What does your best inspirational stories include?
What is it that we like about a good story?
From
the time we are very little, we love to listen to anyone who will tell
us stories. We like fantasy stories, but we also love to hear real-life
stories, whether it be about someone in our family or not. These real
life stories can often be very inspirational. I'd like to compile some
of my inspirational short stories on leadership.
The very first
of the best inspirational stories of my life starts when I was eight
years old. Unlike many unfortunate children in today's cruel world, I
had a very happy childhood. My mother and father loved each other dearly
and all of us three kids: my sixteen year-old brother, and my thirteen
year-old sister, and me; we were one boy and two girls.
One day my mom discovered she was pregnant again unexpectedly. This met with varied reactions from the family. My brother, I think, was just embarrassed at the thought that my parents were doing such things together. My sister and dad were very happy. But I was ecstatic! I had always wanted a younger sibling, boy or girl. I went around telling everyone at school the good news. Then, I had additional news to tell when my mom found out from an ultrasound that she was going to have a boy.
My Best Inspirational Stories - My mom had started with labor pains…
I
remember with perfect clarity the night my baby brother was born. It
was a very late Thursday night. earlier that evening. Since all of us
kids were born at home naturally with the assistance of a good friend
who was a trained midwife, my baby brother would have the same personal
care. My aunt and uncle came over to attend to us kids while my mother
gave birth in the room that I shared with my sister.
My
baby brother was finally born after eleven o'clock that night. The
whole family was invited in to meet him. What an adorable tiny thing he
was! He weighed seven pounds and fifteen ounces. I was teeming with
giddiness and pride. My parents decided to name him Matthew, but we
mostly call him Matt. That night, I didn't notice it, but my father and
the midwife exchanged a few worried glances over Matt. My mother was
likely too exhausted to notice.
My Best Inspirational Stories - As the months passed by and my baby brother grew…
As
the months passed by and my baby brother grew, his progression seemed
slower than what my parents remembered when we were babies. At a
doctor's visit, when my baby brother was nine months old, the doctor,
also a family friend, told my parents that Matt had Down's Syndrome.
According to my mom, my dad casually asked the doctor, "So you think
Matthew might have Down's Syndrome?" To which, the doctor replied, "Yes,
he definitely has it." My mom doesn't remember understanding anything
that was said after that. The words became a jumbled mess amidst the
million questions and doubts going around in her head.
She
wondered, "What will we do?" "Will he be very sick?" "I've never taken
care of anyone sick, I don't know what to do!" She prayed very long and
hard for many nights and relates that she always felt an incredible
peace come over her after her supplications. The whole family got busy
looking up information about Down's Syndrome and we found out that there
are varying degrees of it. These degrees can be from the debilitating
to very highly functioning. Only time would tell to which degree my baby
brother would be affected by his illness.
We
started out teaching him all that he needed to know. Many things took
extreme patience. My mom kept baby books for each of us to record
milestones and stories in our lives, such as when we first spoke,
crawled, and walked. These milestones were slower to come in Matt's
case, but were even more celebrated when they did come. In time he
learned to crawl, speak, then to walk. From a very early age, it was
evident that he had a great sense of humor that always kept us laughing.
I
was learning some French in school, so I would go home and teach what I
learned to Matt and he was very apt for learning things like this. He
learned how to identify his head, shoulders, knees, and toes in French. I
think I thought of him as my little monkey and taught him all kinds of
tricks. Being a very sociable tyke, he loved to show off and "perform"
in front of others.
My Best Inspirational Stories - a slow-growing but lethal tumor was discovered…
My
brother Matt is now twenty-two years old and has faced multiple
challenges in his life. Some of these have been health related. In 2002,
a slow-growing but lethal tumor was discovered behind his ear. He was
operated on and had to have most of his inner ear removed, which
impaired his hearing somewhat. Matt is very athletic and has more
muscles than all of us put together I think. Most kids with Down's have
weight problems. Not my brother; he is what you might call "ripped" or
"cut".
He is always
jumping around doing summersaults or pretending some imaginary villain
is chasing after him. So it surprised us when one day he fell down and
hurt his knee very badly. It turned out he had chipped a piece of his
knee bone and had to have another operation. He has given us quite a few
scares medically. Besides this, he has other challenges. He still can't
read, despite many efforts to teach him. I still have hope that one
day, that part of the world can be unlocked for him.
One
of his greatest challenges is that he wants very badly to be married
and doesn't understand why many of his friends his age are married and
he is not. We just try to help him focus on the many friends he has that
love him. I love my brother dearly and although this story is a simple
everyday one, I think of it as one of the best inspirational stories I
know because it is a continuing story of love, persistence, and joy.
Thank you and May God bless you!