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Our society is big on creating heroes for ourselves and our children to worship even to the point of giving up our religions to stay home on Sundays to watch some of our heroes play ball or race cars. Since I am an atheist and have not been in a church in 30 years then I guess I will stay home and watch Dale jr fall on his face again next year. I guess I pick my heroes poorly.
But who are the real heroes in our society as we now live in it. Real live heroes are not only not recognized but don't really know they are heroes just a group of people struggling to make it through the day carrying burdens they really didn't ask for but may in part be responsible for that burden.
Raising children comes without training, skills or any background other that what we pick up from what our parents taught us. How they turn out depends on a lot of factors some of which we are in control of and some society takes control away from us as they grow up.
In most cases our children turn out to be at least decent human beings with the ability to handle the responsibility of going through life taking care of how their lives have turned out, including all the baggage they have picked up along the way.
Some will leave that baggage at the front door of their parents as they go through life drinking, taking drugs or just not having the skills to cope with children, debts or any emotional problems in life. This brings us to the real heroes in life. The parents who have become grandparents and once again surrogate parents to the offspring of their children.
The grandparents without a doubt played a role in the failure of their children's lives in some form or fashion giving them the guilt trip that allows their children to drop off the kids and move on with their lives or as with most cases the grandparents have to pick up the children at a social workers office since the mother is either in jail or simply disappeared with the latest boyfriend.
Heroes? yes in some form or fashion. Maybe not the people to get the children of their children to make the same mistakes twice and put the same problems back out in society at a later date. BUT they do man up to the problem and take on the responsibility of family and give up their last years which should have been a time to relax and enjoy the few remaining years of their lives.
They can be blamed for the problems to begin with but again what a person makes out of their life depends on that person. Their children are the zeroes since they never took responsibility for any of their problems as can be shown by the number of grandparents raising children they did not intend to raise. That is not saying they should not be raising these children because most are great loving people who would have it no other way. In most cases they try harder to make sure the grandchildren have the right tools to make it through life.
And of course there are the grandparents who take in their grandchildren because there is a real problem with their own children not associated with the wrong sides of life. Stepping up to the responsibility to hold their families together regardless of the burdens makes them heroes without asking for the accolades, since it is their responsibility and they stand for it with pride.
So Hat's off to the grandparents and hats on to the zeroes who add to the misery of their children and parents by their actions.