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
LIVE LIFE
MATTHEW C My hero is my best friend Matt. Matt was my boyfriend for sometime but he was always my best friend first. Matt gave me courage, strength, happiness, guidance, and especially love. I love Matt more then he knew. But one huge thing that Matt did for me was show me how to live my life. Without him I would never...
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COMPASSION
SHORT ON MONEY While shopping at my local foodmart, a young mother ahead of me watched the cashier ring up the items in her cart. When she finished the young mom was sad because she did not have enough to pay the bill. There was a small line of us and the young mom had to make the choice of which items she was going to remove...
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LOVE
DENISE M My hero is my step-mother. She took my brother and myself in while my father, a U.S. Army soldier, had to spend long, hard hours away from the house as a recruiter. After being moved to yet another state, my father was deployed to the desert for 15 months but still my step-mom remained with us. As my father did...
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DEVOTION
SARAH A My grandmother is the total embodiment of love, patience and kindness. When my parents abandoned me at a very young age, she didn't think twice about caring for me. She made sure all my needs were met, loved me when I was unlovable, and believed in me when I didn't believe in myself. I'm truly blessed and...
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GENEROSITY
FULL HOUSE Growing up my mother taught me to be generous. Whenever someone was in need of anything such as food, money, or even a home, she was always there for them. No matter if it was family or friends or even strangers, there was always a place in her heart for them. People would stay with us for weeks at a time until...
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COMPASSION
MY FRIEND I am in school and I am 11. In our school there are handicap kids. All of the other kids sometimes make fun of them and laugh. So there was a little boy he was slow and no one talked to him. So I sat with him at lunch one day and played with him at recess. Other kids were making fun of me and laughing at me but I...
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MAKING A DIFFERENCE
ALEX L Alex is only 17 years old, but has the soul of someone much older, he is consistently caring and very gentle, I believe you can honestly see compassion is his eyes. I just wanted to pass along how proud I was as a mom to hear about how he spotted a lady's wallet in the parking lot while waiting for me to come...
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DEDICATION
DIANE L Maybe it will sound cliché, but the truth is, my Mother is my hero. She is the only person I have ever met and most likely will ever meet that is always there and will never let me down. She always comes through, and growing up she always made it seem easy. Now that I am older and realize that things aren’t...
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COMMITMENT
LUCY N My wife is my hero. I have never met anyone else who has the work ethic (be it gardening, organizing, decorating, mothering), kindness, or selflessness that she has. Despite living in a country that is not her birth place, she has shown the characteristics of citizenship that we all aspire to. She has always put...
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HONESTY
THANKFUL As I was leaving my doctor's office after an appointment, I somehow dropped a check from my purse in the parking lot without knowing. I had pulled the check out of the checkbook in the office for my co-pay, but the girl at the desk said I didn't have to pay one this time because it was a physical appointment. So,...
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COMPASSION
NANCY B I met Nancy B. a number of years ago through a mutual friend. I was told I had to meet her because we had a lot of similar interests. Besides, we shared the same name. About a year later I had the pleasure of meeting Nancy when I attended the first planning meeting for a nonprofit grief center. Nancy's passion...
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PERSEVERANCE
STAND-UP GUY The past two years of John T.'s life may have been, arguably, his best. Two years ago he was voted Teacher of the Year in his elementary building where he teaches math and science to 5th grade students. This past year he was not only voted Teacher of Year for his building for the second consecutive year, but also...
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INTEGRITY
E.F. S E.F. was my grandfather, and he passed away of Alzheimer's on July 31, 2009. He was the greatest man I've ever known. E.F. Smith, Jr., possessed every quality that is admirable in a human being. I feel not only lucky and privileged to have had him for my grandfather for 42 years, but honored to have known him...
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DETERMINATION
MARGIE D Margie is my youngest daughter. When she was in her senior year of high school, she decided she was going to go to Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. She was at the time the cadet captain in the Civil Air Patrol in Hilo, Hawaii. She applied to BYU and was not accepted, but was told to come over for the...
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COMMITMENT
MY "BOSTON" C My husband, whom I call “Boston” after the city he grew up in, is my hero. We’ve been married for four years but we’ve been only been together about one and a half of those years. We are a military family. Over the course of our short marriage we’ve had one child, purchased cars, a house, and moved across the...
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HELPING OTHERS
DON'T JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER Last winter, when I was heavily pregnant, I was visiting my sister and brother-in-law's house and had to park in a nearby parking lot because they didn't have accessible parking. The snow was extremely heavy and there was lots of ice on the ground - not many people had ventured out that evening! When I returned...
