https://padlet.com/stacy_l_chestnu/v7tf6qxupbrfxkry Tell a 100-word story from your family's history in the 3rd person that reflects a value (all stories do). en-us 2021-11-17 21:05:12 UTC 2026-03-23 02:26:49 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet.com/stacy_l_chestnu/v7tf6qxupbrfxkry/wish/1898276856 They just entered a new city that’s different than anywhere else lived in before. It’s not Sacramento, Seoul, or home in India; it was Wichita, Kansas. Right away they saw how Wichita was smaller and more desolate compared to the other cities they lived in. Pretty quickly though, their impression changed as they saw how cheaper apartment rent was here along with all the costs of living. Their negative initial impression was changed pretty quickly as they adapted and began to see the better sides of living in their new city which they called home for the next 16 years.

]]> 2021-11-18 01:00:46 UTC https://padlet.com/stacy_l_chestnu/v7tf6qxupbrfxkry/wish/1898276856 https://padlet.com/stacy_l_chestnu/v7tf6qxupbrfxkry/wish/1898277408 The country fell. The girls first heard the news in the marketplace. They surged out to the shore with hundreds of others. The sea filled with thousands of boats. There was chaos. They would have to jump. The boats rocked and swayed as they lept. People joustled one another and fell into the current. Possessions dropped. The girls and their mother held on tight to the five-year-old girl and twin infants latched to their backs. They were terrified of water and could not swim. But they had no choice. The only way to survive was to get on that ship. ]]> 2021-11-18 01:01:02 UTC https://padlet.com/stacy_l_chestnu/v7tf6qxupbrfxkry/wish/1898277408 https://padlet.com/stacy_l_chestnu/v7tf6qxupbrfxkry/wish/1898328106 People yell and shout. Soldiers are everywhere. Tanks and vehicles patrol the streets. Gunfire breaks out in the town. Buildings collapse. A grenade explodes. Planes fly over the sky, dropping bombs on innocent civilians. Mothers scream out to their children, children scream out to their mothers. There is barely any food to spare, barely any water to share. Death, destruction, ruin. Struggling to survive amidst the chaos, people want the anarchy to stop. Some mumble prayers under their breath, others run to no end. Everyone simply wants to escape, everyone looks for a way out.]]> 2021-11-18 01:26:56 UTC https://padlet.com/stacy_l_chestnu/v7tf6qxupbrfxkry/wish/1898328106 https://padlet.com/stacy_l_chestnu/v7tf6qxupbrfxkry/wish/1898395107 The faucet drips water into the dirty tub. The mother and her children squeeze into the tight space in the tub. Soldiers outside are speaking a language foreign to them. They’re kicking the dirt and clearing the area. They’re removing the bodies of villagers and threatening those still lingering. Silence pervades the tattered house and tears through the air. One wrong step or creak of the floorboards screams louder than a gunshot. The family holds their breath in fear of being caught. Unable to escape their reality, they hold onto the only things they have left – each other.

]]> 2021-11-18 02:01:16 UTC https://padlet.com/stacy_l_chestnu/v7tf6qxupbrfxkry/wish/1898395107 https://padlet.com/stacy_l_chestnu/v7tf6qxupbrfxkry/wish/1898562286 The sun had just broken the horizon over The Hill. The wheat in the fields glistened in the sun’s golden rays. The rain from the previous night had left the roads full of mud, and his truck was unable to free itself from the mud’s clutches. His tractor would quickly push the truck out of the mud, but that would delay his plans for harvest. His wheat fields covered the ashes of his homestead, hiding his history. The prairie’s ocean had swallowed his plane, ground him permanently. The morning wind hid the sound of a lone gunshot, isolating him forever.  ]]> 2021-11-18 03:25:14 UTC https://padlet.com/stacy_l_chestnu/v7tf6qxupbrfxkry/wish/1898562286 https://padlet.com/stacy_l_chestnu/v7tf6qxupbrfxkry/wish/1898593708 They were dancing. Celebrating. Music filled the air as students waltzed around. Rumors. Rumors invaded the jubilation. Authority will attack tomorrow. As night fell, those who chose to stay rooted in the square stood warily in guard of the statue that only began to stand tall a few days earlier. Chaos began to pervade throughout the city as the night sky was lit with flames from sudden fires. Pandemonium arose as students felt the makeshift walls around them closing in. Burned bicycles and buses scattered along the road. What was once a monument of liberty remained only dust. 

