Hello Fellow Travelers!
My biggest supporter (and harshest critic) suggested I relate the following story here because it's cancer-related before I submit it to CNN-Heroes. So without further adieu, this is what happened on a Thursday morning two weeks ago to your favorite cancer survivor (that would be moi!). I woke up with a Patient Spouse that was far away and a cell phone that was dead. Since I have an autistic child that still needed to get to school, having no means of communication was a major obstacle for us!
I thought I was silenced, incommunicado. I didn't panic, I remembered I had a computer and my son had an English teacher who thought outside the box. I used my computer to contact this person who used his I-Phone to contact my son. He then sent me the four most meaningful words to any mother of any child, the victim of any calamity wants to hear: "How can I help?"
That was it! That was all that was necessary for me to see! Heroism is defined as what a hero does when he or she thinks no one is watching. Did that simple act of kindness rise to the level of heroism? I would argue that providing such a basic service to a panicked parent is the epitome of heroism! Ben Odell would inspire parents and students alike whether he was recognized or not.
The end of the story? Crisis averted. Contacts were made. Additional devices were subsequently employed and by the time PS checked in around 10:00 a.m., everything was kosher, more or less. My point is the end doesn't really matter. It's the willingness to do battle, whether it's with autism, cancer, books, phones, Anderson Cooper, whatever.
My son's English teacher is a hero precisely because he doesn't have to be. He just is.
My son's English teacher made a phone call for me. No big deal. But it is a big deal to me. I'm motivated, inspired and spurred on through his actions. That kind of problem solving inspires me to work a little harder for a little longer. If a clever, well-read person, whose paid (probably not well) by the state has chosen to share himself with eighth graders and help them on their journey, the least I can do is "man up" and retrain my brain so I can help my eighth grader!
No, I'm not Anne Frank and Ben Odell is not Simon Weisenthal. But these are different times with heroism taking many forms. A dude with an I-Phone can be as heroic as a dude with a sword! It's not the implement that matters it's the spirit behind the implement!
PS - Sorry as I am to do it, I am compelled to replace the gift-that-keeps-on-giving, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford who has wisely entered rehab, with odiouser (much ickier), NBA owner/racist: Donald Sterling. Mr. Sterling says all kinds of offensive things that are as crazy as they are unexpected. And by comparison Mr. Ford has morphed into a big, goofy, mook. I hope he gets the help he needs, and I just can't get angry with him - he's so Canadian! Mr. Sterling, on the other hand, can piss me off far into the future! Pretty much anytime he opens his pie-hole he says something stupid! It also doesn't hurt that Sterling bears a strong resemblance to "Jabba the Hutt". So, offend away!, Mr. Sterling, I hear, is very litigious. I have no doubt he'll pop up now and again to say something crazy (and snack on a fly or two with his frog tongue).
My biggest supporter (and harshest critic) suggested I relate the following story here because it's cancer-related before I submit it to CNN-Heroes. So without further adieu, this is what happened on a Thursday morning two weeks ago to your favorite cancer survivor (that would be moi!). I woke up with a Patient Spouse that was far away and a cell phone that was dead. Since I have an autistic child that still needed to get to school, having no means of communication was a major obstacle for us!
I thought I was silenced, incommunicado. I didn't panic, I remembered I had a computer and my son had an English teacher who thought outside the box. I used my computer to contact this person who used his I-Phone to contact my son. He then sent me the four most meaningful words to any mother of any child, the victim of any calamity wants to hear: "How can I help?"
That was it! That was all that was necessary for me to see! Heroism is defined as what a hero does when he or she thinks no one is watching. Did that simple act of kindness rise to the level of heroism? I would argue that providing such a basic service to a panicked parent is the epitome of heroism! Ben Odell would inspire parents and students alike whether he was recognized or not.
The end of the story? Crisis averted. Contacts were made. Additional devices were subsequently employed and by the time PS checked in around 10:00 a.m., everything was kosher, more or less. My point is the end doesn't really matter. It's the willingness to do battle, whether it's with autism, cancer, books, phones, Anderson Cooper, whatever.
My son's English teacher is a hero precisely because he doesn't have to be. He just is.
My son's English teacher made a phone call for me. No big deal. But it is a big deal to me. I'm motivated, inspired and spurred on through his actions. That kind of problem solving inspires me to work a little harder for a little longer. If a clever, well-read person, whose paid (probably not well) by the state has chosen to share himself with eighth graders and help them on their journey, the least I can do is "man up" and retrain my brain so I can help my eighth grader!
No, I'm not Anne Frank and Ben Odell is not Simon Weisenthal. But these are different times with heroism taking many forms. A dude with an I-Phone can be as heroic as a dude with a sword! It's not the implement that matters it's the spirit behind the implement!
PS - Sorry as I am to do it, I am compelled to replace the gift-that-keeps-on-giving, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford who has wisely entered rehab, with odiouser (much ickier), NBA owner/racist: Donald Sterling. Mr. Sterling says all kinds of offensive things that are as crazy as they are unexpected. And by comparison Mr. Ford has morphed into a big, goofy, mook. I hope he gets the help he needs, and I just can't get angry with him - he's so Canadian! Mr. Sterling, on the other hand, can piss me off far into the future! Pretty much anytime he opens his pie-hole he says something stupid! It also doesn't hurt that Sterling bears a strong resemblance to "Jabba the Hutt". So, offend away!, Mr. Sterling, I hear, is very litigious. I have no doubt he'll pop up now and again to say something crazy (and snack on a fly or two with his frog tongue).
A well written and engrossing story, we all want to know more about the English teacher. Intimidating to me, as well, since I don't do text'ing and hope never to have to. Now it seems, survival may depend on these new means of communications. Thank goodness I have a spouse who can work 4 Remotes at once, while synchronizing to her iPhone, no problem!
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