Our Debt to heroes

"A World Without Heroes, The Modern Tragedy"

I guess you know that I am quoting from that book, but I just want to make sure I give credit where credit is due.

Lately I have written quite a few birthday cards. I use Send Out Cards, (Which I love, by the way, and if you are interested, I am a distributor:) But back to the cards. A number of the cards have been birthday cards to grandchildren:) I love designing the cards and I try to use positive words that reinforce their great decisions or something they have done that they should be proud of. I have my Thesaurus handy because I want to use words that are more descriptive than my normal vocabulary. Great and wonderful are my "go to" words, but I have been working on using "valiant," "strong," "brave." Words like that, that are more expressive, but "thoughtful," "helpful," and "kind" are still good, even though they are used quite a bit.

After explaining that our debt to heroes is immeasurable in "A World Without Heroes." Still on page 6 of the introduction. President Roche says:

"Our debt to heroes is no metaphor, but the substance of free society.  It is our duty to one another and to moral law, a duty exemplified at its highest by the hero's own selflessness. We have not kept our end of the bargain. The very words we need to think about heroes-valor, magnanimity, fortitude, gallantry-rust from our disuse."

Do our children, do we, know what these words mean? I think I know what all of them mean, except I wasn't quite sure about magnanimity. We should be using these words. We should help our children to be familiar with them, because these are the traits we want them to have. When they display any of the afore mentioned traits, call them to the attention of the child and maybe even the siblings. You could say, "Did you know that you were very gallant just now when you opened the car door for your sister? I am very proud of you. Heroes always try to be gallant." (Gallant- Polite and attentive to women.) You can do that with a Little Hero Hug, or you can just do it:)

This is another idea to help us honor our heroes. Considering the deplorable medical treatment our Veterans have been receiving, or not receiving, that we have been learning about recently, this could be a perfect teaching opportunity! If I had children at home, in my day I would get the encyclopedias out, but you can go on the internet and search WWII. Show your children what these brave men and women did. Tell them that thousands upon thousands lost their lives. (You will have found the exact number in your search) Teach them about sacrifice. They lost their arms and legs. Some are still so very sick and need medical help. You could tell them a bit about what is on the news. "What do you think we can do to help these heroes that have sacrificed so that we can be free?" Really listen to your child. If they come up with a better idea than the one I am going to share, go with it. Really do it though. You have to follow through!!! If they can't think of anything, call your Congressman, Senator or other legislator. Put the call on speaker phone and let your child or children ask what they can do to help. Your child could ask what is being done by those with the power to do something. I think you will be surprised by what your child will come up with and where the conversation will go. Usually you will only get to talk to a staff member, but I have spoken to the legislator himself before. And every staff member that I have ever spoken to has been kind and listened to my concerns. If you are concerned and want assurance that the experience is a good one, you could call prior and let the legislator's office know to expect your call. Just a heads up:)

I would schedule an hour for this activity. Don't rush. Answer questions. Enjoy this time learning together and use the hero words, look them up. See if the children can use those hero words more this next week.

If you try this, I would like to know how it turned out.