About Guts
After Ginger celebrated New Year’s Eve, I told her another nighttime story about a famous person. I did the same thing on Christmas Eve by reading The Story of the Other Wise Man by Henry van Dyke. Interestingly, there is a similarity in both stories. The central character on Christmas Eve was Artaban, while the other’s name was Maxime.
I tried explaining where Maxime was born to Ginger by saying he was born in France. Ginger knows that Artaban was from Persia. I must show her some time where France is located on a map.
Maxime was a dreamer like Artaban. He had a litany of goals he wanted to achieve by the time he reached twenty-three. Ginger responded to my comment. She asked, “What’s with twenty-three?” I told her that Maxime had a mentor, Alexander the Great. He became the King of Persia when he was that age.
I went on about Maxime and his goals. It seemed like everything that he wanted to turn to gold failed. This is a photo taken of Maxime when he was twenty-three. He seemed dejected, having tried various goals.
![Maxime](../articles/images/this-is-a-true-story/maxime-1.jpg)
By this time, Ginger was into the story of Maxime. I continued to enumerate his quests, which didn’t result in the way that he had intended. Instead of merely telling Ginger more details, I asked Ginger what she would have been Maxime.
Ginger pondered for a moment and finally said that he should follow in the footsteps of Artaban. Giving up, Ginger thought, wasn’t a good idea.
I concurred with Ginger’s suggestion. And then added an interesting point. His mother chose the name of her baby. Maxime is a French name that comes from Latin, which means greatness. During trying times, Maxime remembers what his mother named him.
Since he was twenty-three, Maxime pushed himself to accomplish many goals. He accomplished biking up a part of a French mountain range. Ginger was fascinated by Maxime’s accomplishment.
![Maxime](../articles/images/this-is-a-true-story/maxime-2.jpg)
After a moment, Ginger inquired where Maxime had biked up the mountain. I told Ginger that I didn’t know for sure. The mountain was around the city of Grenoble. It might have been Chamechaude, which is about fifteen miles north of Grenoble.
![This is Chamechaude.](../articles/images/this-is-a-true-story/chamechaude.jpg)
To end my story about Maxime’s journey down his yellow brick road, I asked Ginger about her takeaway. It didn’t take Ginger a nanosecond and replied, “Pick a mentor, and never quit trying.”