Reprinted from May 2011
As Memorial Day approaches and we think about all the exceptional men and women who serve and have served in the Armed Forces especially those who have given their lives to protect the freedom America has, I thought it would be fitting to share an article by Robin Korth, founder of Insights on Aging with the readers of Women of Wisdom. It is entitled “We are Heroes” and it is about having each other to count on and look up to. I hope you enjoy it!
WE ARE HEROES by Robin Korth
Of late I have written about our lack of heroes. I have blasted and berated our culture for having raised mediocrity to an art form. As things stand now, if a person is loud enough, outrageous enough or insane enough, they will become a media “somebody” that people will talk about and aspire to “wannabe!”
The heroes of yesteryear that road white horses, had red capes and carried “big sticks” have gone the way of the five-cent candy bar. Our starry-eyed belief in “good always conquers evil” has melted along with that nickel Milky Way.
This society of ours says almost anything is okay and therefore nothing is truly special or worthy of emulation or real admiration. There are no icons of behavior for us to aspire to, no class acts to follow. That’s because we now let it “all hang out” and revel in the behind-the-scenes real truth of things.
As a country and a world, we seem to wait with bated breath for the inevitable fall of the two-day wonders we have raised so giddily high so remarkably fast–the more flash and dash, the bigger the oh-my-God reality crash. Our heroes are no more. They are media-made personas with no more substance than the virtual “world” in which they bloom and fade with the click of a mouse.
But there are still heroes to be seen, heroes to be applauded and emulated. Who are these heroes? They are us! In the quiet everyday way of negotiating this “brave new world,” we walk as heroes.
Who has not hit a wall? Heck, most of us will hit two or three before we are done. Those walls hurt like hell and often seem to come out of nowhere, don’t they? But what did we do? We got up. We kept going. We bandaged our bruised brow and tried again. That is what heroes do.
Who has not cried themselves to sleep at night with a broken heart or in despair? Want-filled dreams and wet pillows have cradled most of our heads at least once–and probably twice or thrice. And, what did we do? We got up. We dried our tears and got dressed, perhaps still blowing our noses as we tied our shoes. With squared shoulders we again joined the fray and put our hearts out there. That is what heroes do.
Who has not been betrayed, left holding that bag of crap that was not ours to hold? The contracts and bills, agreements and obligations were left to us by someone that played “Skip to My Lou!” Stunned and jaw-dropped, we were left partly paralyzed by another’s perfidy. With a “How could they?” grinding our brain, we moved forward. We made the calls, filled out the forms, kept the agreements and took the hit that someone left us to face. That is what heroes do.
So there is no need for “faster than a speeding bullet.” We’ve got each other. And we are ALL heroes!
About the author: Robin Korth holds a B.A. degree in English and has 33 years of experience in newspaper and magazine advertising, book publishing and printing. Also a writer and editor, Korth has published four books for private authors and has worked with many companies helping them grow their businesses with advertising and strategic business profiles.
In 1983, as the owner of a fledgling aviation support advertising agency, she drove THE KORTH COMPANY to be the single largest advertiser in the World Aviation Directory. The Korth Company actually contracted for more advertising space than any other advertiser, including Pratt & Whitney and General Electric during that year.
In 1999, Korth received a Master’s degree in nursing, with a concentration on research and the care of the older adult. This augments Korth’s other experiences to firmly ground her in solid knowledge and practical experience as the driving force behind INSIGHTS ON AGING.