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INSPIRATION
MARIE D My mom (94 years old) is my heroine, but not because she's my mom. She's my hero because she has always demonstrated an incredible zest for life, leaping over barriers and seeing them as opportunities. Among the many potholes she circumvented in her life's path, was the fact that she was blinded by macular...
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TEACHING BY EXAMPLE
MAYSIE AVELINE H Her children and grandchildren called her "Mama"; the great- and great-great grandchildren called her "Nanny", but when any of us think of love and kindness, hers is the face that comes to mind. This beautiful woman could always find something to love and praise about anyone she met. She had a hard life, but...
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BELIEVE IN YOURSELF
BELIEVE IN YOURSELF AND OTHERS A carnival had come to the small town in which we lived and one evening I went with my two children. My son who was around 10 years old at the time wanted to spend his last few dollars on a game which involved throwing a ball through a basketball hoop which was not much bigger than the ball. I tried to convince...
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CARING
I CAN SEE CLEARLY NOW I was sitting in a fast food restaurant with my two children, who at the time were about 6 and 9. Inside there was also a group of teens in full out goth dress and appearance. Everyone skirted around them inside the restaurant. Outside the restaurant, the same people skittered past the homeless man rifling...
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DEVOTION
YOU You are my here because when I first saw some commercials and a few billboards I thought it was just some small little thing, but when I went onto the website I saw it was so much more. I saw that it was a website that tells real life stories and quotes of people who learn to find that “silver lining” on even the...
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HELPING OTHERS
WATER FOR THE WEARY One hot day during the summer I was training with a couple of my teammates on my college's cross country team. We were doing a hill workout along a stretch of road that dipped into a valley. We would run down the road into the valley, up to the top of the hill and then turn around and run back to the top of the...
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BELIEVE IN YOURSELF
SELF-DISCOVERY My SAFEHOUSE students come to us because they've run away from troubled homes. They are often scared, confused, abused or neglected. On the streets, they are tempted by gangs, drugs, and other dangers. The best skill I can teach them is this: "Your number one mission in life is that of self-discovery. If you...
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COMPASSION
JOHN G John Gottman has been studying what makes marriages work and how parents raise emotionally intelligent children. His books and lectures make the concepts alive and relatable and we would all benefit from incorporating the values he talks about into our closest relationships. John is one of my heroes for this...
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HELPING OTHERS
MEREDITH L My wife, Meredith, quit the job she loved to stay home with our four children. While at home, she couldn’t help but notice the need in our community for a mentor, guide, a friend, a coach, particularly for the younger girls. She submitted an idea based on that need to our local school board. Well, they went for...
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GIVING BACK
JOHN B John, my father, has been the most integral and outstanding person in my life. From surviving a near-fatal heart condition to giving back to the community everyday through his occupation as a physician, he has always provided for his family and the community in the most gracious of ways.
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GIVING BACK
THE SHARE BOUQUET When the last of my two children graduated from preschool we wanted to find a way to keep their teacher in our lives. Ms. Mary is such a living example of goodness for my children and everyone who comes in contact with her. Selfishly I wanted this role model to always continue to instill these amazing values...
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CARING
EDDIE H I have known Eddie for about 16 years. He is a young man and looked to me as a father figure. I am an older man who is living with aids. Over the last couple of years I have fallen on hard times: illness, loss of job and investments, and possible foreclosure. It is always Eddie who is there to help; he has looked...
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HARD WORK
MY MOM WAS A WAITRESS.. My mom was a waitress. I knew, early on, how hard her job was. And how little she got paid, relying on meager tips. Now that I am an adult, for many years I have chosen a restaurant to go to just days before Christmas. I choose a less expensive place, where the waitresses/servers likely make less in tips. After...
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HELPING OTHERS
ANONYMOUS ORGAN DONOR My anonymous organ donor, and her family, have given me back my life. At my darkest hour, and their darkest hour, they chose organ donation. They have given me 12 more years of life, anonymously.
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DETERMINATION
EMILY G Emily is my daughter. Each time I say her name my heart fills with pride. She is a single mother of two beautiful children. Her life was in turmoil and she was homeless. After praying so hard that God finally said to me, "I heard you the first twenty times and I'm on it, ok?" she has turned her life...
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CHARACTER
REV DALE G I see this man every day on the streets of Albuquerque helping every person he can. He'll go any where to help people. I once saw him stop two gang members from fighting. Then remarkably he offered them prayer and helped them both with a bite to eat! I never understood why he was like that until my mother told me...
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BELIEVE IN YOURSELF
IT TAKES COURAGE, IT TAKES DRIVE Believing in yourself takes courage, it takes drive. Believing in myself was not always the easiest thing to do. I didn't always make the best of grades. I use to hate myself for it. Then, I finally realized that I needed to do something. I got help from friends, tutors, my parents and teachers. Now I'm in high...
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