their younger brothers and sisters in ways that I couldn�t teach my brother. For half a year I had eagerly looked forward to finally being in that role. Now it was gone. Clearly we would never be a �normal� family.\r\n\r\nMy parents were very understanding and let me have my space to grieve. I don�t remember exactly when, but after a while I realized I had to let go my expectations for him and get on with life. That�s when I put on my first pair of rose-colored glasses. Maybe we could still have that brotherly relationship and I could teach him some things, even if it wasn�t all that I first thought.\r\n\r\nBut the reality is that both brothers have taught me more about life than I could have ever imagined teaching them. Each used the greatest instructional technique available, teaching by example. I�ve had living examples right in front of me of what success really is, what faith means and the value of forgiveness. And I have had examples of why disability can be such a misnomer. I�ve learned from my brothers� examples whenever I put on a pair of rose-colored glasses.\r\n\r\nWith my glasses I�ve learned that success is simply getting up one more time than you fall down. I�ve learned that faith is really trust without reservation, not belief without proof. I�ve experienced why forgiveness is another word for freedom. I�ve seen how everybody can teach something to anybody. I�ve learned that doing your best is more important than being the best and seen how we achieve our greatest value in serving others without judgment or expectation.\r\n\r\nYes, I�ve learned each of these lessons from my brothers and it took me about 30 years to learn them. I�m still learning. Forty years ago, nobody in our family imagined my brothers would live in their own homes with their own friends and hold jobs like anyone else, let alone be the teachers of life that they are. The values I�ve learned from my brothers are what I call the gift�those rose-colored glasses. They have given me lenses through which to look at the world without restrictions defined by somebody else. And it has made all the difference.\r\n 1 2009-09-12T00:00:16-06:00 1 0 2009-03-04T08:39:23-07:00 813 251 One summer I was really having a tough time. My husband had left me, I was broke, and diagnosed with a serious medical condition. While I had a job, I was barely making ends meet and I didn�t have enough to get the prescription I needed filled. \r\n\r\nI decided to attend a women�s meeting and when we broke into small groups to share what was going on in our lives, I just broke down sobbing. I told my group what was going on, cried for a while and then felt a little better. After the meeting was over, one of the ladies handed me a $20 bill to get my prescription. A lady named Justine asked me to walk with her to her car where she wrote out a check for $100. I was so blown away! I didn�t have words to express my gratitude. She asked me not to pay her back and said she wished it was more. I hugged her and have always remembered her fondly. At that moment I vowed to pass it on, though I didn�t know how or when. Several times I met people that I considered paying it forward to, but just didn't have the extra $100.\r\n\r\nFast forward five years. My life has improved considerably. I have a wonderful new boyfriend, a job I enjoy, a nice home, good health, loved ones, all is pretty well. As the holidays were approaching, my best friend confided in me that he was having a hard times making ends meet. His salary covered the basics but didn�t leave much for extras and he didn�t know how he was going to buy presents for his three kids at Christmas and was really stressed out about it. I didn�t have much money, but I had a little bit in savings. I didn�t really have to buy presents for anyone and was planning to spend some money on gifts for myself. \r\n\r\nOut of the recesses of my mind came the idea to pay forward the kindness Justine had showed me. I thought about it and prayed about it and it felt right. I told him the story of that summer day and what Justine had done for me. I told him I wanted to pay it forward to him for Christmas presents for his kids. He was astounded and accepted. I felt gladdened that I could pass on the generosity that Justine had shared with me.\r\n 1 2009-09-12T00:00:16-06:00 1 trew@gvtc.com 0 2009-02-14T19:21:26-07:00 795 245 My name is Drew. I just happen to be a female who, as my parent�s 5th child, was the destined one to be named after a great uncle :) \r\n\r\nI am 53 years old, married and the mother of an 18 year old daughter. I love the Lord, my family, friends, and am a free spirit. Four years ago following the deaths of my mother, my father-in-law, and my mother-in-law, it was my turn. I was diagnosed with cancer, but am pleased to say that now I am a cancer survivor. Although I cannot declare yet to be in total remission, I trust that I am. \r\n\r\nOf all the things I have learned through this experience is that though I may have had cancer, it did not have me. I also learned that because of my wonderful widow's peak, wigs were hard to find so I chose to go head a la nude. My hair does not define who I am and neither did my lack thereof. I celebrated life as a photographer on the sidelines of local football games with my head decorated in school spirit by the high school art club. Also, my lack of hair gave me the delight of sharing with younger folks who would inevitably ask why I was hairless the necessity to tell all the adult females in their lives the importance of regular mammograms.\r\n\r\nThe point of this story is that a great amount of insight and inspiration derived from a not so great experience. I want to share what I have learned:\r\n\r\nTreat each and every day, not like it is the last day of the rest of your life, but the last day of the rest of the lives of those around you. Say, every day, how much you appreciate each person with whom you come in contact, with love and honesty in case this is the last day you will ever see them.