Who Are Your Heroes--Real or Fictional

[Mistermoonlight]

As long as I can remember heroes have been important to me. They make me strive to be better.

A hero is someone we can admire without apology.
--Kitty Kelley

A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.
--Joseph Campbell


Who are yours, and why?

[Watchtower]

I have quite a few heroes..

- Helen Keller, even though she was blind and deaf, she still became well known speaker and author... and her teacher Anne Sullivan, for not giving up while trying to be her teacher, she remained patient and stayed by her side.

- My great grandmother, she is currently the only person in my family who believes in me. I can tell, because the last time I visited her, she began to get forgetful except for one thing... she remembered perfectly when she used to send me books when she worked at a bookstore in hopes that I would follow in her footsteps as a writer and maybe go beyond and become published. She told me, "Keep writing for as long as you can read.."

- And Chloe Sullivan... yes, she's a fictional character, but she is my hero... because of what she does and she's just... always a good friend.

[jamesottosweethart]

The Lord is my hero.

God bless you always!!!

Holly

[ashley]

My Grandparents. They fled Cuba when Castro started taking over. They Tad two Children and a third on the way. They were well off architects. they made there way to puerto Rico where my mom was born and when thay could came to Arlington Virginia. They had to start all over and in a place where they did not know the language they learned English watching the New York Yankees. They Overcame so much including the Loss of my uncle Jorge. now there dealing with alzheimer and parkinson and diabetes. They take Naps so there ready to watch the ball games.

[avp60685]

I have quite a few myself:

My mom-she has faced a lot of difficulties in her life and yet she never once has given up and manages to remain optimistic through it all.

My special Aunt Chris McGill-she has lupus yet she remains strong and positive through it all, she always has a smile on her face despite pain.

Christopher Reeve-has been dubbed the real life "Superman" and he faced paralysis and yet he never gave up and started a foundation to help other spinal cord injury patients.

Michael J. Fox-remains optimistic and determined to find a cure for Parkinson's and started a foundation to help cure Parkinson's for other patients. He has gone through various trials yet remains hopeful for a cure in this lifetime.

Helen Keller-she faced deafness and blindness yet she remained strong through it all and never once gave up because of the love and support of her teacher Annie Sullivan.

My AFJROTC teacher and mentor Major Lois Davis-she taught me a lot and she always believed in me knows I have so much potential in me and yet she supports me 110% in everything I do.

Superman-I know he is fiction but I believe he sees the good in everyone and is willing to help out anyone regardless of background and always offers up a helping hand to those who need it most.

Marty McFly-he may seem to be an ordinary teenager from the 1980s yet he is a loyal friend to his mentor and friend Doc and tries to prevent bad from happening to those he cares deeply about.

And the Lord-He has been there every step of my journey and encourages me and shows me that even though it may be a storm happening in my life but there are rainbows up ahead if I just take the time to notice this and recognize He has it all under control.

[Mistermoonlight]

Today, this man is my hero:



New York City policeman Larry DePrimo sees a barefoot homeless man on the sidewalk on a freezing night, buys him a $100 pair of all-weather boots and thermal socks, and in a moment of grace bends down on one knee to help him put them on.

[SoCal]

[KyleEl]

Dec 1, 2012 18:14:03 GMT -5 Mistermoonlight said:

Today, this man is my hero:



New York City policeman Larry DePrimo sees a barefoot homeless man on the sidewalk on a freezing night, buys him a $100 pair of all-weather boots and thermal socks, and in a moment of grace bends down on one knee to help him put them on.

Mike Huckabee devoted most of his afternoon commentary to him, after the sad news about the Chiefs linebacker.

[SoCal]

In a case of pure irony, this homeless guy is not wearing the shoes he was given because he's afraid some other street person will kill him in order to steal the shoes. So he's still walking around in bare feet.

Ah, the homeless....just misunderstood people who would be living the high life if only I paid more taxes.....

[Mistermoonlight]

It's not about what the homeless man did with the shoes afterwards.

