I really liked two stories from Neumark. I liked the story of Ernestina and Enid who walked in the walk-a-thon. Ernestina was 85 and had a pacemaker. She did not get into the van until after the fourth mile when some of the other older women got into the van. Enid had a bullet lodged in her foot from a drive-by shooting. Enid also spent her Saturdays for several months walking around the community with voter-registration forms. These two women did not care that it would be hard to walk in the walk-a-thon, they wanted to help. They did not use excuses to get out of helping, they stayed and helped. Some people would have used a lot less than what these ladies had as an excuse to get out of something, but these ladies pushed through any way.
I also liked the story she told about Danielle. Danielle’s mother died from an asthma attack brought on by smoking crack. She has eleven brothers and sisters. Some of her siblings are older and living on their own and others went to live with other relatives. She and four of her siblings were left parentless and an uncle moved in. There was a swimming trip planned for the church, but Danielle didn’t own a bathing suit, so Heidi Neumark took her to get one. They stopped at McDonald’s for lunch and Danielle got extra napkins and divided the bag of fries into five little piles. When Neumark asked her what she was doing she replied, “My sisters and brothers will feel sad that I got french fries and they didn’t. I’m taking them home to share.” Danielle did not keep the fries for herself; she shared them with her brothers and sisters, even if that meant she did not get as many french fries. She is a great example for everyone. She cared about siblings and so she shared with them. We should care enough about everyone around us who needs to be able to share with them, even if we get less than what we could have had.