Ever have a hero?

Someone once asked me who my hero was. I didn’t have an answer… or at least, not a good one. I’m not sure I have a better answer now but I have met a lot of people who are heroes of a sort. Perhaps it is that I don’t really understand what a hero is. If it is someone that represents something special, exceptional, and is bigger than life then I know a bunch of heroes. In fact, most of the people I know could qualify.

Let me tell you about a very young, very special hero I saw this week. I know this guy fairly well after taking care of him and his family for a couple years. This hero is seven years old. He and his little sister were having physicals this week and she needed shots. He told everyone he wanted a shot. If she was going to have one, he would too. Not that any boy wants a shot but he wanted her to think a shot was nothing or was something to be desired so she wouldn’t be worried.

Turns out, he needed his last chicken pox vaccine. She, unfortunately, needed 3 vaccines to complete her course. When I came back into the room, he was sitting beside her with his shirt off and his undershirt sleeve rolled up. I told him he was getting his wish, a shot. Then I squirted him with water from a syringe and gave it to him to play later.

His sister was stricken. She hid behind her dad. So I squirted him with her shot and gave the giggling girl her syringe. Dad informed them that they could use them like water guns but that he gets to use the super soaker in response. The spell of fear was broken.

When the assistants gave the kids their shots, they were very brave. After his shot, brother told her it was ok, it didn’t hurt. She tried to be tough but it does hurt. So, after the first one, he insisted that she only needed two and begged them not to give her the third. She relaxed a little and the next two didn’t hurt so badly. Maybe partly because Noemi is good at giving shots or maybe because her heroes were in the room with her.

2/12/08