Let's remember some of the good stories today

With apologies to Paul Harvey: You know what the bad news is; today let's celebrate the rest of the story of who we are.

For we are not ISIS, and we are not Boko Haram, and we are not Charles Joseph Gliniewicz and we are not Kim Jong-Un. We are not rude Facebook amateur political commentators or outraged anti-everything reactionaries. All these and more are elements of our world to be dealt with, to be sure, but it is not they that define us. It is not they that have helped to carry us to advances in science, education, health, comfort and quality of life that previous generations barely dared dream of,

No, those folks, those stories, are the ones that appear routinely but somehow get nudged aside in our consciousness when we reflect on the state of our species and our society. So, today, as we do every Thanksgiving in this column, let's remember just a handful of the wonderful, meaningful, uplifting suburban stories in the news merely from the past week to emphasize how much we have to be thankful for every day of the year.

Let's remember Dream Aaron, the Conant High School senior from Hoffman Estates who overcame occasional periods of homelessness and unimaginable family hardships and now finds herself on track to turn a full-ride softball scholarship into a degree and a career in engineering.

Let's remember the Northwest Suburban Interfaith Council and the 1,000 suburban residents who came together at Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire last Sunday to provide, in the words of council president Joanne Dicker, "a wonderful testament of people working together and wanting to share good fortune."

Let's remember Aurora 10-year-olds Jensie Coonradt and Kalya Hollister, whose engineering passion and prowess have propelled them to a national championship and worldwide competition in robot building.

Let's remember Simon Mo and Matt Gryzlo, seniors at St. Viator Catholic High School in Arlington Heights, who launched a campaign to raise funds for Syrian refugees settling in the Chicago area.

Let's remember Judson University students Ethan Adams and Zachary Conover who, as part of a competition sponsored by the Elgin college, developed an app that gives small retailers the ability to manage their inventories as efficiently as large businesses do.

Let's of course remember Polly Andrews and Bob Lee and Dana Davenport and Liz Eakins, the four suburban residents profiled in today's Neighbor sections for the varied services they volunteer for their communities, and let's remember the thousands of everyday suburban residents who won't even make news as they give blood, volunteer at homeless shelters, donate to food banks and help in countless ways at their churches, temples, synagogues and community centers this holiday season.

It is a telling irony that the notion of Thanksgiving in America was born of hardship among the nation's first settlers and the national observance was established in the midst of the Civil War, our nation's most wrenching crisis. Sadly, our lives are often beset with troubles and fears. But thankfully, we are also blessed with neighbors, colleagues, friends and families who give selflessly of themselves and their skills to help make everyone's life richer. We will always have to deal with the myriad and diverse hardships of life. Let's always remember those who make news, if not noise, by helping in myriad and diverse ways to do it successfully.

Jim Slusher, jslusher@dailyherald.com, is assistant managing editor for opinion at the Daily Herald. Follow him on Facebook at facebook.com/jim.slusher1 and on Twitter at @JimSlusher.