We all need heroes, and some of them live right down the street.
The biggest heroes around are the Big Island police, those noblemen in blue. Most of them grew up on this gentle island and they have to face rough mainland problems every day. Always human, always helpful.
Tied with them are the local firefighters. Last week, we saw them save Waimea and Waikoloa from blazing flames.
And never forget the first responders down at Fissure 8, helping people under a hail of volcanic bombs. Pat them on them back.
Then there is steadfast Lt. Gov. Josh Green, what a leader. He’s guiding us through these stormy COVID seas like a captain on deck. Always positive.
One morning I was watching the news, Green came on and mentioned that he’d just caught the COVID! What!? There he was on TV with the coronavirus, calm as you please, right there at his post. Now there’s a hero.
Moving right along, how about that dashing fellow down at the harbor beach a few years ago. Ironically he was from the local boat named “Bite Me.” Ironic, because he and his girlfriend were swimming in the cove when a large shark started heading for his girlfriend to bite her.
This macho man swam toward the shark, grabbed it around the neck and punched it in the nose! It swam away and he saved his girlfriend. You can bet she looked up at him and said, “my hero.”
Lifeguards are heroic, a few just saved a drowning man’s life at Kua Bay.
There’s a lady hero living nearby, her name is Vickie. She is a short, sweet lady with long dark hair. She is a rare and daring soul who, in the dark of night can snatch a coqui frog off a tree with her bare hand! A legendary coqui killer.
She keeps the neighborhood fairly quiet and her smiling face brings us together.
Lately, I’ve visited a physical rehab service in Kona where a small group of therapists get disabled people to walk again. That is a miracle.
Other great people are teachers. During these COVID times, they enter a closed classroom with a hundred kids a day, now that’s bravery. Give them combat pay.
There are heroes you never thought of, they are people without a penny, with only their clothes on their back and an old blanket, who wake up starving every day.
They manage to stand up, brush themselves off, and with only the mysterious human spark within them, step out and face the day. The homeless are heroic in their own way.
We foolishly look down on them, when our own life could take a turn and any one of us could be right there with them. Give them a smile when you drive by that could be you standing on that street corner.
But the greatest are those happy, harried souls who rise each day, cook breakfast, get the kids off to school. Then they drive off to work, pay a mountain of bills and make it back to cook dinner for the family.
Yes folks, the best ones of all are you who do the impossible every day, taking care of your family. That takes a real hero.
Dennis Gregory writes a bi-monthly column for West Hawaii Today and welcomes your comments at makewavess@yahoo.com.