When I was in Jr. High I had this fantasy. I was in a school bus and we had a wreck. The prettiest girl in school was hurt and I was the one who helped her. I can remember to this day the exact location of the accident and the little slope she was laying on as I bandaged her and stayed with her until the ambulance came. I was a hero in my fantasy.
In reality I never was a hero to that girl. We did eventually become friends and she wrote something nice in my yearbook. But I wasn’t a hero. It was just a sentiment and a desire to be a good person that stayed in my head.
But it illustrates this quote perfectly for me. A hero is someone who takes action for the benefit of others. It can be heroic, it can be small and easily overlooked. But the action is what is lovely, not the sentimental idea. Without the action, it’s just a dream, like my dreams of adolescent heroism.
Here are a few of my friends, fellow Tulsans, who have taken action in their lives. They are heroes. Check out their stories along with others.
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Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
Quote by James Russell Lowell, 1819-1891, American poet, writer, diplomat