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Good News: Inspiring Stories, Poems, and Quotes

Men’s Journal: The Blind Man Who Taught Himself to See - To save his life from an aggressive cancer, both of Daniel Kish’s eyes were removed by the time he was 13 months old. In the decades since he has adapted to his blindness in such remarkable ways that some wonder if he’s playing a grand practical joke. Even though completely blind, he’s able to pedal his bike through streets heavy with traffic. He climbs trees. He camps out, by himself, deep in the wilderness. He travels around the globe. He’s a skilled cook, an avid swimmer, a fluid dance partner. Using what he calls “FlashSonar” Kish can see...and he’s teaching others.

 

Westland Teen Caring for Twin Sisters Gets Surprise of Lifetime - After his parents both died and he was left to care for his 17-year-old twin sisters, Patrick Marshall figured his dream of going to college was gone. He figured wrong. What he didn’t count on was the generosity that would spring forward after word of his plight got out. Marshall found out Saturday he was being offered a full-ride scholarship to Baptist Bible College in Springfield, Mo., the college which Marshall had hoped to attend to become a pastor or a youth minister.

  

This Story About a Mother's Love Brought an Entire Middle School to Tears - If you know anything about middle school, you know that young teenagers can be hard to motivate and inspire. For former professional wrestler Marc Mero, however, it only took four minutes to bring an auditorium full of middle school students to tears with his personal story about his mother, her passing and his regrets about pushing her away. His speech is a must watch, but be warned...you'll need a box of tissues by the end.

 

Florida Atlantic University Grad Overcomes Paralysis to Earn MBA - As an able-bodied but unmotivated teenager, Ryan Gebauer didn't think he was cut out for college. When an accident in 1995 left him paralyzed from the neck down, he doubted he would even finish high school. But Gebauer, 30, has proven himself wrong time and time again. On Thursday, he accepted his master's degree in business administration from Florida Atlantic University. He was one of about 2,200 students receiving degrees this week during FAU's fall commencement. The audience gave Gebauer a standing ovation.

 

Click, Click, Click - We ducked into the dimly lit thrift shop to get out of the rain. Like so many things since our daughter's birth, I hadn't planned on a trip to this place. But I figured we'd see what they had since we were there.

 

TX Athlete With Down Syndrome Scores 99-Yard Touchdown - For two years, senior Lyndon LaPlante had only been getting a rep or two at football practice for the Keller Indians and had never seen action in a real game. The upbeat student with Down's syndrome seemed content to just be part of head coach Kevin Atkinson's football team. "I could see the passion in his eyes about how he really loved football and loved being around those guys," said Atkinson. But Atkinson had other plans for the dedicated athlete and wanted LaPlante to take the field in a game.

 

Featured Website: Kyle Maynard: It's Not What I Can Do; It's What I Will Do - Kyle Maynard is one of the most inspiring young men you will ever hear about. Due to a rare birth defect called congenital amputation, Kyle was born without arms and legs. "We didn't think he'd ever be able to live on his own," remembers Anita, Kyle's mother. Then Kyle's dad made a pivotal decision that would ultimately bless his son in ways he could not have known. The Maynards would raise Kyle with a lot of love—but no special treatment.

 

'No Excuses' Fuels Amputee's Success - Born with a rare disorder called congenital amputation, Kyle Maynard - despite the absence of both his arms and legs - became one of the top high school wrestlers in Georgia. "You may look at me and say, 'That sucks you have no arms or legs,' but that doesn't matter," said the University of Georgia sophomore. "There's nothing I'm not going to be able to achieve."

 

Courage - Hair was her worst enemy. The disease was fighting each follicle, but the battle raged much deeper than the roots. By freshman year, Caitlin Riley was losing more than brunette locks. Her confidence was crushed. Her faith was faltering. "I thought that if God loved me, he wouldn't give me something that caused so much pain," she said. Alopecia areata doesn't hurt. But being bald in high school breaks down a teenage girl.

