Heroes for My Son (2 page)
Authors: Brad Meltzer
Although Rick Hoyt is profoundly disabled, he has competed with his father Dick in over one thousand marathons, triathlons, ironman competitions, and other long-distance events.
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hen Dick and Judy Hoyt's son was born with cerebral palsy, unable to walk or talk, the doctors told them to just “put him away.”
No, they decided.
They'd push him, pull him, they'd carry him along.
But he'd never be left behind.
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When the public schools said there was no place for Rick, his parents found a computer that would write his thoughts from the few head movements he could make.
At ten, he spoke his first sentence. “Go Bruins!”
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In high school, Rick learned of a five-mile charity run for a newly paralyzed teenager.
Rick told his father they had to do something to send a message that life goes on.
Even though he wasn't a runner, Dick never hesitated.
He'd run the race, pushing Rick's wheelchair the whole way.
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They finished next to last. It was a victory.
That night, Rick typed out these words: “Dad, when I'm running, it feels like my disability disappears.”
Dick's mission was clear.
He kept running, Rick always out in front.
234 triathlons, 67 marathons, 6 ironmans.
Rick Hoyt still can't walk.
But with his father, they both fly.
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Team Hoyt's motto: Yes you can.
The creators of Supermanâand Clark Kentâshowed the world that the most ordinary of us can turn out to be the most heroic.
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hey weren't good-looking.
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They weren't popular.
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And they were so poor that they used to draw on the back of butcher's paper.
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But they were two best friends.
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With one dream.
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At the brink of World War II, in the midst of the Great Depression, two kids from Cleveland didn't just give us the world's first superhero.
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They gave us something to believe in.
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The trouble with this, kid, is that it's too sensational. Nobody would believe it.
âOne of the first rejection letters for Superman
With little more than a cardigan and a friendly smile, Fred Rogers spent nearly forty years using public television to teach kindnessâjust kindnessâto children. Did it work? After thieves stole Mr. Rogers's car, the story was broadcast on TV and in newspapers. The car was returned in two days.
The note in the car read: “If we'd known it was yours, we never would have taken it.”
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is parents were so worried about his hay fever, they kept him inside for an entire summer.
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He had nothing to play with except for a toy piano and some homemade hand puppets.
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Freddie made the best of it. He had his imagination.
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He didn't need anything else.
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Knowing that we can be loved exactly as we are gives us all the best opportunity for growing into the healthiest of people.
âFred Rogers
When a bubble's gone, you don't see it anymore with your eyes. And when an opera is over, you don't hear it anymore with your ears. But you can remember it. You can remember what bubbles look like and what operas sound like and what friends feel like. And you'll always have them with you in your memory.
âFred Rogers
Risking her life for those of her friends, Miep Gies protected eight people in a cramped annexâOtto Frank and his family of four, the Van Pels and their son, and an elderly dentistâfrom the Nazi death machine during World War II. After Anne and her family were discovered by the Germans and sent to Auschwitz, Miep, hoping that Anne would return, held on to the world's most important diary.
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n the spring of 1942, Otto Frank asked his assistant the most important question of her life: “Are you prepared to help us?”
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Miep Gies never hesitated. “Yes, of course,” she said.
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For two years, Miep broke the lawâhiding and feeding eight people, including Otto's daughter, Anne.
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When the Nazis burst in, Miep didn't deny helping the family.
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She didn't apologize.
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Instead, she tried to bribe Nazi officials into letting the eight innocent people go.
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It didn't work.
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And when the Nazis warned her not to return, Miep snuck back into the hiding spot.
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Among the scattered papers and clothing, she noticed one thing the Nazis had dismissedâAnne's red-checked diary.
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Never opening it, she placed it in a desk drawer.
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When Anne's father returned after the war, Miep once again took him in.
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When she heard that Anne was dead, Miep relinquished her duty as caretaker.
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“Here,” Miep told Otto, “is your daughter Anne's legacy to you.”
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I myself am just an ordinary woman. I simply had no choice.
âMiep Gies
Being one of the best baseball players in the world would satisfy most people. Roberto Clemente got better every year. As a right fielder with the Pittsburgh Pirates, he won twelve Gold Glove Awards and had the best batting average in four different seasons.
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B
eing a baseball player made him famous.
Being a twelve-time Golden Glove winner made him rich.
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So when an earthquake struck Nicaragua, he could have just written a check and gotten his name in the paper.
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Instead, he got involved personally.
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He funded three emergency relief flights.
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All three were diverted by corrupt officialsâwhich is why Clemente decided to fly on the fourth plane himself.
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It was packed with as much food and medicine as he could possibly bring.
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The plane crashed in the ocean, killing everyone on the flight.
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But Roberto Clemente isn't a hero because the plane went down.
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He's a hero because of why he got on board.
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If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this Earth.
âRoberto Clemente
He can run and throwâand we think he can hit.
âDraft report on Roberto Clemente for the Pittsburgh Pirates
A pioneer in aviation and the first female to cross the Atlantic, Amelia Earhart broke many flight records. She died while trying to become the first person to fly around the world at the equator. Her plane has still never been found.
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S
he worked as a truck driver, stenographer, and photographer. Just to save enough for the flying lessons.
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Six months after she learned to fly, she put away enough for a bright yellow, used biplane called
Canary
.
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The following year, she broke her first record, reaching an altitude of fourteen thousand feet, the highest recorded at that time by a woman.
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She wasn't a natural. She wasn't the best pilot.
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She had to work at it.
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But within her short lifetime she showed the world that the greatest flight we'll ever take is the one no one has tried before.
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Please know I am quite aware of the hazardsâ¦. I want to do it because I want to do it. Women must try to do things as men have tried. When they fail their failure must be but a challenge to others.
âAmelia Earhart
Never interrupt someone doing what you said couldn't be done.
âAmelia Earhart