Today, I will be discussing how you can persevere and have hope in the midst of adversity. I have chosen the market basket issue, my story and a story of Austin Hatch to show you that even in adversity, you can have positive outcomes.
The Market Basket issue has been a hot topic in the news. The Market Basket began as a mom and pop store in Lowell, Massachusetts, owned by two Greek immigrants Arthur and Effosini Demoulas. According to Wikipedia, the couple sold the store to two of their sons, George and Mike Demoulas. Each brother had promised to take care of the other side of the family in case of death. By 1969, the brothers had transformed the store to a chain of stores with locations in Maine, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. In 1971, George died, leaving Mike, the sole head of the chain of stores. In 1990, families of George Demoulas filed a lawsuit claiming that Mike had defrauded them of everything except for 8% of the family’s fortune. A judge ruled in 1994, that Mike had defrauded George’s family of 500 million and the result was that 51% of the stock was transferred to George’s son Arthur S. Demoulas and their families. In 2003, Mike died. In 2008, Mike’s son Arthur T Demoulas was elected President of the company.
The feud continued as the Board of directors fired Arthur T. Demoulas in June, 2014. According to the Boston Globe article by Robert Reich, dated August 24th, Arthur T. Demoulas had rolled out 4% discount on all customer goods at the beginning of 2014. The board of directors was dissatisfied with that and other actions, wanting instead, to maximize shareholders’ profits. Arthur T was respectful and loyal to his employees and in turn earned the employees’ trust. Following the President’s firing, essential management staff resigned and workers from various sites, backed by customers began a long road of solidarity striking against the company and its board of directors.
What is impressive is that the employees made a firm decision to strike, remained persistent and resilient in the face of adversity-risking paychecks, risking their jobs, risking losing the battle they were fighting, and risking their own financial betterment for the sake of having ousted president, Arthur T. Demoulas, reinstated as CEO.The July 22nd edition of the Washington Post showed that employees had signs showing what Arthur T. Demoulas was all about: “He cares more about people than he does about money.” The employees, the customers, and the community at large won the battle on August 28, 2014, as the board finally agreed to receive Arthur T Demoulas’ 1.5 billion bid to buy out the company.
Let me tell you my story. In June of 1996, six months after landing an auditing job with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, my little girl Jo-An, then thirteen years old, was diagnosed with mental illness. Our lives changed drastically. From 1996 to 2000, Jo-an was in and out of the hospital and my husband Carl and I were constantly involved in meetings with medical staff. Doctors at one local hospital over-medicated our daughter and she was unable to eat solid foods. That period was very difficult for us parents. They told us that she would never read or write. In addition, they refused to discharge her, stating that they were admitting her to a state mental institution. We made a firm decision and transferred Jo-An to another hospital where we continued advocating for her right to be discharged. They finally discharged her. After four and a half years, I took a leave of absence from my job, returned part-time, and finally left my job to deal with all the issues and focus on our daughter’s care. With nutrition and care, our daughter regained her ability to read and write. At 18, I became her legal guardian and continue to advocate for her. She lives at home with my husband and me and attends a day program. Life has never been the same, but I thank God that He has given us the strength to deal with so many life-issues. In the midst of fear and adversity, we made decisions, persevered and achieved our daughter’s release from every hospital. Today, she has made considerable progress.
I want to share another story. On August 22, 2014, Maria Shriver from NBC Today show, interviewed Austin Hatch, a high school student from Indiana, who survived two plane crashes. When Austin was eight years old, his father was flying his private plane when it crashed upon landing. His mother and two siblings died in the crash and Austin and his father survived. Eight years later, His step-mother and his father died in a second plane crash leaving Austin the sole survivor. How would you feel, if your entire immediate family had passed away? Austin had brain injury and was in a coma fighting for his life. After regaining his health, he moved to California to live with extended family. Maria asked him: “Have you ever thought of saying,’Why me’?” He replied, “ No, it really comes down to character, just being able to persevere in the midst of tragedy, in the midst of adversity.” Austin Hatch won a four year scholarship to the University of Michigan and played his first pre-season Basket Ball game one week ago. Austin made a firm decision to persevere in the midst of tragedy and adversity.
Think for a moment about one major challenge that you are facing? Your challenge may be different from that of the employees of Market basket, Austin Hatch or myself. You may be dealing with a relationship issue, sickness in your family, financial or other life-issue. How have you dealt with this challenge? Have you made a decision, acted upon it with the hope that you would realize a viable solution to your problem or did you give up? If you give up, you will not know how successful you could be. I urge you, regardless of your challenge, to believe in yourselves, make firm decisions, and persevere in the face of adversity. Adversity breaks you, heals you and creates a new person within you.
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