Heroic heroes

When my dad and I went out this morning to withdraw some money, I found out that it was a holiday. Ever since that I have been unemployed, I was not aware of the holidays except of course if it is Christmas or new year. Sometimes I even do not know what date it is. So I asked my dad why the banks were closed and what is with this day. He said that today is the National Heroes Day.

In the Philippines, we celebrate National Heroes Day in remembering our past revolutionary heroes and also our healthcare and essential heroes of the present. They say that not all heroes wear capes right? I salute all the heroes may it be in battle field or even those who are fighting silently not just for themselves, for their family, for other people, for the animals, for their country, for the environment and for the whole world. Salute!

Since it is National Heroes Day, my article would be about heroes. Other than the common heroes that we know whether fiction or non-fiction, who for you is the hero of your life and why? Was it difficult question? Because I find it difficult. LOL. I bet most of us would answer that our parents are our heroes and I would also say that they are my kind of heroes. I remembered @JLoberiza's article, What does the 4th of July mean to you, where he shared a story of a true hero.

My parents are both my heroes but it is my dad whom I see as the superhero. I am not biased because he provides for us but he is really a superhero for me. When I was a kid, we were taught to always put my dad's title before his name. That is where I have known about what a lawyer is. Eventhough my dad was not a lawyer who goes to court and defend the good people, I grew up hearing a lot of good words from his staffs and other colleagues.

Of course I did not know about those stuffs when I was a kid but when I was able to realize how good of a father he was, I respected him even more. I did not grew up having my dad as my idol because it was my brother who has always been my idol. I saw how my dad would help other people without asking anything in return. Earlier when we went to the bank, he told me a story where he helped one rice dealer with a case. He said that his staffs thought before that the rice dealer was giving my dad some sacks of rice as compensation for helping with the case that they also wanted to ask for a sack but he said that he never received any from the rice dealers. Not even a cent nor a piece of grain. He helped that rice dealer because she was an old acquaintance.

Even if my dad is not a regular church goer, I saw how he helped other people. I sometimes feel envy because he helps and supports other people yet he cannot support my business. Petty right? But yes, my dad will buy some products from other people and he would even give a lot of praises on how hard these people work for a living. That sometimes I feel pity because he is not proud of what I do nor does he buy my products to sell to his friends.

I do not know if my dad had saved some lives but I am sure that he saved mine. He saved me from being miserable during my younger years. He also saved me from almost being in danger not just once but twice wheb I had my surgeries. He also saved my mom's foot. I know that the doctors are more to take credit for those but overall, it was my dad since he was the one who paid for all of our hospitalizations.

But have you ever been a hero to someone other than your family and friends? I guess we would never know unless we cross paths with the people that we have helped or if we have helped them from a near death experiences. If I remember it correctly, there was one story that I saw years ago from Facebook where a doctor helped a child. The doctor helped with the hospital bill. The child grew up to be successful and when they crossed paths, the child returned the favor. Have you read a story about that?

I hope that we can all be a hero to everyone even with the animals and the environment. It is not only about saving them by means of a surgery but we can also be a hero with our words. We can also save people by doing the right thing. There are a lot of ways for a person to be a hero in someone else's life. Now that we are experiencing an unseen virus, we can be a hero by observing proper safety protocols whenever we would go out. If it is not necessary, I hope we can refrain from going out. There will be plenty of time for us to do those leisure things in the future. For now, let us be a hero by staying home so we can also save a lot of people.

Again, thank you to all our heroes then and now. Your courage, dedication, bravery and selflessness had helped a lot of lives and most especially our country.

P.S. lead image is my godson's action figure when we watched Batman vs Superman years ago.