“Everyone needs a hero”. I can’t remember where exactly I heard that from, or who said it, but I remember that particular phrase. Not because it held such meaning or what not but more of the cynical reaction I gave when I first heard it, which went something like “Pfffft, yeah, right” followed by rolling eyes.
Back in the olden days (of fairy tales), young girls were always made to believe (through fairy tales) of the arrival of a gallant knight, a.k.a hero, to come to their rescue and save them from their dilemmas, a.k.a their miserable, lonely (sexless?) life. The knight/hero usually fights, and successfully, defeats the arch enemy, e.g. dragon, dark knight, corrupted king or prince, witch, the bad guy, etc, before claiming his prize, a.k.a the princess, damsel in distress, abused maid, the woman, etc.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to be gender-biased or anything of the sort, but that’s how the (fairy) tale goes. Well, poo to you, I’m not going to sit on my booty and wait for my ‘prince’ to come and save me. I don’t need no hero.
Or so that’s what I thought.
I never knew it, never realized it, never saw it, but I actually do have a hero. Yep, a real honest to goodness hero. However, my hero is not one who comes rushing to my rescue or flatter me with sweet nothings.
My hero is one who waits for me to come to him but is always there for me regardless of the time and place. He is one who would tell me the cold hard facts whether I want to hear it or not. His belief is that he won’t simply tell me that ‘Everything will be alright” but rather he’ll go through the situation with me and point out what I should worry about and what I could do about it. He won’t sweep me off my feet and slay my dragons for me; he expects me to slay them myself.
Harsh? Maybe, but I would rather have a hero who helps me to develop myself.
Who’s my hero?
Well, I can tell you that he’s definitely one of a kind. Patient, understanding, worldly, fun, unpredictable, thoughtful, he’s everything a girl could wish for.
He’s my brother.