It's, rather, about the act of selfless grace, on the part of police officer, that shows what it means to be a hero.



Thank god for people like him, who give us a glimpse of the true sprit of Christmas.

[spoonieluv247]

props to the cop!

but it ends in a TWILIGHT ZONE sorta way.... turns out the boots RUINED the guy's PANHANDLING BIZZNIZ!!!

[SoCal]

Revealed: Beggar pictured being given boots by cop has long history of arrests - and he's NOT homeless
The 'homeless' man who received NYPD gift revealed as Jeffrey Hillman, a 54-year-old Army veteran from New Jersey with apartment in Bronx

Hillman has had the federally funded apartment in Veteran Affairs Supportive Housing since 2011

Says he is scared he could be killed over $100 boots officer gave him
Thanks policeman Lawrence DePrimo but continues panhandling on street
Has history of arrests including charges of harassment, criminal mischief, public masturbation, grand larceny and assault



Read more: www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2243203/Jeffrey-Hillman-Beggar-pictured-given-boots-policeman-long-history-arrests.html#ixzz2EBlHsOy6
Follow us: @mailonline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

[spoonieluv247]

killed over shoes? he's a CONMAN!!

he can talk his way out of most knife fights!!


some gun holdups even!! ;D

[Watchtower]

This is not about what the homeless man did. The police officer is still a hero for doing this.

[SoCal]

The point is that the police officer's kind act was conned out of him by someone who is not deserving.

[Watchtower]

I think the point was that regardless of what happened, the officer still decided to use his own money to buy a homeless man some boots. We don't really know why the homeless man doesn't wear the boots all the time. Maybe he really thinks he's gonna be killed over them. I read an article about that, and it says he still wears them, just not all the time.

[Mistermoonlight]

Since this is a thread about heroes, I think the salient point is the heroic act itself. It's about the one acting, not the one receiving.

Does Superman sit in judgement of those worthy of saving in a catastrophe?

No, he just does it.

Because it's the right thing to do.

[AntiArbitrator]

One of my heroes is Misha Collins because his RandomActs charity promotes the type of acts that the Policeman did. Misha wondered what was the use of having so many followers; then asked each of his minions to perform a random act of kindness. Some of the young people baked cookies and took them to retirement homes or to a relative who was unable to get out much. No act is too small to be appreciated. Others held fund raisers or did impromptu things to make people laugh.

The thing that makes Misha special is he personally participates in RandomActs. He runs marathons for the charities and he sponsors trips with his minions to physically build a school in a poor country. He encourages through contests and other persuasions to keep his minions interested in charitable acts.

Because of his constant reminders, random acts of kindness to strangers has become automatic for me, without question.

[SoCal]

The Mysterious Stranger
By R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr. on 12.6.12 @ 6:09AM

The strange case of the shoeless beneficiary of a policeman's kindness.

WASHINGTON -- Jeffrey Hillman is a man who shambles the streets of New York City looking quite unkempt, drab, and hopeless. He panhandles sometimes and mutters to himself. Frankly, he looks a wreck and apparently often in need of a pair of shoes. On cold winter nights he gets them.

One cold November night Officer Lawrence DePrimo spotted Hillman seated shoeless on the pavement of Times Square, and the young policeman left his post, went into a store nearby, and bought Hillman a pair of shoes costing $100. He even helped Hillman put them on. A tourist snapped a picture of DePrimo doing this, and the picture appeared on Facebook. It went viral, and was seen around the world -- a young New York City cop, putting shoes on a beggar.

What an auspicious way to begin the Christmas season. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg declaimed, "That's what they're trained to do -- help people." Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly was more appreciative. He gave the 25-year-old policeman a pair of police department cuff links at a private meeting. Others now claim to have bought Hillman shoes over the years. My guess is he has got a stash of them some place. Possibly he is planning to open a shoe store. Assuming, that is, that his tax rate does not go up under President Obama.

