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
INSPIRATION
SMILES It amazed me - every time I saw Joe he was smiling. It didn't matter whether he had to stop at a stop light, or if he were the seventh person in line at the bank, and the teller closed her bay just before he got there. Joe always smiled. It made me wonder why he always seemed so happy. Having observed Joe with...
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DEVOTION
BEACH WALKER My mother was a model in the 70s. She had a model friend, Remy, who loved the good life. This woman dated much and partied as often as she could. Unfortunately, she met up with a man who was not what he claimed to be. She was diagnosed with HIV and later succumbed to AIDS in the mid-80s. This is not a sad...
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BELIEVE IN YOURSELF
MELISSA C My hero is my history teacher. She has been an inspiration to so many people. She lives on a pretty meager teacher's salary yet donates over half of it to charity foundations. She hasn't done anything particularly extraordinary that I know of. But she doesn't have to. Her values and her character make me want to...
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DEDICATION
MY MOTHER My whole life I have never lived with my real dad, so everything that I have done has been with my mother. She has inspired me a lot in my life. My family has struggled a lot since my mother has always been the only source of income for our family, not to mention she had to balance working and taking care of me...
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AMBITION
KAREN Karen is sick with an "incurable" form of cancer. Her now ex-husband lost all their money in day trading. One of her two adopted children has a learning disability that may never allow him to live alone. Still, instead of feeling sorry for herself, a victim, or helpless, Karen started her own business and is...
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CARING
SONNY H After clicking nearly all of the values below, I realized how much my former boss, mentor, and friend is a hero to not just myself, but everyone he interacts with. Sonny puts together academic programs at a huge California university campus. Sonny's favorite program is in July, and he especially loves the...
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OPTIMISM
PAYING IT FORWARD 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. I decided to attend a women's meeting and when we broke into small...
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CHARACTER
JUDE M Not a week goes by that we do not hear how Jude inspires others to have a good attitude now matter what circumstance they are in. She lives by taking a chemotherapy everyday called cellcept. Less than one tenth of one percent of the nation suffers from her disease—pulmonary fibrosis, an autoimmune disease. It is...
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CARING
NURSES My hero is every nurse who works 12 hours straight... Exposing themselves to illness and emotional stress... Sometimes on weekends and holidays... Sometimes through the night... Often putting their own needs and even some of the needs of their families aside... To care for the sick who are sometimes...
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CARING
UNKNOWN Sadly, I do not remember my hero's name. She went to preschool briefly with me in Calgary, Alberta. Like most children, I did not understand the concept of sharing. If I wanted something, I would kick and scream until I got it. Looking at children now, I see that they're generally the same way. But this...
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APPRECIATION
MARIO E My son Mario is my Hero. I truly believe if more people were like him this world would be a beautiful place. He is 14 and has been a blessing from day one. He has never gone a day without saying "I love you Mom." He is the only one who can make me laugh for hours. He is the reason I get through any day. He...
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CARING
SARAH R My hero is my girlfriend, Sarah. She is an overall great person she always tries to do the right thing. She always tries to keep the peace between people. She works as a Certified Nurse's Assistant and truly and deeply cares about the residents. Sarah is always very forgiving and is always in a good mood....
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COMPASSION
A SURROGACY JOURNEY... If you look up the definition of 'compassion' in the dictionary you will find: -noun; a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering. Compassion is what brought me into my surrogacy journey. I don't consider myself...
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COURAGE
CHERRY B Cherry is my hero. She lives each day not knowing if it will be her last. She fought breast cancer twice and had a breast removed. Now she is fighting liver cancer. She has done most all of the treatments out there. Her body is so weak, some days she can't raise her head. Her husband works so that they will have...
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MAKING A DIFFERENCE
THE PREACHER My Grandmother's sitter took my Grandmother, Alice Wait Hart, to a fast food restaurant in Baton Rouge LA. on Greenwell Springs Road and Monterrey, for her favorite hamburger on Valentine's Day. A kind gentleman held the door open for them. Having seated Mrs. Hart, the sitter told that gentleman as they...
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MOTIVATION
NOTES ON LIFE My name is Rod. I am an engineer/techy geek, by trade/education, which means I am a creative type/problem solver. As with most analytical thinkers, we believe and think all equations and problems have an answer and are solvable. I found out sometimes in life there is just a problem or equation you cannot answer,...
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LIVE YOUR DREAMS
A NEW STUDENT My First Day of College I am someone who never went to college but always thought about it. The only way I attended was in listening to my children talk about their classes and all the interesting things they were learning College was just a life long dream of mine. I just turned sixty four years old in...