]]> 2021-11-18 03:43:14 UTC https://padlet.com/stacy_l_chestnu/v7tf6qxupbrfxkry/wish/1898593708 https://padlet.com/stacy_l_chestnu/v7tf6qxupbrfxkry/wish/1898645820 He lay there dying, a million miles away from home. He was in the middle of a field in France. Bodies litter the ground. He recognizes a few. He watches as the men from the medical corps go from body to body. He wants to yell, to let them know he was still out there, alive. He can't. He can't even move. He musters all his strength and lets out a miniscule,“Over here”. One turns. He signals to a man with a stretcher. They rush towards the dying man and pick him up. Salvation.]]> 2021-11-18 04:16:44 UTC https://padlet.com/stacy_l_chestnu/v7tf6qxupbrfxkry/wish/1898645820 https://padlet.com/stacy_l_chestnu/v7tf6qxupbrfxkry/wish/1898676679 He lay there trying not to move in fear. He could feel the sweltering heat of the New Mexico dessert against his raw skin. The sounds of trucks moving closer. Him, his coyote, and his brothers hold their breaths in silence in fear of getting caught. The bushes that they are pressed against only make the mosquitoes worse. They all feel exhaustion from trenching for miles. He wanted to get water from the officers but he knew he could not go back to Mexico. Even though it was tough, he had to hold his breath and pray that they would make it pass the checkpoints alive.]]> 2021-11-18 04:39:35 UTC https://padlet.com/stacy_l_chestnu/v7tf6qxupbrfxkry/wish/1898676679 https://padlet.com/stacy_l_chestnu/v7tf6qxupbrfxkry/wish/1898816821 The train is long. Siberian forests are tangled leaves. The Atlantic ocean surges. Snow hides the blood well. Another generation of immigrants. Have they not learned their lesson? No. The government said they must leave. They have no home and no God. For years they were obedient; They became chemists, physicists, and veterans, but the Government lacked care. Malevich's "Black Square" kept eating them alive. They preyed to a false God. In southside Chicago, they found community. Although bullets frequently visited, at least they found friends in the Windy City. ]]> 2021-11-18 06:40:14 UTC https://padlet.com/stacy_l_chestnu/v7tf6qxupbrfxkry/wish/1898816821 https://padlet.com/stacy_l_chestnu/v7tf6qxupbrfxkry/wish/1898848225 Nearing the crack of dawn laid the journey of crossing the Mekong River. From transportation in canoes to garbage bags, they were desperate to escape. Lives were risked amid the continuous gunshots. This was their only chance of escape, as either choice presented this situation of life or death.  In the slow takeover of the communists, fear consumed all. They just had to reach Thailand. The boy, along with his many other siblings, were finally safe. From the immigration camps, they were set to settle within the United States of America. All for the opportunity to have a better life. ]]> 2021-11-18 07:03:31 UTC https://padlet.com/stacy_l_chestnu/v7tf6qxupbrfxkry/wish/1898848225 https://padlet.com/stacy_l_chestnu/v7tf6qxupbrfxkry/wish/1899761809 This was new, but he'd seen these sights before. They were on the calendars back home, but those weren't real photos, right? There's no way that trees could be red or yellow, but, they were. Trees of every color, red, orange, yellow it was beautiful. But then it hit him. If these trees were real, then that meant that the rest of the photos were too. Suddenly Yellowstone wasn't some fantasy land, the Grand Canyon no longer a myth. The world transformed from a mundane background to a wonder to explore. And it was all thanks to the red leaves.]]> 2021-11-18 15:02:39 UTC https://padlet.com/stacy_l_chestnu/v7tf6qxupbrfxkry/wish/1899761809 https://padlet.com/stacy_l_chestnu/v7tf6qxupbrfxkry/wish/1899905835 The open market overflows with people. Fish pile into watery plastic tubs next to fruit pyramids. Vendors squat over wilted vegetables, bundled in twine and laid out on cardboard mats. People are always scrambling for the freshest piece, but not without haggling for a lower price. Mom isn’t here to shop with you. She’s running a stall of her own. Her monthly earnings were enough to give you a few bills of extra cash this time. Even if the flat smells of fish and is the size of three stalls put together, your family will be happy to eat well for once.  

]]> 2021-11-18 15:54:24 UTC https://padlet.com/stacy_l_chestnu/v7tf6qxupbrfxkry/wish/1899905835 https://padlet.com/stacy_l_chestnu/v7tf6qxupbrfxkry/wish/1899907327 They were escaping, Running from the Libyan anarchist regime. Fleeing from the Israeli colonization in Palestine and destruction of homes. Escaping the economic disaster of Jordan. Through the dark, the opportunity arose. What a feeling it must have been, stepping on that plane. 27 hours away was the land they yearned for. Huddled up close to one another, they entered the land. Ecstatically, they searched for opportunities in the land of the free. However, the more they searched, the less optimistic they got. At last, they found what they were missing. Peace and Freedom, they did not have to run anymore. Or at least they thought...