\r\n\r\nDo not spend another minute running from your purpose in life. It has taken me all these years to realize a couple of things. One of which is my ability as a photographer. Because I see life differently than most, I tend to capture with my camera the beauty of our world in everyday ways.\r\n\r\nRecognize your gifts. It took me a long time to recognize one of mine. Although my brother fondly referred to me as "magna vox" and I was told many times throughout life to "please control yourself"; I see now that the ability I have as a lay speaker, inspirational, and motivational speaker is a gift. It is not only a gift, but a passion as well.\r\n\r\nFigure out how to use your gifts. I finally put together the pieces of the happenings, people, experiences, inspirations and talents and just recently (within the past month) have decided it was about time to share the fruits of my talents.\r\n\r\nI started smilecat designs in an attempt to facilitate others to see the beauty in our world in everyday ways. In a time when negativity and the banal seem to abound, I definitely feel a calling to express otherwise. Through my photography and through inspirational speaking I know that I have reached many people.\r\n 1 2009-09-12T00:00:16-06:00 1 slingbadger@aol.com 0 2009-01-19T06:50:52-07:00 769 238 It was a cold Boy Scout Klondike weekend. The night before had been twenty degrees below zero and a lot of the troops didn't come out. Needless to say the ones that did come were moving around a lot to keep warm.\r\nThere was a series of games and competitions to participate in including things like First Aid, shelter building and snowshoe racing. There was also a quarter mile dogsled race. My Troop wasn't the best at these, and the cold didn't help. They kept at it though, and kept a good amount of encouraging chatter going the whole time. They really tried their best.\r\nWell, at the closing ceremony, they weren't expecting to hear their Troop number called. They had won the Scout Spirit award, for trying their best and generally being good sports about things. I explained to them that while the other categories had a first, second, and third place there was only one Scout Spirit award, and they had it. This made them feel pretty good.\r\n 1 2009-09-12T00:00:16-06:00 1 rebeccaheim@msn.com 0 2008-07-24T17:23:27-06:00 544 168 Life, most people say, is fleeting. It flies right by us and we barely even notice until something horrible happens. My name is Bec and I am sixteen. August 3rd was the fourth anniversary of my mother's death. It all started on January sixth of 2004 when my mother was checked into the hospital. I was scared; a rock settled in my gut. My grandfather had passed on the year before. Since then, then the very mention of the six letter word cancer scares me very badly. \r\n\r\nThey told us my mom had either brain cancer or an infection. Needless to say I prayed really hard for it to be an infection. My mom stayed for the tests but nearly forced the doctor to let her come home for my birthday on January tenth. They caved and we spent the day together.\r\n\r\nThen in February my mother went back to the hospital for a brain biopsy. After the results came back we knew. She had cancer: four tumors in her brain. Two were active they called it malignant. My world went crashing. I was in sixth grade and I was going to lose my mom. It brought my dad, my grandma on my dad�s side, and me really close. But that didn�t change the fact that my mom was dying. When I heard the girl's in my school (same sex school) complaining about their families I wanted to yell at them to tell them to be thankful for their families. I just sat in my classroom and wondered if today was the day my mother was going to die.\r\n \r\nThe medicine they gave my mom made her act strange until the point that I couldn't recognize her. I could feel the good times fade from my mind. I couldn't deal. I was a child being forced to grow up. I did love my mom very much but it got to a point where even she did not want me to see her as she was. She loved me and by that she wanted me to cherish her memory, not her present state. Then one day in August she stopped breathing and passed on. I have to admit I wasn't sure of an afterlife until then. But because my mom was such a kind, loving and caring person, she has to be somewhere good now. \r\n \r\nNow I am sixteen. I still carry on my mother's memory. We both shared a deep love of books and I still continue to read like crazy. My dad jokes that I have half of Borders in my room. We have moved since then to a school where I am not reminded of my mother. My mother always encouraged individuality and boy do I have that. I try to embody her but at the same time be myself. I want to be a novelist in order to help children dealing with what I had to deal with. If I am able to write one thing that makes someone smile or laugh in a tough situation, or cry in order to release their fears and sadness, I believe I will have done a great job. \r\n\r\nMy mother taught my about many things: love, patience, happiness, friendship, and many more things that I try to live by. I try to help others accept their hardships. My friends say I'm too hopeful of a better tomorrow but we need that kind of hope. That was the hope my mother had, and I will never let it go. \r\n 1 2009-09-12T00:00:16-06:00 1 0 2007-07-31T21:05:33-06:00 287 103 I was born in a secluded village on a mountain. Day after day, my parents plowed the yellow dry soil with their backs towards the sky.\r\n\r\nOne day, I wanted to buy a handkerchief, which all girls around me seemed to have. So, one day I stole 50 cents from my father's drawer. Father discovered about the stolen money right away. \r\n\r\n'Who stole the money?' he asked my brother and me.\r\n\r\nI was stunned, too afraid to talk. Neither of us admitted to the fault, so he said, 'Fine, if nobody wants to admit, you both should be punished!' Suddenly, my younger brother gripped Father's hand and said, ‘Dad, I was the one who did it!' He took the blame, and punishment, for me.