heroes 101

"Heroes didn't leap tall buildings or stop bullets with an outstretched hand; they didn't wear boots and capes. They bled, and they bruised, and their superpowers were as simple as listening, or loving. Heroes were ordinary people who knew that even if their own lives were impossibly knotted, they could untangle someone else's. And maybe that one act could lead someone to rescue you right back."
— Jodi Picoult (Second Glance)

Is there a class that teaches the art of heroism? I wish there was some kind of a manual. If she starts crying hold her and let her cry. When it gets to this point let go, it's no use, she won't listen. It probably would be one long long manual, there are as many ways of dealing with conflict as there are people. But I seem to think Jodi captured the entire syllabus right here. I tell my folks they are my hero one at a time, usually depending on who has what I want at the time :) I tell my brother he's my hero, as well as a select few of my friends see criteria above :) Of course the parents caught on soon enough and the brother never believed it, sadly.
I'll admit, I'm a little liberal with my use of the word. A hero for me is not some political figure with a great philosophy he lives by. It is not Mahatma or Mandela or Condoleeza Rice why would I pick her? They are great, but not to me. I've got this friend of mine who's been there since primary school. In this country those are usually hard to find, because probably by the time you're through with high school you may have lived in five different towns. And Facebook only just happened. Keeping in touch was next to impossible. But many years later, here we are. For me, there's a hero, and at my wedding, God allowing it, when i ask her to stand beside me it will be with pride, and honour.
My parents are my heroes. They tell me how far they have come, and I look with wonder. Last year I had a job over my long vacation, when I got paid, I thought whoa, what a sum!! Two days later I couldn't see where it all went, and not that I squandered it. Just for never having slept hungry a day in my life, never having missed school and never having been abandoned, they deserve to be lauded. my brother too, in his own way. I don't know why, but even though he's a bit introverted and not at all like me, he's a man I admire. He always does the right thing, and he stands by what he believes in this is sometimes not something i appreciate, i try though.! ;) My friends are my heroes, special attention to the pre-technology ones. Sticking by someone takes guts, even just a friend. Listening, loving, praying, travelling long journeys, sacrificing time,bringing humour to humourless situations. I could not ask for better friends that these.
I thank my God upon every remembrance of them, those men and women who, in ways big and small, have made me what I am. My heroes.