 

A Reel Success - Clayton Dyer, 27, stands tall in the elite world of competitive bass fishing, despite the fact he was born without legs and with only one, partial arm. As of press time, Dyer, of Hamilton, Ala., has won about 25 of some 300 bass tournaments in which he's competed. Bass fishing on the pro level is a demanding sport that takes practice and commitment, but "if I can do it, you can do it," says Dyer, who mans his unmodified Stratos bass boat on his own, like other competitors. "When people first see me, they're not sure what I can do, and it shocks them to see me doing it all without assistance," he says. The most inspiring thing anyone's said to him? "Some parents told me recently they hoped their kids would grow up to be as good an example as I am," he says. "That was inspiring -- and very humbling." [Source: USA Weekend, July 24, 2005]

 

Walk the Talk Radio: Monica Moshenko and DisAbility News and Views - Wanted: 50-year-old single mom with little money and no media experience—holding a full-time day job while raising an autistic child—to launch weekly radio talk show for the disabled community. Major media outlets largely indifferent, but people with disabilities likely to tune in. Exhausting hours with no assistants; blind faith and fierce determination a plus.

 

Friends & Family Speech: A Mom's Perspective On Autism - As I reflect over the past four years, I’m struck by how much families like mine need families like yours. If we don’t have your help, your support, the costs grow in many ways. You see, the experts agree: The more involved the parents, the better the outcome for the child. And the experts agree that 30 or more hours a week is better. However, no one is supporting the families to make this a reality for the children.

 

It Is Not What's Gone - But What's Given - Speech from Jim Abbott, one-handed famed professional baseball pitcher. Not too long ago a little girl in my neighborhood was born without a hand. She was born just after my own second daughter Ella was born. Her parents were obviously shaken up. About a week later, I saw them at a neighborhood function and they came over to me and asked what my thoughts were, if I had any advice, for them and for their daughter. My advice? This is their daughter's life and they were asking my advice? Talk about humbling. What do you say? I had nothing very smart to say.

 

From Dorie - As the mother of a son with Paranoid Schizophrenia I have been struggling with the issue of prayer for quite some time. It is not that I have lost faith. I have been running on it for five years now. Granted there were times when it was reduced to the size of a mustard seed. But as I look back in hindsight, there was a moment that stands out from all the rest that left me totally and completely drained and frozen in fear like a deer in the headlights of an oncoming car when it came to the issue of prayer.

  

One of Our Own - On Tuesday we had the pleasure of attending an awards benefit in Morgantown, West Virginia. The banquet, the 2004 Governor’s Service Award Banquet, was hosted by West Virginia Governor, Bob Wise. We attended the banquet because Our Children Left Behind’s own Debi Lewis was honored with an award. We are so proud of her.

 

Rainbow Maker - I have to share with you a story about the happiest journey I've ever taken. This story was made possible thanks to my sweet son, Nicholas, who has autism.

 

Asperger Syndrome and Mom's Secret Weapon (A Mother's Day Reflection) - Want to be more effective in helping your child? Want to give him the best possible training to deal with AS and succeed? Then you need to access a secret weapon. You. Your immediate reaction may be, "Yeah, right! I'm already doing everything I can. More than I can! In fact, I'm so stressed that just the thought of doing more threatens to shut me down."

 

We Were Led By The Children - I think I knew in some instinctive way from the first time I watched these young people walk from Kelly Miller Smith’s church in Nashville to Woolworth’s lunch counter that I was watching the beginning of something historic, that they were not going to be turned around.

 

Story: The Traveler

 

THE TRAVELER
From:  Rondout

An old man going on a lone highway,  came at evening cold and gray, to a chasm vast and deep and wide, through which there flowed a sullen tide. The old man crossed in the twilight dim, the sullen stream had no fears for him. But, he turned when safe on the other side, and built a bridge to span the  tide. "Old man," said a fellow pilgrim near, "You are wasting your time by building here. You never again will pass this way. Your journey will end with the closing day. You have crossed the chasm, deep and wide, Why build you this bridge at evening tide? "The builder lifted his old, gray head, "Good friend, in the way I've come," he said, "There follow after me today, some youth whose feet must pass this way. This stream that has been as nothing to me,  to the fair-haired youth might a pitfall be. They too must cross in the twilight dim, Good friend, I am building this bridge for them."

 

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NOTE: (ALL RESOURCES PRE-IDEA 2004 ARE FOR INFORMATIONAL/HISTORICAL RESEARCH PURPOSES ONLY)