Stories of Perseverance: A playlist of stories from Storytellers Project, Week 4
Even when you need to #StayAtHome, we know you want to feel connected to your community. And creating empathy and understanding is vital in times of uncertainty.
So the Storytellers Project has put together a playlist of true, personal stories shared by your neighbors from across the country. These stories are uplifting. They showcase perseverance, family bonds, life-changing decisions, love and new beginnings as we connect over our most deeply held values. Look for it every Thursday.
Week 4 illustrates we have the strength and fortitude to persevere.
A cold move is not the end of the world
At 21, Chad Taylor goes online to find a job. In a chat room, he meets a Hooters waitress who invites him to Alberta, Canada, to hang out with her and her husband, Cam. Having nothing better to do, Chad goes. For the first six weeks, it's fun. Then Cam invites him to drive his rig north of the Arctic Circle and they go, woefully underprepared. They get to town of Inuvik and suddenly, Cam drives off, saying, “Let this be a lesson to you.” Chad is bewildered, forces himself not to panic and waits three days before a logging trucker takes him south. A week later, he gets back to Alberta. The waitress says Cam thought Chad was cheating with her, and he laughs. Now, when things get hard, he thinks of Inuvik and knows he'll be OK.
VIDEO: Watch as Chad shares his story on stage in Des Moines, Iowa.
Week 1 of uplifting stories restores our faith in humankind.
Don’t let yourself get in the way of your dreams
Paralyzed at age 11 in an accident, Mackenzie Saunders views herself as a burden. During a visit with a friend at Harvard Law School, she realizes there are regular drinking evenings sponsored by big law firms. She also attends a session about being a good trial lawyer, led by the guy who prosecuted the Boston Marathon bomber. He asks her a question. She knew the answer and thought, “If he thinks I go to Harvard Law, why can't I.” Mackenzie realizes she is holding back because she thinks her disability disqualifies her from Harvard and other opportunities. Now, lessons she has learned from disability inform her life decisions.
AUDIO: Listen to Mackenzie Saunders share her story in Phoenix, Arizona.
Finding her tribe
Growing up in a white community in the back of her parents’ Vietnamese restaurant, Linh Ta learns to be ashamed of her race, her food and her family when she goes to a school filled with white kids who don't understand squid or Pho or other things Linh loves. Things come to a head during a birthday that is celebrated at a children's party center with the lunch taking place at her family's restaurant. After a kid asks if egg-drop soup is filled with toilet paper, she vows to never bring a friend home again. But she meets other Asian kids, finally, and feels fully accepted by the “Asian Mafia.”
AUDIO: Listen to Linh Ta's story.
LISTEN TO WEEK 2: Stories about adventures that show us how strong we can be.
Finding the right fit
Sierra Holmes is a size-acceptance fashion blogger. She talks about all the disappointing shopping trips as a child and young adult, including an experience shopping for a prom dress that led her mom to order her a custom gown, and how refusing to settle has led her to a career as a stylist and plus-size fashion blogger.
VIDEO: Watch Sierra Holmes tell her story.
LISTEN TO WEEK 3: Stories that confirm family is everything.
One phone call can save a life
Bill Krieger returns from military action in Iraq outwardly happy and relieved he is longer being shot at in combat. But back at home and work, building anger and anxiety make him cruel to his kids, and angry and mean at work. One day, he finds himself sitting in his bedroom with a loaded pistol. But a friend calls that day, out of the blue, just to check in. It’s at that moment that Bill realizes he needs help. So, he reaches out, and gets the therapy and support to turn his life around.
AUDIO: Listen to Bill Krieger share his story.
LISTEN TO WEEK 3: Stories that confirm family is everything.
To hell and back can be a long road
Ryan Kitchell joins the Navy as a war photographer and chronicles savage war crimes. Returning home, he can’t shake the images and starts self-medicating with alcohol. But after putting a gun into his mouth, Ryan realizes he wants to live and needs help. It takes four therapists before he finds the right one, and a frightening moment when he stalks and almost attacks a fellow student - because he is afraid for his own life - until he starts to make progress to beat his PTSD. He's now on the road to recovery, and has a flourishing business and happy marriage.
AUDIO: Listen to Ryan's story.
Coming Next Week
Week 5 we see that all we need is love -- in all forms:
A young liberal man tells the story of falling for his conservative wife and how they navigate their political differences, blended their friends and built a life together.
A deaf woman and a hearing man hit it off in a bar by writing notes on a drinks tab. Communication is awkward at first, and he tosses a rock past her head when he should've tossed a pebble to her feet to draw her attention, but today they're married with kids.
A couple find that meeting someone who can be curious and supportive about your weird interests may be the secret to a happy relationship.
Woman comes out as lesbian during a series of Dungeons and Dragons games, calling off wedding and dating a fellow player, a woman named Cat.
A man suffers from total amnesia, forgetting his marriage, children, and life in Phoenix. But his wife refuses to accept divorce, so she dates him until one day, he miraculously remembers their life together.
A young female pastor struggles to figure out how to balance her obligations to her flock with her dating ambitions, and when love comes in the form of a congregant's son, she navigates new challenges.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coronavirus: 'Stories of Perseverance' to get you through the pandemic