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OVERCOMING
OVERCOMING ADHD First grade for most parents is where they spend maybe 10 minutes at the most spending time with their child teaching them how to read and helping with homework. My parents had to spend 3-4 hours with me. I had a difficult time paying attention and it was hard to think that I needed to get things done. Later on...
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OPTIMISM
JOY IN EVERYDAY LIFE 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 :) I 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,...
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AMBITION
MARY N My mother is my hero. As a child growing up she lived in a house with her difficult father, who eventually died, leaving her to raise her younger sister while her mother went to work. As a young mother in 1971 (children 4, 3 and 1) she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and given less than 6 months to live....
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AMBITION
HENRY N My hero is my 14 year old son. A year ago he sustained several devastating injuries including traumatic brain trauma. Today, he goes to school with his friends, works hard at lots of therapies and tutoring, and gives back the love that his adoring family constantly sends his way. He does not complain or feel...
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TRUE BEAUTY
GRACIOUSNESS AND INNER BEAUTY My third pregnancy was very challenging. I went about my life going to doctors and once in a while for fun I'd buy a lottery ticket. Once I found out from an excellent doctor what was wrong (I had a rare condition that developed while I was pregnant) I had treatments to get better. I got through one of the...
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DEVOTION
MESSED UP LIFE! My life got pretty crazy when I turned eleven. I broke my wrist and sprained my ankle playing basketball, my best friend turned out to be the guy I love, I had a ton of boy drama, lots of friend drama'pretty crazy. But this isn't about any of that, its about the one guy that changed my life forever. I'd...
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GENEROSITY
UNKNOWN Several years ago, each Christmas season, the Salvation Army would get something extra in their donation bucket near where I live. Someone would drop a one hundred bill with a dollar bill rubber cemented on each side to disguise it, ensuring that he would be able to remain anonymous. One Christmas season, the...
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CARING
MOM My mom is my hero. There are many people who inspire me but my mom seems to have all the qualities of all those people wrapped into one. I was born into a middle class family. My dad and mom worked six days a week close to ten hours every day. My mom woke up at 5am every morning to make breakfast for my dad...
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BELIEVE IN YOURSELF
VINCE D My hero is my father. My mother left my father when my two brothers and I were very little. My father single handedly raised all three of us and put us through four years of college. Today, we are all successful career oriented individuals who have him to thank. He has provided me with the courage to face...
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BELIEVE IN YOURSELF
RYAN My hero is my husband Ryan. He is my best friend. We have been together for over 8 years and we also have been apart for a long time because we lived on two different continents before we got married. Ryan is the most wonderful person I have ever met. He is always very committed to what he does — at work and...
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CARING
MY MOTHER My mother is my hero because she chose me. I am the only adopted child out of four children; all three of my siblings are my mother's biological children. So why me? You don't just adopt a child in 1965 with no story. Yet here I am—a part of the most wonderful family you could ever dream for. My mother made me...
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DEDICATION
NEAR DEATH AND BACK My whole childhood I focused on training to play professional soccer. Through the mid 90's I advanced through Olympic training and on June 13, 1997 I was competing with a minor league team when a 16 year old ran a stop sign. That night changed my life. I was on my motorcycle and got hit by a car, partially...
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SHARING
GREAT GRANDMA Each year around Christmas time, I go up to Ashland to visit my Grandma and my Grandpa. I stay at their house for about 2-3 days. We open up presents and enjoy each other's company. But on the last day before my family heads back to Wausau, I dedicate about an hour to my Great Grandma. She lives in a nursing...
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DEDICATION
NAOMI D My hero is a girl I know at work. She started there about 6 months ago after being out of work for over a year. She has some developmental and learning differences that make it hard for her to do math and cash registers, so she couldn't get hired in a lot of places, particularly in retail. But she's told me that...
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LOVE
TREE OF PANAMA In agriculture it's not uncommon to graft a branch from one tree to another and to have that newly grafted branch grow and flourish, receiving nutrients from the main trunk of the tree, just like all the other branches. Yet the grafted branch does not loose its original identity, it remains a part of the tree...
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CARING
STEPHANIE M Stephanie saved a three year old girl from getting run over by a car. The three year old was down the street when Stephanie saw her. There weren't any cars coming, but Stephanie new it wasn't right for a three year old to be standing in the middle of the street. She ran to get the little girl out of a street when...
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