Some people bring out the best in you in a way that you might never have fully realized on
your own. My mom was one of those people.
My father died when I was nine months old, making my mom a single mother at the age of
eighteen. While I was growing up, we lived a very hard life. We had little money, but my mom
gave me a lot of love. Each night, she sat me on her lap and spoke the words that would change
my life, “Kemmons, you are certain to be a great man and you can do anything in life if you work
hard enough to get it.
At fourteen, I was hit by a car and doctors said I would never walk again. Every day, my
mother spoke to me in her gentle, loving voice, telling me that no matter what those doctors said, I
could walk again if I wanted to badly enough. She drove that message so deep into my heart that I
finally believed her. A year later, I returned to school—walking on my own!
When the Great Depression(大萧条) hit, my mom lost her job. Then I left school to support
the both of us. At that moment, I was determined never to be poor again.
Over the years, I experienced various levels of business success. But the real turning point
occurred on a vacation I took with my wife and five kids in 1951. I was dissatisfied with the
second-class hotels available for families and was angry with they charged an extra $2 for each
child. That was too expensive for the average American family. I told my wife that I was going to
open a motel(汽车旅馆) for families that would never charge extra for children. There were plenty
of doubters at that time.
Not surprisingly, mom was one of my strongest supporters. She worked behind the desk and
even designed the room style. As in any business, we experienced a lot of challenges. But with my
mother’s words deeply rooted in my soul, I never doubted we would succeed. Fifteen years later,
we had the largest hotel system in the world—Holiday Inn. In 1979 my company had 1,759 inns
in more than fifty countries with an income of $1 billion a year.
You may not have started out life in the best situations. But if you can find a task in life worth
working for and believe in yourself, nothing can stop you. 【題組】72. According to the author, who played the most important role in making him walk back to school again?
(A) Doctors. (B) Nurses. (C) Friends. (D) Mom.
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