A hero is someone who is looked up to for doing something brave, noble, or heroic. It is someone who is admired for their honesty, bravery, and selflessness. There are many heroes in Greek mythology: Achilles, Hercules, and Ulysses was known for their strength and abilities to conquer. Fireman and Police Officers are often called Heroes for rescuing and saving people’s lives.
Then there is all the super heroes of the world, Batman, Cat Woman, Captain America, Spiderman, and Wonder Woman to name a few. My personal hero isn’t anyone of super powers, but is someone genuinely true to herself and others, she is my Mama. As far back in time as remembered, Mama has always been a woman of courage, strength, and love. She has spent a countless number of hours taking care of others and neglecting her own needs.
Mama was good at juggling her time between work, being a mom to two girls, a wife, and a friend, Her daily routine would consist of eight to ten hours of work, pick kids up from school, rush around to pay bills or grocery shop, check on her parents and in laws, home to get started on school, house or yard work, cook supper for a family of four plus the elderly lady who lived next door, clean the kitchen, get baths over with, spend a little bit of time with kids and husband, then it was off to bed for maybe 6 hours of sleep, just to get up the next morning and do it all over again.
Never once did she complain about not having enough time for herself, instead she would just keep doing for others. Everything she done was done for her children, they were what mattered the most to her. She worked day in and day out providing a life for her family. On the weekends when she had free time, she spent it by cleaning and preparing for the week that was ahead, visiting with parents and grandparents, gardening and shopping. She always put her family first and herself last, a lot of times doing without things for herself to give to someone else.
But it’s not just what she does and how she takes care of others that make her my hero. It is her undying, never ending love that she has for me. Through the many things she has said and done, she has taught me love, compassion, respect, honesty and independence. She is my strength and backbone. The greatest friend to ever have, always offering an encouraging word, a shoulder to cry on, or a helping hand. In 2003, she was diagnosed with Stage II Breast Cancer. One of the scariest times of her life, just hearing the word cancer was almost too much to bear.
She went through two lumpectomy surgeries to remove the cancer, the surgeries were only one week apart. After a short period of time to recuperate she had to start radiation therapy that was five days a week for eight weeks. This happened at a time when factory work was vanishing from where she lived and she was laid off from her job of twenty plus years. Even through fighting the cancer and losing her job she remained strong, she beat the cancer, managed her household, and returned to school to further her education and become a CNA.
Mama never once gave up hope during her treatments for cancer, and she never once let cancer get her down. She is such a strong and courageous woman. It is all of these qualities that she possesses that make her a hero, my hero. Cannot imagine what life would be like without her. A hero does not have to be a person who has saved a life, a heroic god from thousands of years ago, or an individual with “super powers. ” It can be anybody in your life that you choose for it to be for any reasons. Most mothers are their children’s hero, because of some of these same traits. Mother should simply be another name for hero.
