Famous and not so famous people that inspire you/stories that motivate you

Candie wrote: »

My granny isn't famous but she's been through what the Chinese call 'interesting times'. She's lived through heartbreak and hardship, as well as good times, with wisdom and humour and the kind of grace I'll never have. She has an innate intelligence that still sparkles when she talks about something she's interested in, and she really is my inspirational hero.

I just talked to her on the phone so apologies for the gushiness but I really do love my gran

I'm going to steal your post slightly and talk about my Grandmother a little, who sadly died a few years ago when I was much younger and not old enough to truly recognize how amazing she was.

Where to begin?

When she was a young child, maybe 5 or slightly older, her parents were giving accommodation and safe haven to a man that was on the run from the Black and Tans. At that point, had they been caught, God only knows what would have happened to her and her family.
The story goes that one day her parents were at a fair in the local town, with the man looking after my granny. Seemingly he got wind that the Black 'n' Tans were on their way to the fair, where he knew they would find some people who were wanted. My granny remembered vividly that the man got her, slung her over his shoulder as he ran to warn them about what was happening. I'm not sure how many people were saved because of this.

When she was doing her Leaving Certificate (or whatever the equivalent was back then), she scored so high in her French that she was sent to France to meet the then-President, who gave her an autographed book for her to take home. One of my aunts or uncles has that book now somewhere, but I'm not sure.

Scrabble was one of her favourite games, which she played in a highly unusual way; she would play a two person game by herself, one set of tiles for each hand. If it were the end of the Left Hand's turn, she would take out the tiles and not look at them until it was that hand's turn again. She always wrote down which hand won on each occasion in a log book, which should surely make for an interesting read.

She was incredible at making things and I have no idea how many Christmas Stockings, board games, bags, and teddies we still have to this day and are still in amazing condition.

She was probably one of the most accommodating, lovely, understanding, and intelligent people I have ever met. Any time anyone had exams, she would go to Mass and pray to St. Jude; the Patron Saint of Lost Causes - just to show her wicked sense of humour. Sometimes I'm sad that she never lived to see the Internet come to it's fruition, as she died in the early to late 90s, but with her thirst for knowledge, I know she would have absolutely loved something as simple as Wikipedia, or a smart phone.

There's probably many more stories that I just cannot remember.

Apologies for gushing.