Everyone Needs a Hero

I rarely struggle over what to write about each week.  I just kind of wake up and know.  Today I was thinking about two different issues.  And then it hit me: it is not either or.  It is both, because the one leads to the other.

Allow me to explain.  I wanted to share the outcome of our Hometown Hero votes last week.  With over 120 nominees in the Concord area, one hero stood out above all the rest.  It was easy to see how Nancy Thompson was voted Girl Scout Leader of the Year and Jenny Purucker the Military Personnel of the Year.  It certainly didn't surprise me that Regis Klingler was voted Boy Scout Leader of the Year or that Brett Black was appreciated with votes claiming he was the Police Officer of the Year.  Yet when all twelve categories had their winner surface, one jumped out of the water. 

She actually took top honors in the category of Historian.  You can often find her putsying around town in her antique turn of the century car wearing a pooffy gown, complete with pantaloons and a bonnet.  She chaplains for the American Legion, is one of the volunteer day managers at the Open Door Free Store, and is always up to something between Concord United Methodist Church and her husband’s church, 1^st Presbyterian Church of Concord.  She’s a go-getter and can sometimes rub people as pushy.  But then again, nothing ever got accomplished by someone who was not.  There is never a question of whether or not she’ll accomplish what she said she would.  Rather, the question becomes what she’ll have YOU doing to make it happen. 

Beyond all her accomplishment and fortitude, is something even more heroic.  Brenda Walters is an incredible wife, daughter, and friend.  She allows Carl to meander and serve wherever his heart desires.  She supports her mom and dad in all their endeavors.   And somehow she knows when a friend like me just needs a special song and some hands laid on for prayer.  Yes, Brenda is the 2012 Hometown Hero and will continue to be a hero long after the ballots are faded and her engraved name on a plaque begins to tarnish.  It’s what she was created to be.  So if you see her floating around town with her cape all up in ruffles, congratulate her on another year of super-heroing.  The Concord area is a better place because of it. 

And as for the second thought of the day: More heroes are needed in our communities.  My heart broke last night for a woman in her fifties who had her electric shut off.  Her gas was shut off about six months ago (and remains so) but she was surviving with a small electric space heater.  She suffers from schizophrenia and has been living in the same run down single wide trailer for more than 25 years.  My son and his wife do their best to look out for her when they can.  They are a young couple with a baby on the way and a toddler to boot.  My son is in college full time, plus works so his wife can be at home and raise their children in ways that please our Lord.  So their resources are minimal, though their hearts are large. 

I remember my son sharing that their neighbor had been living without running water for months before he went over to do his best at getting the plumbing back in order and running again.  She lives on a mere $600 a month disability.  She talks to herself often and finds daily life scary and frustrating.  My question is simple.  Why was her electric turned off?  It was 29 degrees last night.  When we arrived to bring supper to the kids, my son was next door working on getting a kerosene heater filled and running, before she froze to death in her sleep.  He still had hours of homework to complete and a few hours of work to get in before he went to sleep.  But first things came first.  It always does for heroes. 

I know we've spent months talking about government programs, entitlements, and deficit spending but this is just plain wrong.  When we closed all the mental health hospitals in Michigan years ago and placed all our mentally ill neighbors on their own, I cannot believe we didn't have some other support plan in place.  We need a few more heroes in our communities like Brenda, my son, and daughter-in-law.  If you’d like to be a hero and help this woman get her utilities back on for the winter, I would be glad to get any gifts to the utility companies in her name.  You can send them to CUMC, PO Box 366, Concord MI 49237 with “Hero” in the memo.  God bless you… and your capes.