Courage

What is your definition of courage? Mine is doing something that needs to be done in the face of adversity with or without the guarantee that the end result will be positive. Courage breeds heroes. And who are your heroes? Is it the football player that wins the Heisman Trophy as a freshman? Is it the movie star who makes millions of dollars for every picture he/she makes? Is it the politician that takes our nation by storm? We all have our heroes and they inspire us to never give up.

My dad is one of my heroes. He was critically injured in a car crash just before I turned 3 years old. He was left a paraplegic. Instead of feeling sorry for himself, he pulled himself up and made a life for himself, my mom and me. My mom is one of my heroes. She stood by my dad and did what needed to be done for him until his death just over 2 years ago.

My biological sister, Denise, is one of my heroes. We didn't grow up together but when I found Denise she was completing 27 years of service in the USAF. That alone qualifies her as a hero in my book but there is more............ Denise was a medivac air crew member for the first 8 years of her service to our country. During that time, she flew around the world providing medical assistance to our service men and women and their families. During the evacuation of Saigon she flew on planes that airlifted people out of that soon to fall city. She tells a story of running down the tarmac to complete the pre-flight preparations while artillery shells from the NVA were falling on the other end of the runway. She was frightened out of her mind but did her job anyway. That's heroism.

My friend, Kathy is a hero. She raised a son with a heart defect to believe he could do anything he chose. And he did. He became a husband, a father, and a teacher. He lost his fight over the weekend but in doing so, he inspired many people and made them realize that life is worth fighting for. He's a hero, too.

My greatest hero is Jesus Christ. He chose to give his life on a cruel cross for not only his followers of the time but for those of us yet to come.

Choose your heroes. Be a hero. Inspire your children to become heroes, too.