The Story

On a visit to Florida to visit her dad and his sister, Sue Perna realized her 98-year-old aunt needed more daily help, and that her dad couldn't look after her anymore. Sue's father asked her to take care of Aunt Mary, and sent her a check to build a bedroom onto her Vermont home. Two days after the check arrived, Sue's dad died, and the mother of four took in her 98-year-old aunt.

Laura Milkins moved to Mexico City earlier this year. Her plan was to walk the entire length of the city, a little bit each day. Not only would she walk, she would invite strangers to walk with her and tell her their stories. Laura had no idea that she'd be walking straight into an outbreak of swine flu.

Mauricio grew up in war-ravaged El Salvador and South Central L.A. He says he lived life never thinking about his future because he had a hard enough time surviving day-to-day. He was 16 when he stumbled upon a summer program that took him out of L.A. and into the California wilderness. That experience, he says, is what finally gave him the ability to think about and plan for a better future.

Andrea Richardson Stowers was 7 years old when her father Dale left on a Cold War military mission from which he never returned. Dale’s work was classified, so Andrea never found out how he died. Andrea’s mother believed it was a government cover-up and convinced herself that Dale was still alive.