Hero

I have been thinking about hero's lately. Or at least the people who make a difference. Maybe it has something to do with Micheal Jackson dying and all of the comments and jokes that came after it. My own sister (who is usually the soul of compassion) says "What's the big deal? I'm sure that he did a lot for music and all but someone else would have done it eventually. He was a creep."

Ok, sis. But here is what I have to say about that....

She is right. Someone else might have done it. But Michael Jackson did. Not condoning whatever else went on in his personal or public life...but he did change the sound and face of music. So, yup, someone else could have done it. But he did.

Someone else could have been the one, eventually, to refuse to move to the back of the bus. But Rosa Parks DID it.

The men who signed the Declaration of Independence could have waited longer ...after all, they were committing an act of treason just looking at the thing. Even thinking about independence from English rule was treason. But these men sat in a closed up nasty smelling building. (They couldn't have the windows open because if anyone heard what they were doing they could have been hung) They debated. They argued. They tried to put the people's interest against their own self's. And, then, they signed their own death warrants buy signing the Declaration of Independence. They knew if the colonies lost the war they would be hunted men. But they did it anyway. They didn't pass it on to the next generation to do the dirty work. July 1, 1776 is the day that the first vote was taken on the Declaration of Independence.

It's easy to talk about being a hero. Standing up for what's right or good. But the ones that back up that talk with actions are the ones that are truly the hero's. Even us single parents are hero's in a way. We decided to give the best of ourselves to our children. Even at a huge cost to our lives, we have taken the steps to teach or children that it is okay to be the person that will stand up and say this is not right and I will not live my life like this.

It's a hard thing to do the right thing. It's really hard to make a life altering change. Hard to walk away from a man/woman you once loved because it just isn't right anymore. Hard to refuse to move in the face of prejudice. Hard to sign your own death warrant. Hard to be the person that history remembers and school children talk about for hundreds of years to come. Hard to be the single parent who is struggling because they want only the best for their children.

I would rather be the person doing the right thing for the right reasons and be alone than the person doing the wrong things and be surrounded by others.