You Can be my Hero, Baby

When we think of heroes, we think of Mother Theresa, Martin Luther and later Martin Luther King, Jr., Winston Churchill and Abraham Lincoln.

You may believe that to become a hero you must come across a terrible accident and act in a way which goes beyond the capabilities of the average human. You may believe that most of us will never have the opportunity to become heroes.

You would be wrong.

When I was a child, I was severely abused. I spent many hours in fear for my life. One thing an abused child learns is that Social Workers, Preachers, Teachers, Counselors, Police Officers, Doctors, The Foster Care system and here’s the biggie, God, are all enemies and are all out to get you. You avoid them and never talk to them. The last place you want to be is alone in a room with any of the above.

The reality of this is that they are the enemies of those who are abusing you. God is sometimes the biggest enemy of all, and in many cases, he is used against you at every turn. Those listed above are used as a threat to convince you to conform and cooperate with any sentence your abuser passes on you.

I had the opportunity to speak to several social workers in Clarke County this week and here is what I learned. There are more than 100 children who need foster care and only around 20 foster families available. In 2010, there were 116,714 people in Clarke County.

Are you telling me that we cannot come up with 100 foster families? These numbers are disturbing and mirrored throughout the state.

Abused children need love, they need care, and they need food, but those are only minor considerations. They need hope, they need the things you take for granted. Normal, they need normal, and no child should dream of being normal.

They need a person they can call, later in life, when they become engaged, when they learn they are pregnant. They need someone who will snatch them from the brink of disaster when they make a mistake. They need a hero on the other end of a phone line for the rest of their lives. A hero to be proud of them for their triumphs and to hold their hands during the multitude of disappointments and failures we all face. Above all, they need a compass.

Being a foster parent requires commitment and an ability to mend the heart of others, as well as your own. Sure, you must willingly place your heart in the hands of innocent, damaged children, and it may, at times, get crushed. The hundreds of lives you positively change will be worth it all.

Please consider being a hero in your local area. Contact Pat Harrison (706-227-7904) or Brigette Love (706-227-7040) at Clarke County DFCS or email them for more information. Dial (877-210-5437) to discover how to become a real life hero.

Please contact me if you need someone to personally, figuratively or literally beg you to become a hero.

 To paraphrase Enrigue Iglesias and Billy Joel,  “I can be your hero baby; I can take away the pain. And you can have this heart to break.”