Inspired by the Courage of an Intern

--by Joy4All, posted Apr 16, 2011

In August, an intern came to work at my company. As I began to get to know her I was inspired by her story.

In addition to coming from the inner city and having suffered many abuses as a child, her story was one of courage. At age 20 she went to bed with a headache and woke up paralyzed and unable to speak. She had a brain virus that caused the brain to swell. She had to relearn to talk, walk, write and lost much of her vision and balance. Despite all that she continued with her education and graduated in December with a bachelor's degree.

Her family was not supportive, her mother did not even wish to attend the graduation. The last week she was here I told her to show up early and dress up as we were taking someone else to lunch. Instead, I had a surprise. When she arrived she was treated to a facial and a makeover complete with items to take home. Then we went shopping and bought her a beautiful suit for her graduation day and another outfit for interviews. The final stop was lunch at her favorite restaurant. It was a GREAT day for me and her.

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Posted by Joy4All
Apr 16, 2011
Comments (30)

Readers Comments

FairyBubbles wrote: That was a truly lovely thing to do. I am so glad that I read this story.

Wildfire wrote: What a great friend you were to her!

pauliej wrote:
Joy4All, I am sure this young woman will never forget your kindness. No doubt she, in turn, will take another person under her wing, and help them along the road to success.

unknown wrote: You are fabulous ... And so is she ... She deserves this ... Thank you for being there with her. God bless both of ya :)

MakeSomeoneSmile wrote: What a very kind thing for you to do, nice going! :)

zeeksmom wrote: What a fabulous gesture! I was so shocked to see after all that how her parents weren't interested in going, and i'm so happy that you stepped up for her.

Woodrose wrote: Thank you very much for being so kind and caring :)
This is very inspiring and heart-warming x

Sazzy wrote: You deffinitely made that person's day. What a kind heart! You deffinitely have the love of god in you <3

thebigkind wrote: I love your story. Thankyou for being this person and doing this for her.

Sydney wrote: What a wonderful thing to do! You must have really made her day :) I read another story on this website by a 74 year old woman who wrote about a small act of kindness that she experienced when she was 12yrs old! She said she rememered it because she came from a troubled background and it meant so much to her. I'm sure your intern will always remember this too!

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