As usual, I can't choose just 1:
1. Miracle in the Andes: After 72 harrowing days of starvation in the Andes Mountains, after a plane crash, and being forced to eat the dead bodies of the accident victims, 2 of the men set out, on foot, with no maps, to find help for the handful of other survivors trapped in the mountains. On the12/22/72, they found civilization...and the next day, the other 14 survivors started to be rescued by helicopter. The world thought they had died weeks before, and had called off the search. Alive is my favorite book (I kinda skip through the cannibalism parts; and I think it's a shame that this story is mostly remembered for the cannibalism). I think it's the most amazing story of the will to survive. Here's a great link to the story:
http://www.viven.com.uy/571/eng/accidente.asp
2. The Christmas in Laura Ingalls Wilder's The Long Winter (my second favorite book; she actually wanted to entitle it "The Hard Winter", but the publishers thought that sounded too grim for a kids' book). They had blizzards from October until May. The town was very, very close to starvation, as the trains from back East could not get through to bring supplies. While you're enjoying your Christmas dinner tomorrow, ponder what the Ingalls family ate: coarse, brown bread, that they had to grind seed wheat for (in a manual coffee mill) and potatoes. I think Ma produced a bit of dried codfish, and made a thin, watery gravy; and hot tea. They had no money for gifts, but May and Laura managed to gift items they had made for themselves to use. Despite this, I believe that Laura probably thought the was the best Christmas she ever had.
What's your favorite true Christmas miracle story? Please share!
x
