Tag Archive for hero

Free Book to Help Kids Deal with the Covidvirus

April 13, 2020 Comments Off on Free Book to Help Kids Deal with the Covidvirus

What a great idea! Adults are struggling with answering the questions from kids and explaining what they can do to be a Superhero in this pandemic. Because children respond better to stories than they often do to parental explanations and dictates, a creature named Arlo was created. He captivates a child’s attention, explaining this confusing world and what the child can do to become a superhero (always a child’s big dream).

This storybook was put together by a United Nations group after finding out what kids are thinking and feeling. It has been translated into multiple languages and distributed throughout the world. It’s available for free as a PDF. Go to https://interagencystandingcommittee.org/system/files/2020-04/My%20Hero%20is%20You%2C%20Storybook%20for%20Children%20on%20COVID-19.pdf and download My Hero is You right now.

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Daily Calling?

December 11, 2014 Comments Off on Daily Calling?

21-year-old pre-med student Alton Brieske denied being a hero after he saw a car going into the river and he jumped in, broke into the car, pulled a non-breathing elderly man to shore, then gave him CPR.  For today’s Thoughtful Thursday, let’s consider how he described the situation: “That was my calling for the day.”

Makes me think that we may all have a “calling” for each day; we just need to recognize and act on it.

For people who don’t swim or know CPR, how about the man who was wandering by and heard Alton’s cry for a hammer to smash the car window.  He just happened to have one with him.  Maybe that was his calling for the day.

 

 

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On the Lighter Side: So, It Is What It Is & It’s All Good

October 7, 2014 Comments Off on On the Lighter Side: So, It Is What It Is & It’s All Good

So, today I want to vent about words and phrases that I’m sick and tired of hearing. These thoughtlessly-uttered words have caused me to snap several times.  Look, I realize that it’s all good.  Look, I like to recognize the person who has done something without risk to himself but produced good for someone…he absolutely IS a hero.  After all, he could have snapped and run away from the situation.  Instead, he decided to do the good deed and pay it forward.  If he hadn’t, we would have had to send our thoughts and prayers to the unfortunate person he ended up not helping.  Some people think a hero is only someone who puts himself in danger to help another person; I think the guy who buys an ice cream for a crying child is a hero. But, as I say, it’s all good, and as far as the opinions of those others, I tell them that it is what it is.  Absolutely.

So, look… as an old English teacher I’m writing this to educate you and give myself some much-needed closure.  I expect no gratitude; I’m just paying it forward.  And, of course, for all of you who are vocabulary-deficient, my thoughts and prayers are with you.

 

 

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Movie Review: “Captain Phillips”

October 29, 2013 Comments Off on Movie Review: “Captain Phillips”

I was a bit surprised by this film.  I’d heard the complaints from crew members that the story deviates from the truth and that Capt. Phillips wasn’t exactly the hero the film portrays.  I knew it was a fairly long movie–would I be bored with endless water and evil-acting, inhuman pirates?  Still, it WAS starring Tom Hanks….

It was a great film.  Non-stop edge-of-seat action which didn’t depend on wrecked cars, bloody gun battles, and sex scenes that lasted longer than humanly possible.  Good acting.  Interesting characters.  Realistic story-line in terms of the problem of piracy along the African coast and the fact (as recent events attest) that Americans are perceived as prime targets for kidnapping because we’re all rich.  There was even a hint of an actual social justice concern (close to my heart): poverty-stricken men making a living, often reluctantly, by hiring on with the pirate boss, who considers them worthless and expendable because there are so many of them.

I’m sorry, Capt. Phillips crew members, but I thought this was a movie well worth seeing.

 

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