Lunar Letter / Unsung Heroes

Unsung heroes are everywhere…

Bronze_Star_medalThey are those who rise each morning before the sun to tend to their children

They are those who day after day flow into the streets selling their goods

They are those who are responsible for teaching our children

They are those who are always there and seldom seen

We tend to think about life as a journey to get someplace “better” than where we are right now.  Marketing and advertising bombard us with the idea that having a new watch, a better car and a house in the right neighborhood is the answer to all our woes.  While these things are nice and make life more pleasant, as the poets and philosophers have told us for thousands of years…

“It’s not the destination, rather the journey which is most important.”

Being a hero doesn’t imply obtaining great riches or other material things; it isn’t acquired with a brass key at the end of the highway.  Being a hero can be as simple as rising to greet the dawn of each new day with a smile and a positive way which allows us to see the good in each situation and put forth our very best disposition.

Unsung heroes are those single mothers who play the role of mother, father, teacher busy-momand friend to their children.  They are those who rise early to prepare their children’s lunch boxes while giving so many hugs and kisses to get their little ones out of bed and off to school.  They are those who make miracles with the little money they too often earn.  They are those who pay the electricity, the phone, the school and the books for their children in what seems to be a never-ending battle.

Unsung heroes are those fathers who go to work daily where far too frequently they are disrespected , underestimated and used as pawns in a game where the noble courtDan-trashman for a day. 1/31/02 takes the spoils of their hard earned labor.  They are those who do their best to give dignity to their work where there is often little dignity.

Unsung heroes are those bosses who shine brightly among the rest.  They are those who show sincere interest in those who work with them and for them.  They are those who constantly seek solutions to life’s daily challenges instead of getting stuck in the problems.  They are those who receive their greatest compensation when they see one of their subordinates not only reach their same position but also at times surpass them.

Unsung heroes are the owners and directors of small and large companies everywhere which generate jobs and economic activity for so many people.  They are those who are directly responsible for feeding so many mouths and paying so many bills with the money they disburse every two weeks.

Unsung heroes are those parents who work their whole lives in order to create a better life care-for-parentsfor their children.  They are those who frequently renounce their own desires and necessities for the good of those they love.

Unsung heroes are those children who in time, become parents to their own parents.  They are those who understand that their parents, regardless of their situation, gave forth their best effort to give them a better life and ultimately, that what goes around, comes around.

There are millions of unsung heroes who get up every day with the sun, who work all day and face what seems to be a never ending series of challenges which seem to appear from nowhere and who fight on valiantly day after day.

We are all unsung heroes in our own special way…

∞ Rob McBride ∞
LL III 20