]]> 2021-11-18 15:54:55 UTC https://padlet.com/stacy_l_chestnu/v7tf6qxupbrfxkry/wish/1899907327 https://padlet.com/stacy_l_chestnu/v7tf6qxupbrfxkry/wish/1900147987 It was all gone. His home, his parents, his education, his way of life. All he had left was his younger sister. Everything changed when India invaded. Who could he trust? Everyone he knew hid when the new government took over. He had nowhere to go but everything to do. Could he take care of his sister? When would his next meal come? He found his next meal, in prison for a crime he didn’t even commit. Who would look after his sister? He had to. He had to find a way out. He had to find a way to start over.

]]> 2021-11-18 17:30:28 UTC https://padlet.com/stacy_l_chestnu/v7tf6qxupbrfxkry/wish/1900147987 https://padlet.com/stacy_l_chestnu/v7tf6qxupbrfxkry/wish/1900171951 To the train they went. Just the night before, this wasn’t reality. The woman’s mother even questioned whether the risk was worth it. The woman and her husband were sure, though, because they valued seizing opportunities for better lives as they arose. Rising from their seats on the plane, they glanced around Colorado. Mountains upon mountains. Cold upon cold. Ah, yes, a resemblance of Russia. One thing was different, though… the drop to the bottom. Re-learning to read, write, and communicate… while caring for a toddler. Adaptations are never simple in the present, but come with the reward of knowing one has taken an opportunity for a better future.]]> 2021-11-18 17:40:51 UTC https://padlet.com/stacy_l_chestnu/v7tf6qxupbrfxkry/wish/1900171951 https://padlet.com/stacy_l_chestnu/v7tf6qxupbrfxkry/wish/1900173736 Ken, a farmhand, had just finished a long day of work loading a truck with his partner Al. Al was driving the semi-truck to its far-away destination. Ken, in the passenger seat, wakes up a couple hours into the drive, in the pitch-dark. He notices that Al, too, has dozed off, as he would say. Ken calmly places his hand on the wheel to make sure they don’t drive off the highway. A few minutes later, Al wakes up, and says, “you want to drive?”. Ken says, good-naturedly, “well one of us ought to.” As long as a couple cowboys stick together, they’ll be alright.]]> 2021-11-18 17:41:38 UTC https://padlet.com/stacy_l_chestnu/v7tf6qxupbrfxkry/wish/1900173736 https://padlet.com/stacy_l_chestnu/v7tf6qxupbrfxkry/wish/1900196168 She had to stay awake to make sure he was okay, but sleep got the best of her. While sleeping she began to get restless and immediately woke up, just in time to save him. He was seconds away from falling from the bed onto the hard concrete floor. He lives yet another day, but she does not know for how much longer. The doctor said that he'd die 6 years ago, but he's still here. She leaves the house and hears whispers on the street. They are judging him because he's different, but to her he's perfect. Eventually, he would pass away, but everyday his picture reminds her of the family she was blessed with.

