The stories of HeroicStories.
by Caitlin Mercer
California, USA
It didn’t start out as a big deal. We were waiting to board our flight out of Portland, Oregon, heading to Ontario, California on a Friday evening. The gate had been changed, and everyone was now just anxious to get on the plane and get home.
by John Nieman
Victoria, Australia
Some years ago the British band Dire Straights was coming to Melbourne and it would sell out early. I arranged to take a few hours off work the morning the bookings opened, and queued up very early at the ticket outlet in a neighbouring suburb.
by Anne Hill
Western Australia, Australia
Having just left my dentist’s office in mid-afternoon at age 17, I was walking towards a bus stop at the edge of the central business district. The nearly deserted street adjoined a park frequented by “street people”; a place that looks superficially safe but gives you an uneasy feeling.
by Richard Albertse, Republic of South Africa
It was Friday afternoon: time for hostel-goers to go to town. As a boy of 18, I was allowed to keep my bicycle at the hostel, and use it whenever I had permission to leave school grounds.
by Debbie Decker
California, USA
My son attends Douglass Junior High School in Woodland, California. It’s a big school — more than 1,200 kids in seventh through ninth grades. The school population is incredibly diverse, with many languages, ethnic backgrounds, and socio-economic levels represented. The dress and behavior codes are strict and expectations are high, which results in fewer problems at school. My son feels safe at school and seems to enjoy it.
by Ed Roberts
Texas, USA
In the late 1960s, when we lived in California, my wife went grocery shopping one payday. She had cashed both of our paychecks at the store and bought a few groceries. When she got home, she realized that she had left her billfold in the shopping cart when she put the groceries in the car.
by Greg Higgins
Illinois, USA
When I brought my wife and three children to the Midwestern portion of the USA in late 1999, I made judgments about the people in our new home state that turned out to be far from the truth. Coming from the south, I found the people in Illinois to be generally standoffish and somewhat uncaring — hardly the type of people I would have as true friends. Nonetheless, we settled into life in Romeoville, Illinois, just north of Joliet.
A Chemo Angel starts getting gifts from fellow buddies as she waits for her first child to be born.
by Maureen Grey
Illinois, USA
My sister and her son live in a small town in the Sierra Nevadas. “Susan” lives on a shoestring, working for the county. They do fine, with a small house and beautiful yard with a great homemade jungle gym. Trademark Sierras pines provide shade.
by Bruce McCormick
Mississippi, USA
My wife, three young daughters and I were starting dinner at 7:00 p.m. on Oct. 21, 2001, when I smelled a hint of smoke. As my wife’s candles had caused this before, I wasn’t alarmed, but started looking around. Coming back from the kitchen the smell was stronger. Suddenly my wife and I both noticed a thin haze near the ceiling of the family room where we were eating.