~ What Is A Hero?

The definition of hero on Dictionary.com says this:

1.a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities.

2. a person who, in the opinion of others, has heroic qualities or has performed a heroic act and is regarded as a model or ideal

Growing up, I’m sure we all had ‘heroes’ of our own. There were the comic book heroes, the silver screen heroes or the heroes we read about in books.

While I agree with the definition of what a hero is, my own definition runs more along the lines with something Christopher Reeve once said. He said, “A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.”

That, to me, is how I’d describe my sister.

My parents adopted her when I was 10 years old and definitely not at the age where I wanted a baby sister. Like the rest of us, she was born with what I call a slight malfunction. Hers had something to do with her kidneys that caused her to be on antibiotics for years until she was old enough for surgery. Because of that, her pain tolerance has always been high while I, on the other hand, have always been a weenie in the pain department.

Shes’s the youngest which meant she was spoiled. When she came home from the hospital after her surgery, she came home to a brand new bedroom suit, complete with a canopy bed. Fortunately, I got one, too. When she was little, she’d pull this little Fisher Price shoe house behind her, telling everyone to pet her puppy. One Sunday morning, after pulling her 'puppy' through the house, my dad went out and bought her a real puppy. On vacations, we’d all fight over who got to hold her. To my brothers and I, she was a living, breathing doll.

I remember the special times that she and I spent together when we were growing up. I’d take her to Worlds of Fun in Kansas City, out for ice cream, or shopping at the mall. For some reason, she idolized me and I admit that I wasn’t always the best big sister. My excuse was the fact that I was 10 years older than her, I had my own life and didn’t always have the time for her when she was growing up.

When my dad died, she was 12, a month shy of turning 13 and I had just gotten married. I didn’t spend the amount of time with her that I should have after his death and, admittedly, I was to absorbed in my own life and grieving the loss of my dad in my own way.

She’s now the single mother of a 15 year old girl who is growing into an amazing and unique young woman. Being a parent is hard enough when there are two of you; I can’t imagine how hard it is when you’re raising a child on your own.

She works hard to make sure that my niece has everything she needs, often going without something for herself and I can say that Ash is well-balanced, smart and knows exactly what she wants.

A hero isn ‘t always the guy on the big white horse who rushes in to save the day. More often than not, our heroes are just ordinary people .... a doctor who sits with a patient after giving a heartbreaking prognosis, a teacher who stays after school giving extra time to help a student pass a class.

Sometimes, our heroes are part of our own family. In this case, she's a single mom who does what needs to be done to give her daughter a good life.

My hero? Her name is Toni and she's my sister.