\r\n\r\nIn the middle of the night, all of sudden, I cried out loudly. My brother covered my mouth with his little hand and said, ‘Sis, now don't cry anymore. Everything has happened.' I will never forget my brother's expression when he protected me. That year, my brother was 8 years old and I was 11 years old. I still hate myself for not having enough courage to admit what I did. Years went by, but the incident still seemed like it just happened yesterday.\r\n\r\nWhen my brother was in his last year of secondary school, he was accepted in an upper secondary school in the central part of town. At the same time, I was accepted into a university in the province.\r\n\r\nThat night, Father squatted in the yard, smoking packet by packet. I could hear him ask my mother, 'Both of our children, they have good results? Very good results?'\r\n\r\nMother wiped off her tears and sighed, 'What is the use? How can we possibly finance both of them?' \r\n\r\nAt that time, my brother walked out, he stood in front of Father and said, 'Dad, I don't want to continue my study anymore, I have read enough books.' Father became angry.\r\n\r\n'Why do you have a spirit so weak? Even if it means I have to beg for money on the streets, I will send you two to school until you have both finished your studies!' And then, he started to knock on every house in the village to borrow money. \r\n\r\nI stuck out my hand as gently as I could to my brother's face, and told him, 'A boy has to continue his study. If not, he will not be able to overcome this poverty we are experiencing.' I, on the other hand, had decided not to further my study at the university. \r\n\r\nNobody knew that on the next day, before dawn, my brother left the house with a few pieces of worn-out clothes and a few dry beans. He sneaked to my side of the bed and left a note on my pillow; 'Sis, getting into a university is not easy. I will go find a job and I will send money to you.' I held the note while sitting on my bed, and cried until I lost my voice. \r\n\r\nWith the money father borrowed from the whole village, and the money my brother earned from carrying cement on his back at a construction site, finally, I managed to get to the third year of my study in the university. That year, my brother was 17 years old; I was 20 years old.\r\n\r\nOne day, while I was studying in my room, my roommate came in and told me, 'There's a villager waiting for you outside!' Why would there be a villager looking for me? I walked out, and I saw my brother from afar. His whole body was covered with dirt, dust, cement and sand. I asked him, 'Why did you not tell my roommate that you are my brother?' \r\n\r\nHe replied with a smile, 'Look at my appearance. What will they think if they would know that I am your brother? Won't they laugh at you?' \r\n\r\nI felt so touched, and tears filled my eyes. I swept away dirt and dust from my brother's body. And told him with a lump in my throat, ‘I don't care what people would say! You are my brother no matter what your appearance.'\r\n\r\nFrom his pocket, he took out a butterfly hair clip. He put it on my hair and said, 'I saw all the girls in town are wearing it. I think you should also have one.' I could not hold back myself anymore. I pulled my brother into my arms and cried. That year, my brother was 20 years old; I was 23 years old. \r\n\r\nAfter I got married, I lived in the city. Many times my husband invited my parents to come and live with us, but they didn't want. They said once they left the village, they wouldn't know what to do. My brother agreed with them. He said, 'Sis, you just take care of your parents-in-law. I will take care of Mom and Dad here.'\r\n\r\nMy husband became the directors of his factory. We asked my brother to accept the offer of being the manager in the maintenance department. But my brother rejected the offer. He insisted on working as a repairman instead for a start.\r\n\r\nOne day, my brother was on the top of a ladder repairing a cable, when he got electrocuted, and was sent to the hospital. My husband and I visited him at the hospital. Looking at the plaster cast on his leg, I grumbled, 'Why did you reject the offer of being a manager? Managers won't do something dangerous like that. Now look at you - you are suffering a serious injury. Why didn't you just listen to us?'\r\n\r\nWith a serious expression on his face, he defended his decision, 'Think of your brother-in-law, he just became the director. If I, being uneducated, would become a manager, what kind of rumors would fly around?'\r\n\r\nMy husband's eyes filled up with tears, and then I said, 'But you lack in education only because of me!' \r\n\r\n'Why do you talk about the past?' he said and then he held my hand. That year, he was 26 years old and I was 29 years old.\r\n\r\nMy brother was 30 years old when he married a farmer girl from the village. During the wedding reception, the master of ceremonies asked him, 'Who is the one person you respect and love the most?'\r\n\r\nWithout even taking a time to think, he answered,' My sister.' He continued by telling a story I could not even remember. 'When I was in primary school, the school was in a different village. Everyday, my sister and I would walk for 2 hours to school and back home. One day, I lost one of my gloves. My sister gave me one of hers. She wore only one glove and she had to walk far. When we got home, her hands were trembling because of the cold weather. She could not even hold her chopsticks. From that day on, I swore that as long as I lived, I would take care of my sister and would always be good to her.'\r\n\r\nApplause filled up the room. All guests turned their attention to me. I found it hard to speak, 'In my whole life, the one I would like to thank most is my brother,’ And in this happy occasion, in front of the crowd, tears were rolling down my face again. \r\n\r\nLove and care for the one you love every single day of your life. You may think what you did is just a small deed, but to that someone, it may mean a lot. \r\n 1 2009-09-12T00:00:16-06:00