Hero Essay

As a person grows so do the things they hold dear to

themselves and the things they look up to. Heroes take

many forms when we are children, from the comic book

superhero to the imaginary friend. As we grow from

children to young adults our heroes change to those more

tangible, movie stars or athletes. When we reach

adulthood, the definition of hero becomes clear and our

heroes become those that we love and can look up to. It

took me a while to realize it but my hero is an 83 year old

woman.

In 1986, at the ripe age of 6, I was given the news that a

big storm was coming. As a child the news of a big storm

frightened me, I was paralyzed by the fear of being struck

by lightning. The sky became unsettled, a shade of gray that

left even the brightest spirit longing. The rains came hard

and fast, the thunder and lightning along with it. Shortly

after the wind began to pick up. I had seen The Wizard of

Oz and became extremely worried that our entire

apartment building would be ripped from the foundation

and taken to some far off world. At the pinnacle of the

storm there was a knock at the door. Of course I didn't

hear the knock because it's hard to hear when you have

your ears plugged so as to avoid the thunder. It was Auntie

Lou, everyones favorite babysitter. With rain cap on her

head and umbrella in hand, she had braved the storm to

come visit my sister and I. With a joyful look on her face

Lou asks if anyone wanted to go for a walk. Had anyone

else asked I would have said, "No way, Jose!" but for

Auntie Lou, anything. So on went the raincoat and the old

shoes that I was allowed to get wet. Though the rain was

pelting and the wind whipping, we braved our way through

the apartment

complex. At one point the wind nearly pulled

me and my umbrella over but Lou held me by her side.

That was the point I knew somehting was special about

her.

After returning from a church Christmas party in December

of 1997 there was a disturbing message on the answering

machine. "There's a fire at Lou's apartment complex, go

make sure she's okay" So the four of us (mom, dad, sister

and myself) climbed back into the