Heroes come in many forms. Teachers shoulder a huge responsibility to impact the younger generation in a positive way. Nurses work too many hours to provide care for the sick and injured. Law enforcement officers, firefighters, paramedics and other rescue workers face danger every day in service to our local communities. And the members of our military, many far from home, fight for peace in the community of the world.
To all of you I say, “Thank you!” You do not get paid enough for your sacrifice. Your hard work often goes unnoticed or unappreciated. Those who work holidays deserve extra praise, double helpings of brownies and whipped cream at all office parties, and triple karma points.
As grateful as I am for all of you who do so much to help others – in jobs I don’t have the courage, stamina, or expertise for – today there is one person I wish I could thank face-to-face. I don’t know your name or how to reach you, but I hope you get this message someday:
To you, sir, with the veteran’s license plate who answered this mother’s prayer to help her daughter stranded by a flat tire on a slick, wintry (and deserted) road in rural New Mexico – thank you.
Before you could kneel in the snow to wrestle with the spare tire, you had to remove your artificial leg. You didn’t have to stop and help. You could have kept driving, stayed warm and dry, but you’re a hero. You might not consider yourself one, but you are to me.
Your actions reaffirmed that God answers prayer and proved that once a hero, always a hero. For my daughter (a nurse and a veteran), you are proof that good people are still out there willing to put others first regardless of inconvenience. Because you stopped, she made it home in time to work a holiday shift at the hospital.
My daughter and I will never forget your kindness.
For all you heroes – thank you. May you be blessed with an abundance of peace and joy, protection and provision, not only during the holiday season, but always.
Speculative Fiction Writer
KL Wagoner 
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