]]> 2021-11-18 17:51:05 UTC https://padlet.com/stacy_l_chestnu/v7tf6qxupbrfxkry/wish/1900196168 https://padlet.com/stacy_l_chestnu/v7tf6qxupbrfxkry/wish/1900245412 He was finally able to cover the cost of bringing them across the border, his wife and child, age 3. They travelled from Zacatecas to the edge of Mexico, walking on foot. The man that was leading their way to the border told them to take a break. They were dehydrated, their feet were aching, their clothes were full of dirt. The wife almost fainted, but she stayed put for her child. Finally, they travelled across and saw open streets, restaurants, and many new buildings. He was waiting for her in this new country that would become their new home.]]> 2021-11-18 18:13:04 UTC https://padlet.com/stacy_l_chestnu/v7tf6qxupbrfxkry/wish/1900245412 https://padlet.com/stacy_l_chestnu/v7tf6qxupbrfxkry/wish/1900248620 Scampering between eggs as large as themselves, the children seemed unafraid of the towering creature behind them. “Say cheese!” Another memory for the road trip of a lifetime. Dragging the children away from the dinosaur museum, the tired parents ushered everyone into the vehicle. They still had 700 miles to go. To the children it was one giant adventure, but to the parents it was a leap of faith that would permanently alter the course of their lives. Without a familiar face to greet them at their destination, they could only hope that Wichita would welcome them with open arms.]]> 2021-11-18 18:14:41 UTC https://padlet.com/stacy_l_chestnu/v7tf6qxupbrfxkry/wish/1900248620 https://padlet.com/stacy_l_chestnu/v7tf6qxupbrfxkry/wish/1900250416 Though her answer was funny, at times the repetition got frustrating. Feeling sick? "Sit down to eat." Bug bite? "Some food will help the pain." Even the allergies that accompanied monsoon season got a firm (but always loving), "Eat something!" With time it became clearer why each problem he had was met by the same motherly panacea; While she often gave up her share so that the kids could eat, giving food was one of the only ways for Mom to make sure the kids were healthy and happy. Perhaps this explained his wide grin when his daughter arrived home complaining of a bruise as he answered, "Join me at the table to have something to eat."]]> 2021-11-18 18:15:35 UTC https://padlet.com/stacy_l_chestnu/v7tf6qxupbrfxkry/wish/1900250416 https://padlet.com/stacy_l_chestnu/v7tf6qxupbrfxkry/wish/1900271998 Hate blurred her vision. She turned her back and marched towards her daughters. She hears pounding footsteps follow. She looks back to see that her mother grabbed a tabo. Enraged, her mother swung the tabo in a violent arc and slammed it across her skull. Her head rings. Her husband yells and reaches out, but her sister runs from the dining table to claw her nails through his back. Her mother yanks her hair. She screams. Where is it? The money I've been sending back.  She dig her nails into her wrists. How will I get my family overseas now? You’ve all squandered it. ]]> 2021-11-18 18:25:55 UTC https://padlet.com/stacy_l_chestnu/v7tf6qxupbrfxkry/wish/1900271998 https://padlet.com/stacy_l_chestnu/v7tf6qxupbrfxkry/wish/1900281563 She knew that the love she had for Zahid would frighten many people, but she didn't care. They were young dumb, and free, and they didn't care WHO knew. When they first met, he was new to the story of America, and she just wanted gas. As she slid her money across the counter, she noticed something. His face had bumps that she had felt were somewhat intriguing. She lifted her hands, as if a natural instinct had taken over her; a spirit of love and curiosity. He flinched when he had realized her hands were seconds away from touching his face. He didn't know why he didn't move, but he realized that something inside his heart had crept back up to the top. From his vast voyages of oppression for simply being him, he felt loved, and finally wanted.]]> 2021-11-18 18:30:28 UTC https://padlet.com/stacy_l_chestnu/v7tf6qxupbrfxkry/wish/1900281563 https://padlet.com/stacy_l_chestnu/v7tf6qxupbrfxkry/wish/1900291823 The men in white coats spoke a completely different language. She was confused and lost in the chaos around her. She knew they were there for her but she didn't know what they were doing. They ran tests and did checks on her but she didn't know why. She had no choice but to let them because they knew what was best. Finally, 28 hours later, she had her child. She waited for them to hand her the child but instead they took her away. In her hometown they would never take the child away. Since she did not know the language she was unable to understand what, if anything, was wrong with her child. She assumed she was dying.]]> 2021-11-18 18:35:12 UTC https://padlet.com/stacy_l_chestnu/v7tf6qxupbrfxkry/wish/1900291823 https://padlet.com/stacy_l_chestnu/v7tf6qxupbrfxkry/wish/1900545174 There was a light drizzle of rain as they walked through the forest. Heavy silence shrouded the group. Some maintained a blank gaze while others shed a few tears. Having arrived, one by one each person shuffled towards the man's grave and said their goodbyes. The sound of rain and shuffling leaves serenade their walk back to their cars where the rain stops and chatter takes over. Scattered chuckles and smiles emerge. They know that they will overcome this loss together.]]> 2021-11-18 20:50:57 UTC https://padlet.com/stacy_l_chestnu/v7tf6qxupbrfxkry/wish/1900545174 https://padlet.com/stacy_l_chestnu/v7tf6qxupbrfxkry/wish/1900822701 He traveled across the world to create a future for himself and for the family he loved. He worked through the hard days of school working jobs to attain financial stability. After a great amount of hard work and determination he built a life where he could move to the next chapter in his life. He married a woman he loved and they worked together to build their own little empire. The numerous adventures, their first house, and three beautiful children. To get to this point he and his wife worked hard and honestly and taught their children the importance of honesty in all they do and creating a pillar in their life. Through many struggles and efforts they were able to build a family where they lived what they taught. Building a life with having faith, working honestly, and being kind.]]> 2021-11-19 00:31:35 UTC https://padlet.com/stacy_l_chestnu/v7tf6qxupbrfxkry/wish/1900822701 https://padlet.com/stacy_l_chestnu/v7tf6qxupbrfxkry/wish/1906350491 There is a belief within the household that your own experiences should shape your beliefs and values and they can change over time if you believe that they should. This all started with Richard deciding to reject his families beliefs. He did so by going to college and getting a degree and eventually becoming an attorney and by far the most successful out of the four children. Megumi on the other hand always had clashes with her mother which led to her rejections of her family values and beliefs. This also is a product of her mom being crazy. For this reason both of them came together to form a conclusion that its best to choose your own path. Since they have the belief that their son is smart enough to do so they hold that paradigm and it is something that this household lives by.]]> 2021-11-22 15:15:22 UTC https://padlet.com/stacy_l_chestnu/v7tf6qxupbrfxkry/wish/1906350491