I read a story about ordinary heroes today. These are people just like us that are unexpectedly thrust into extraordinary situations. It centered around two men, Captain Richard Phillips and Captain C.B. “Sully” Sullenberger.
You will remember Phillips was the captain of the ship that was hijacked by pirates off the coast of Somalia. He ended up exchanging himself for the lives of his crew and was later rescued by the US Navy. And Sullenberger was the pilot that ditched his plane into the Hudson River saving the lives of 155 people.
When asked about their heroism, Sullenberger’s response: “We were only doing our jobs”; Phillips prefers to talk about his real heroes, the Navy Seals that rescued him.
To me this is one of the marks of a true hero, self-effacing people who would rather get on with their jobs than receive praise and glory for their acts of heroism.
Captains Phillips and Sullenberger are true icons and men we can learn from and they highlight the fact that there are true every day heroes among us, people that are just like us, people that we meet every day.
Parents and caregivers of adults and children that have physical and/or mental disabilities are heroes. These men and women continue to do what they need to to meet the needs of their loved ones. The mother who fights to make sure her daughter gets the proper services from schools, hospitals, and communities that she deserves. The father who makes the hard decision to admit his out of control son to a hospital then stays through the night to make sure his boy is taken care of. The woman who spends most of her free time caring for a neighbor who is incapable of caring for himself as a result of brain cancer.
And don’t forget the disabled. They push passed their disabilities every day to make a good life for themselves and for others. There is the woman, crippled by multiple sclerosis, who continues to develop websites for organizations devoted to helping the sick and needy. And there are the children who struggle to be like so called “normal” kids by taking their medications and going to school all the while knowing they aren’t “normal”.
My son is one of my heroes. He is 8 years old and has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, adhd, odd, ocd, pdd/nos, and he is very explosive. He hates that he is this way and he continues to look for ways to stop being so angry. But through it all he tries to find humor in life and help other people.
Last week Max was finishing up breakfast when he suddenly jumped up and yelled “the van is here, I’m not dressed yet!” and ran out of the room. My wife and I looked at each other in surprise even as we heard the beep, beep, beep sound the van makes when it is backing into our driveway. How did we get so late this morning? As we ran to the door it dawned on us at about the same time…why would the van be here today, this is vacation week?
We looked out the window and, of course, there was no van in the driveway, a truck was backing up down the street. Max was in the living room stifling laughter. He had gotten us!!
Last night Max and I went to his club meeting. During game time the kids were broken up into teams for competition. Max and his buddy huddled up to plan strategy. I called across the room to remind the both of them that they had another teammate. Both looked around and saw Albert standing in a corner. I don’t know his condition but he appears to be autistic. I have seen him at meetings but he never joins in preferring to stay at his mother’s side.
Max and Mikey went right over to him, took his hands and brought him back to huddle with them. All bent with their heads together. While Mikey’s and Max’s hands were on each of their shoulders, Albert’s hands hung limply by his hands. At the same moment both Max and Mikey reached down, took his hands and placed them on their shoulders. Then they made their plans.
When the game started Albert actually joined in for the first time. He grabbed some packages, ran down to the other side of the room, dropped them in the correct pile, ran back to the beginning and waited for the others to finish. Tonight he was a teammate, not the kid that hangs around Mom. Even Mom was happy.
All three boys came through in the clutch, I didn’t need to pressure them into doing what they did, they did it instinctively.
Phillips and Sullenberger will continue to be my heroes but so will others.
Max and Mikey are also my heroes.
Who are yours?
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