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Connect through stories

Stories have the power to inspire, strengthen, and heal. And the stories we tell, especially about how we overcome adversity, help shape how we think about our lives. We have a lot to learn from each other and a lot to say. What’s your story?

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Stories of resilience

Divorce & Family Challenges

“If I didn’t pull this off, my family was gone. So I gave it everything I had.”

By Vernon Turner

Hate & Violence

“I’ve left Syria, but I’m not free. The fight starts when you flee. But it doesn’t have an end.”

By Sana Mustafa

Abuse & Sexual Assault

“I’ve got nothing to lose in trying to live the biggest life I can.”

By Kathy Andersen

“I’d always been the moon to my mom’s bright shining sun. How do you live without the sun?”

By Christa Fletcher

Health, Illness & Injury

“Option B means realizing that you’re reinventing yourself. There’s no rule book. There’s no guide. It’s about going back to life”

By Allen Rucker

“On my eighteenth birthday, I was sent to prison with a sentence of fifteen years and two felonies.”

By Danny Murillo

Health, Illness & Injury

“Having two kids with muscular dystrophy has changed how we view the future. We seize every chance to enjoy the time we have.”

By Char & Scott Frewing

“It was a wake-up call for me to get out and make something of myself.”

Divorce & Family Challenges

“When I was 15, I found out I was pregnant. I just didn’t want to believe it.”

By Guadalupe Valencia

“I still miss my dad every day. But I think he’d be proud of what I’ve accomplished.”

By Genevieve Liu

“My dad discovered he had a son less than a minute before he discovered he had lost his son.”

By Byron Auguste

Hate & Violence

“When you’re a person the world is trying to erase, enjoying the world is truly radical. It’s a revolutionary act.”

Divorce & Family Challenges

“I am a proud mother of seven. And nobody can take that away from me.”

By Stephanie Zibell

Abuse & Sexual Assault

“I’ve helped others heal, which gives me an immense sense of meaning and purpose.”

By Dr. Michelle Stevens

Health, Illness & Injury

“My grandma told me that once I shake someone’s hand, my disability goes away.”

By Kyle Maynard

Raising Resilient Kids

“Our first challenge was to protect her, to let her know that she was valued. And heard. And believed.”

“I instantly connected him to Leo. I felt that maybe the universe was trying to tell me something.”

Divorce & Family Challenges

“Shame thrives in secrecy. Having such a public healing and a public acceptance has really helped me.”

By Catherine Hoke

Abuse & Sexual Assault

“When I graduated, it was the best day of my life, because I remember how close I was to giving up.”

By Alycia Bennett

Health, Illness & Injury

“My diagnosis was a turning point.”

By A'Driane Nieves

“I have to keep going for the kids, but more than that, I’m sustained by the thought that I mustn’t let George down.”

“I had always thought, ‘What’s in it for me?’ But seeing these volunteer teachers inspired me to give back.”

By Dmitriy Orlov

Divorce & Family Challenges

“It was something that was swept under the rug. We didn’t talk about it for many years.”

By Anthony Ocampo

Health, Illness & Injury

“The hardest part was realizing that my life would be put on pause.”

By Layth Ramatala

“Dear Rebecca and Casey, love really is as boundless as the sky.”

It makes me feel great that my girls witnessed my resilience, and saw me build something for myself.

By Stacy Feintuch

“Maria has always had a special place in our family and she always will.”

By Laura Gould Crandall

Raising Resilient Kids

“Walking alongside a child who is grieving is unlike anything else.”

By Ila Rosengarten

“I am a motherless daughter, now fatherless too, but I am not without heart and resilience and grit.”

By Valeria Palmertree

“When we lose someone we love, we should remember that the person has not become nothing.”

Andy and I consciously made a decision to unbuckle our metaphoric seatbelts and enjoy the ride.

By Stephanie Nimmo

“The biggest lesson I’ve learned thus far is to wake up each day and show up and be present.”

By Tricia Halbert

There is both a harsh reality and a profound wisdom in accepting that some losses cannot be explained or redeemed.

Someone is always going to have an opinion. It's up to you to acknowledge or ignore these opinions.

By Kreithchele Barnard

Health, Illness & Injury

“One cannot change the situation just by crying or worrying … one has to take real steps toward changing it.”

By Rupali Deshpande Awekar

“Transitioning from passive mourning to active remembering is key to building resilience after loss.”

By Allison Gilbert

Photography credits

Special thanks to Norman Jean Roy and Getty Images for capturing these powerful images of resilience.