Got one?

As I was sitting enjoying some multibran flax flakes for breakfast (yum!), I saw on the box a definition for the word hero. They say the dictionary definition of the word hero is: "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." I sat back comtemplating the word hero in my life. Heroes to our grandparents were WWII soldiers and world leaders who stood up against the axis of evil. To our parents there were astronauts who walked on the moon, and young dynamic politicians who gave hope of a brighter tommorrow. To my age group, the start of the Gen Xers, we had Michael Jordan and Madonna. And that is where it began going downhill... To look at who kids call heroes today is frankly, sad. The media promotes people to the level of hero that are nothing more than lost souls who can't find direction and blindly lead children, and many adults, down the same path. I look towards my children's futures and wonder who will be left to look up to. The older I get the more I focus on heroes from my personal surroundings - NOT the media. I see my father. My mother. My grandmother. People who made a direct deposit into my life throughout a span of years and shaped me into the person I am today. There is no harm in respecting a media personality, celebrity, or politician for a stand they take, but I can't call them heroes. Take a look at your life and the people who have come and gone... Who are the heroes in your life?