Who are our heroes?

Your Hero: Everyone has someone they look up to - a person they go to for advice, an individual you admire or idolize. It could be your partner, a family member, coworker, or someone famous. Who 

are they and what makes them awesome in your eyes? #HAWMC 

There are a lot of people that I admire and look up to, but I don't think there is anyone I idolize. I've had idols before and inevitably I've found out that they are not as great as I thought they were. I may or may not have idolized certain music groups Backstreet Boys when I was a teenager, but I eventually grew up and realized I was projecting what I was looking for onto them. I've always admired Gandhi, but was horrified to find out about his sexual abuse of young women. That was pretty sickening to find out, and proved to me once and for all that heroes are what we make them. Heroes and idols are often people who do great things but at the center of it all are still greatly human. Like Gandhi they do so some wonderful things, and sometimes also do horrible things simultaneously.  The sticking point for me is that often when these people are turned into idols the horrible things they do get brushed under the rug. There's a reason so many celebrities manage to get away with crime after crime after crime, it's because of idolization and hero worship.

There are a lot of people I admire, though none are well known. They aren't rich or powerful and they haven't won the Nobel Prize. They are a teacher who took the time to care for his students, a friend who quietly helps those who are suffering, and a  parent who deals with a child who has special needs. Most of all I admire the people in the chronic illness community who have been ignored, mocked, told they were crazy, lost all the things important to them, and yet they still go on. They even go on to live joyful lives. They find ways to help each other. They fight for legislation to get their illness recognized. They find ways to adapt their lives to their illness, they  get out of bed every day and courageously keep fighting the good fight. They are the heroes. 

(I know I fell off the wagon already for the writer's month challenge, but in my defense Easter happened. Plus I felt decent and played with friends instead of writing).