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Introducing ‘Firsts’: Stories that unite us in a divided world

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4 weeks ago

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Introducing ‘Firsts’: Stories that unite us in a divided world

We’re so divided, these days.

In politics.

In preferences.

In our sense of right and wrong.

But are we really that different?

Most of us have the same wants and needs, the same aspirations and motivations.

We seek love. We work to give our dearest ones the best we can. We try to make our parents proud. We try to protect our children and instill within them a sense of joy and worth so that one day they will be able to live and thrive on their own.  We endure losses. And whether through the natural process of aging or the emergency of an unexpected health crisis, we consider our legacies as we face our own mortality; and what we will leave behind for those we love.

Over the next many months, in an occasional series called “Firsts,” Free Press photographer Mandi Wright and I will tell the stories of people facing these universal truths, these rites of passage.

Today we tell the story of a man trying to repay his parents for their sacrifice by showing them what he can do on the football field. In the coming weeks, we will tell the story of a girl who, under unusual circumstances, receives her first bicycle. We will tell the story of a woman realizing for the first time that the only thing certain about life is death. We will tell stories about people victorious over challenges and how even with the best of intentions, sometimes things don’t work.

And maybe, rather than further dividing us, these stories will remind us that if we think beyond the distractions and all the noise, we really aren’t that different after all.

FIRSTS: For Detroit Lions draft pick, first preseason game was special for another reason

MORE FROM KOVANIS AND WRIGHT: Relapse. Overdose. Saving lives: How a Detroit addict and mom of 3 is finding her purpose

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