Hero

I attended a Diversity and Equalities Forum Weekend recently and at the end of the saturday session the homework we were given was to think about who our hero was.
It was really thought provoking and I mulled it over in my head most of the evening. I asked a few people at dinner who they would choose as heroes. Some of them hadn't been awake when the homework was set and promptly got excited or silent or both depending on how much wine they were drinking (I only had ONE large glass so still knew where we were and what day it was!) The lady sitting opposite me I shall call her Babette (only because I don't know what her real name is and she needs a silly name) told me her hero was.....MARGRET THATCHER.
If you love the afore mentioned read no more because I do not!
Babette said she admred her so much., that she was wonderful, that she stood up to people but what she most liked her for was the immortal words that came from the great Thatchers lips-
" This Lady is not for turning"
I am still stunned. Like a rabbit caught in the headlights of a car I sat in silence with my mouth open. Taking into account we were at a UNION function and that a Conservative leader does bugger all for unions in general I was impressed by her intention to actually SAY SO OUT LOUD!
Well me being me, I started with pointing out that I admired Mrs Thatcher for be so hard and never backing down which is unusual for a woman I abolutely detested her politics.
Babette thought she led the country well through a war.....which shall remain nameless.
I pointed out that I held her and her government responsible for the deaths of so many because they had cut back on funds for patrol ships.....
Of course I said far more but it was a bot like a Beatle and a Stones fan or David Cassidy and The Osmonds batling it out. I felt like I was RED and she was a pretty shade of pink.
It's so weird how some of us see the world through rose coloured glasses and make excuses for the nasty bits.
ANYWAY...during the night which was actually 48hrs long or felt like that 'cause I couldn't sleep
I got up and wrote the following-

Thinking about who my hero would be i realise that it is not any one man or woman. There came a time in my life when I became aware that all was not right with the world.
I learned from Jean Jacques Rousseau that 'man is born free yet everywhere he is in chains'
I learned from maya Angelou that it is possible to be gracious and forgiving and tolerant in the face of adversity and great hardship.
And I learned from an old friend Dennis Birch who died a few years ago a great piece of advice when he told me-
'I keep holding out the hand of friendship and it's up to the person if they want to take it'
Who would have thought that in my lifetime I would see the Berlin wall come down.the Twin Towers raised to the ground and the self sacrificing act of the rescue workers AND a black President in The Whitehouse in one of the more prejudiced countries in the world.
So my heroes are the ordinary men and women who become EXTRA ordinary, bringing about changes and working tirelessly for the future, to change the things that are wrong.

After I read that out I was amazed to receive a round of applause. I guess sometimes whats in our hearts is also in other peoples too.
So the tutor carried on around the room asking for each persons hero.
We had lots of the obvious heroes-Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandelo, Dads, Grandparents, Banana Man. Babette bottled out and substituted Thatcher for Martin Luther King! and some people told us about their heroes that were not famous globally, only in the countries they lived. That made me think!
So who is your hero?

November ramble

It's already November! I can't believe how quickly this year has flown by and here we are nearly at the end of it. I must admit to be glad to see the back of it . This has been a particularly hard year with Hubby in intensive care and our dear little dog dying and I have suffered the death of a loved one in all but body.
Dare I say that the C word is just a few weeks away....
It's going to be an odd Christmas for me because I will be celebrating it minus the tiny plastic fairy that has sat on the top of our tree for many years. It's not lost or broken it is still packed away in the attic with all of the other twinkly bits,quite safe waiting to be sent off.
That crappy, liittle thing has always been a big part of our decorations. The tree has changed many times- real to artifical, snow sprayed to pine coned then back to real. The tinsel and the baubles from green and gold to red and gold, settling on blue and silver for many years till finally reaching the perfection of bronze, gold and orange. It matches the colour of the lounge these days instead of clashing nastily lol!.
So why am I replacing it? Is it to replace it with some fabulous less shoddy angel? No it's not. I have no idea what will adorn the top of the tree this year but I know for certain that it won't be my little plastic friend because she holds too many memories that were wonderful treasures that were stored in my heart. She was bought from somewhere long forgotten, many years ago, as a keep sake for someone I loved. I have always looked at her sitting (usually crooked) way up against the ceiling and thought of all those special years that have passed in our lives.
A little bit like a mile stone, she signified growth and the passing of time and I could never have imagined her thrown out to be replaced by something more grand. sadly the loved one concerned threw me out earlier this year. It broke my heart so literally that I cry every time I speak of it. Wrapping up those pieces into anger I waded through the summer months and eventualy felt a calm sadness that encoraged me to write to that loved one. I would like to say that it all worked out and all is well and my heart is well and truly glued back together but it's not. Instead of reconcilliation I was well and truly thrown out. I am apparently so awful to be around I would need a total personality transplant to be acceptable. If you can imagine inside of you what would be the worst and cruelest things that someone you love could say to you, and that someone was one who had often caused pain and upset over the years for all the family but chose to just enlighten you and vent all their anger and depression on you alone you can understand what I feel like.It has caused so much upset especially as she kept it going playing family members against each other.
And so I am sending that little fairy that was once so precious, to the one who broke the preciousness of a mothers heart. I could never have done something so cruel to my mother but then again I guess I love her. Unconditionally.