Friday, January 28, 2011

Everyday heroes

One need not wear a uniform to be a hero.  I see them every single day and, in witnessing everyday heroism, I stay encouraged that we'll solve our many problems some day and some way.

Just today I saw a hero at my military pharmacy; an aged Red Cross volunteer, a lady clearly in her 70's who volunteers her time to shelve and retrieve pharmacy orders and dispense them to us.  Driving home from the base I stopped at a school crosswalk and witnessed a senior citizen volunteer supervise the crossings of children from a school zone.

Also coming home I passed a Sheriff's car monitoring traffic at a busy intersection; manning this patrol is a Sun City senior who volunteers as one of Sheriff Joe's "posse".  There are 400 of them in the posse and they work for nothing.  They do home checks for folks on vacation, home health checks for the elderly and sick, handle traffic accidents, etc.

Finally, as I passed the hospital I remembered all of the volunteers who cared for me during my illness.  They escorted me to various exam rooms, brought me water, visited my bedside to cheer me...and they do it all for nothing.

America has many, many heroes and, for that, I am both glad and proud.

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