We are learning more about Hillman as time goes by. He is not homeless. The New York Daily News reports that the 54-year-old lived from 2009 to 2011 in transitional housing sites called "Safe Havens." Owing to his status as a veteran, he then secured his present apartment through the Department of Veterans Affairs. Veterans outreach services have continued to try to help but apparently for naught. A spokeswoman for the city's outreach services reported that Hillman "has a history of turning down services." Doubtless some day he will become ill, and the city will put him in some government program to recuperate, possibly Medicaide, possibly Obamacare.

The more one looks into the case of this beneficiary of state and federal welfare the more curious his plight is. The Daily News reports that he played basketball for South Plainfield High School in New Jersey. A smiling Hillman is pictured in the South Plainfield High School yearbook horsing around with classmates, one of whom, John Graf, became a minister. Actually Hillman looks much different than the shambling vagrant seen in Times Square without shoes in November. He looks pretty middle class. His classmates look rather prosperous too and quite happy. What happened?

Today he seems crazed. He is grateful for DePrimo's kindness, but he is angry at the world. I sense a notion of entitlement. "I was put on YouTube," he says, "I was put on everything without permission. What do I get?" Perhaps he will get a media agent. Possibly he has been reading Paul Krugman's diatribes in the New York Times. He goes on, "This [his picture without shoes and with DePrimo looking on] went around the world, and I want a piece of the pie." That certainly sounds like a Krugman idea. I wonder if Krugman is going to help him with the pie. Could Hillman become a lecturer at Harvard State University Law School? Derelicts have lectured there before.

Recall back in the late 1980s when Joyce Brown, a homeless woman who was quite mad, was invited to Harvard State to give a lecture on homelessness. She came to a bad end, returning to the streets shortly thereafter, shouting obscenities at passersby, lurching into traffic, exposing herself. Her end was not edifying. At any rate, she was just part of a long parade of unfortunate wretches who have been invited to our nation's college campuses, starting with our leading college campuses, there to illustrate one or another of the weird desiderata of the left-wing's credo.

Hillman, as the beneficiary of endless state and federal largess, might well be memorialized in American history with a special designation. Call him "Obama Man." In Hillman's belief system and his lifestyle he represents roughly speaking all that President Barack Obama has in mind for America. It is a citizenry basically beholding to government. And DePrimo, what will we call him? Call him the modern Good Samaritan, and tax him to death. He deserves it.

[KyleEl]

Steve Lopez was a hero in a movie I saw over the weekend called "The Soloist". It's about a cello player played by Jamie Foxx who had schizophrenia and lived on the streets. Steve started out doing a newspaper story and ended up getting the man help.

These are real people.

[Mistermoonlight]

Dec 6, 2012 9:23:32 GMT -5 SoCal said:

The Mysterious Stranger
By R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr. on 12.6.12 @ 6:09AM

The strange case of the shoeless beneficiary of a policeman's kindness.

WASHINGTON -- Jeffrey Hillman is a man who shambles the streets of New York City looking quite unkempt, drab, and hopeless. He panhandles sometimes and mutters to himself. Frankly, he looks a wreck and apparently often in need of a pair of shoes. On cold winter nights he gets them.

One cold November night Officer Lawrence DePrimo spotted Hillman seated shoeless on the pavement of Times Square, and the young policeman left his post, went into a store nearby, and bought Hillman a pair of shoes costing $100. He even helped Hillman put them on. A tourist snapped a picture of DePrimo doing this, and the picture appeared on Facebook. It went viral, and was seen around the world -- a young New York City cop, putting shoes on a beggar.

What an auspicious way to begin the Christmas season. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg declaimed, "That's what they're trained to do -- help people." Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly was more appreciative. He gave the 25-year-old policeman a pair of police department cuff links at a private meeting. Others now claim to have bought Hillman shoes over the years. My guess is he has got a stash of them some place. Possibly he is planning to open a shoe store. Assuming, that is, that his tax rate does not go up under President Obama.

