Poor Leander

The word hero comes from a person named Hero, a priestess that lived in a town called Hellespont (now Dardanelles). Hero was loved by Leander, a youth who lived at Abydos, a town on the Asian side of the channel. They could not marry because Hero was bound by a vow of chastity, and so every night Leander swam from Asia to Europe, guided by a lamp in Hero's tower. One stormy night a high wind extinguished the beacon, and Leander was drowned. His body was washed ashore beneath Hero's tower; in her grief, she threw herself into the sea. The above story is supposed to be the origin of the word "hero." Not sure where the modern meaning came from but our girl Hero does not sound the type to live up to the present meaning. Having some damn fool drown his fool self while swimming across the Hellespont to meet you, and not giving it up to him, smacks more of a villain than a hero. I guess this is my way of saying that today is hero-less. I was unable to find anyone that rose to the level of hero in my eyes. I had a suggestion or two, but they just did not do it for me. I suppose that sometimes life just throws pitches at you that you just can not hit. We all can't be French soccer players, or Austrian Emperors that make our mark in history. Not that making your mark in history makes you a hero, there are countless non-famous heroes out there right now. One may be sitting in the cube beside you, one never knows. I still prefer the named hero, the one you can stick on a pedestal, if you have one handy, and use as an example to live up to. I guess life just does not always follow the same plan that you do. To survive this madness that we call day to day existence, and reach the exalted status of hero is not easy, and for today at least, no one is my hero of the day.