A Hero in My Eyes

I was at a City Council meeting in December and the city gave commendations to citizens who had pulled a victim from a hotel hot tub and administered CPR until the medics arrived. They were unable to revive the victim, and a commendation was also given to the minister who drove the man's wife and family across the state and back to their home.

Those are definitely kind and thoughtful actions. But in my eyes, they're not the actions of a true hero.

A true hero is the person with the guts to walk up to a stranger in a hot tub and say, "Excuse me, sir? You're not looking so good. You need to get out of there NOW."

My hero is the cranky neighbor lady who's always watching the street and yelling at the kids who play there. Thanks to her, I'll never have to administer CPR to a child who's been run down in front of my house.

My husband was at a bank one time when it was robbed. He was standing in the corner of an office and he slowly stepped behind the door. He didn't want to risk moving into the doorway and startling the robber. If the robber were to walk into the room and threaten the people inside, however, my husband was in a strategic position.

The robber didn't walk into the room and afterwards my husband joked about how he had "hid" during the big robbery. Needless to say, he didn't get any special commendations for bravery.

Our greatest heroes aren't the ones who get medals and commendations, though. Instead they're frequently described with words like loudmouth, spoilsport, and busybody.

I'd like to think that their heroic traits are recognized by those around them. These are the people we turn to when we need a trusted confidente to tell us what is right and what is wrong in our lives. They're opinionated, and they speak the unvarnished truth plainly and straight up.

I tip my hat to all the unsung heroes out there with the courage to step in and avert the small, daily crises that generate the city commendations. You have my gratitude.