Heroes

No, not the show.

I am frequently perplexed by what our world defines as a hero. Or rather, what event must occur before someone is declared as such.

Webster defines a hero, among other attributes not listed here, as someone who is admired for his or her achievements and noble qualities, or one that shows great courage. I feel this leaves too much room for heroism, and at the same time doesn't begin to cover it completely.

We can start with my husband. My husband is a wonderful husband. He is a wonderful father. He is loving, kind, generous and forgiving. He is strong. He is faithful. He is honest. He is courteous. He tells me I am beautiful. He is everything I ever wanted in a partner. I have a happy marriage. By definition, he is a hero. And to be honest, I do consider him to be my hero. But really, he is doing what he should be doing. He is a good person, he is a good husband. Is this not what we should all aspire to be: good? Is it really heroic when someone is a good person, a good husband, a good father, when it should be average?

My husband is a police officer, so we can segway from there. I love those stories on the news about how the heroic police officer delivered a baby on the side of the road. Read that with just a hint of sarcasm. I do love happy birth stories, yet I bristle when I hear the word heroic. First, in my world birth is not necessarily an emergency, but that is another story. Delivering a baby is something these officers receive training for. And truthfully, they catch, warm and ensure babies are breathing, but the delivery credit goes to mom. The officer was in the right place, at the right time. Is this really heroic? No, it is their job. It is also their job to patrol the streets quietly, looking for crimes that may be taking place. It is their job to stop motorists who are driving under the influence, to stop people from hurting others, to help stranded motorists, I could go on. What I find to be heroic is the every day occurrences in their lives that get no recognition. I wonder if my life has ever been saved by an officer who got a drunk off the road, or one who jailed a violent offender who may have crossed my path the next day.

Another segway on that note. My own hero. He also happens to be a police officer. In his everyday acts of law enforcement, in the mundane un-heroic tasks of detective work, he became my hero for life. He took a phone call from a girl hundreds of miles away, who asked about a case that was also hundreds of miles away from him, and years before. He made the choice to care, to give time and attention to me. A simple act of heroism. It truly changed my life. You never know what one moment of compassion and giving will mean to someone. You never know when a moment like that will make you a hero. He never delivered a baby on the side of the road, but I know there are more like him; known to few, hero to one.

Soldiers. Drafted or volunteer. Heroes, the end. I admit, there are a few who are less than noble. But the vast majority, as with people in general, are good. Sadly, it seems they must be shown coming home, either to joyous loved ones or in a box, to be recognized. Do you know who their heroes are? The ones who send them cards and letters, soap and toothpaste, and who honor them every day. The people who thank them for what they do and have done, and mean it. Thousands of people do that everyday. Do we know their names? Were they on the news?

Champions. This one is tough. I have admiration for anyone who sets a huge goal for themselves and works tirelessly and with determination for years to reach it. I suppose Michael Phelps is a champion to many. To swimmers. To kids with ADHD who aspire to be more than adults with ADHD. But did he ask to be a hero, an icon, a role model? An "object of extreme admiration and devotion"? Probably not, I think he just wanted to swim and win. We made him a hero, and now he has to deal with the humiliation of toking up at a party. Is he still a hero to those same people? Is he now a hero to the 420 crowd?

I guess what I am getting to is that there are true heroes all around us. I like to think I take the time to see the hero in a lot of people. So while I am not downplaying the "heroic" acts of those glorified in the media, I am not so impressed by them.

It is not heroic to get up every day and do the job you have volunteered for and trained for. It is what is expected of us. My doctor once said "there is no glory in prevention". How true. It is so ironic that we have so many acts of heroism around us each day, yet so few are selected to be given the title. And yet again, so many.