We are learning more about Hillman as time goes by. He is not homeless. The New York Daily News reports that the 54-year-old lived from 2009 to 2011 in transitional housing sites called "Safe Havens." Owing to his status as a veteran, he then secured his present apartment through the Department of Veterans Affairs. Veterans outreach services have continued to try to help but apparently for naught. A spokeswoman for the city's outreach services reported that Hillman "has a history of turning down services." Doubtless some day he will become ill, and the city will put him in some government program to recuperate, possibly Medicaide, possibly Obamacare.

The more one looks into the case of this beneficiary of state and federal welfare the more curious his plight is. The Daily News reports that he played basketball for South Plainfield High School in New Jersey. A smiling Hillman is pictured in the South Plainfield High School yearbook horsing around with classmates, one of whom, John Graf, became a minister. Actually Hillman looks much different than the shambling vagrant seen in Times Square without shoes in November. He looks pretty middle class. His classmates look rather prosperous too and quite happy. What happened?

Today he seems crazed. He is grateful for DePrimo's kindness, but he is angry at the world. I sense a notion of entitlement. "I was put on YouTube," he says, "I was put on everything without permission. What do I get?" Perhaps he will get a media agent. Possibly he has been reading Paul Krugman's diatribes in the New York Times. He goes on, "This [his picture without shoes and with DePrimo looking on] went around the world, and I want a piece of the pie." That certainly sounds like a Krugman idea. I wonder if Krugman is going to help him with the pie. Could Hillman become a lecturer at Harvard State University Law School? Derelicts have lectured there before.

Recall back in the late 1980s when Joyce Brown, a homeless woman who was quite mad, was invited to Harvard State to give a lecture on homelessness. She came to a bad end, returning to the streets shortly thereafter, shouting obscenities at passersby, lurching into traffic, exposing herself. Her end was not edifying. At any rate, she was just part of a long parade of unfortunate wretches who have been invited to our nation's college campuses, starting with our leading college campuses, there to illustrate one or another of the weird desiderata of the left-wing's credo.

Hillman, as the beneficiary of endless state and federal largess, might well be memorialized in American history with a special designation. Call him "Obama Man." In Hillman's belief system and his lifestyle he represents roughly speaking all that President Barack Obama has in mind for America. It is a citizenry basically beholding to government. And DePrimo, what will we call him? Call him the modern Good Samaritan, and tax him to death. He deserves it.

I think what heroism all comes down to is love, and the realization that there are bigger things and causes than oneself. There is a humility in that and a grace that pushes us further, even beyond what we think we can be at our best. This is the stuff of legends.

There is such power in that love that it can change the lives of millions.

I stand humbled by them, and thank them for their example and their sacrifice.

We would be much less without their love, a love that reached way beyond themselves.

That New York City policeman has a place with the rest of them.

If you could do just one good thing in your life like he did, wouldn't that be more than many of us could ever hope for?

Here's the greater truth, we can all do it, one act at a time. All it takes is the ability to step outside oneself and look at another without judgement, but instead, with love and empathy.

As one of my mentors once said to me, "if you ever get stuck, just do the next right thing."

[Mistermoonlight]

My heroes for today:




"Over at Love That Max, Ellen Seidman blogs about "raising kids with special needs who kick butt." To that end, she posted this tear-jerker of a video last night -- children of all abilities, ages 4 - 18, singing "True Colors."

The performers are the British Paraorchestra, which describes itself as "an orchestra defined by what you hear, not what you see," the Kaos Signing Choir For Deaf And Hearing Children and athletes from the British Paralympics team.

They would have had us weeping at the opening lyrics ("You with the sad eyes...") no matter what, but this version opens emotionally with with soloist Lyn Levett. According to Paraorchestra's website, Levett has cerebral palsy and cannot speak. Yet, she sings those emotional opening words through her computer, for the very first time."

www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/07/british-paraorchestra-true-colors-kaos-choir_n_2257144.html?utm_hp_ref=good-news&ir=Good%20News