Friday, September 30, 2011

Kim

I was at Tiananmen Square during the protests of 1989.
I put legs on a man with prosthetics.
I said goodbye to my father the day he ended his life.
I jumped out of an airplane.
I almost froze when hiking Mt. Fuji off-season and had to sleep in a temple.

Kim, age 46

Helen

I wrote an essay for a national "I speak for Democracy" contest in HS and won first place.
I worked in the missions for a year after nursing school.
I married happily and had 5 beautiful children by age 30.
I wrote a heartfelt poem to my son when he was almost 17.
I took care of my dear mother the last week of her life.

Helen, age 71

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Nate

Went to a public high school prom with my boyfriend.
Prevented a friend hundreds of miles away from committing suicide.
Made a bench out of a shipping pallet.
Wrote my name on bathroom walls in 7th grade. Got caught.
Somehow made money off of photography.

Nate. age 17

Monday, September 19, 2011

Lauryn

I got engaged in Trafalgar Square in London.
I slept under a mosquito net in a mud hut in Congo.
I washed my grandmothers feet after she died.
I took acid.
I put rocks in my father's hubcaps so he couldn't leave us (he left anyway.)

Lauryn, age 25

Amira

I saved a life.
I circumnavigated the earth on a ship.
I witnessed a stranger die at my feet.
I survived violent crime in South Africa.
I found strength in my weakness.

Amira, age 22

Stanley

I was an Eagle Scout.
I got shot stealing coal for my girlfriend and her family during the war.
I fell in love with a girl named Honey.
I was a Marine in WWII (Pearl Harbor, Guam, China.)
I lost my memory.

Stanley, age 87

Ken

Volunteered for a month in an orphanage in Romania.
Had my own dessert and pastry business.
Had brain surgery due to ruptured aneurysm.
Published a book in 2009.
Wore a kilt to scatter my Dad's ashes in Scotland.

-Ken, age 61

Bethany

I was born on a holiday.
I was hit by a car.
I have eaten an entire cake.
I have driven across the country twice.
I haven't done nearly enough.

-Bethany, age 27

Renee

I have recently discovered that I suffer from PTSD.
I reconnected with my father when I was 16 years old.
I held my stillborn daughter after she grew in my womb for 6 months.
I've received awards for my photography.
I was a victim of domestic violence, took it to court and won the battle.

- Renee age 33

Brad

I traveled around the US by train.
I skipped a day of high school to go skydiving.
I climbed 4 different "14ers" in Colorado.
I became best friends with a kitten.
I made a sandwich for my wife.

-Brad age 35

Dana

I got a little tattoo at 14 and did not tell my mother until I was 18.
I had both my knees replaced this year because I hated the limitations of pain.
I traveled to Nepal by myself to photograph Buddhist nuns.
I had a lover and a friend commit suicide and never forgave either of them for leaving me.
I jumped out of a plane to conquer my fear of falling.

- Dana age 43

Dani

I have been institutionalized several times for mental illness.
I gave birth to an Earth Angel.
I lost a baby.
I cannot accept love.
I have done many random acts of kindness.


Dani, age 36