Birthdays and Heroes

I love BIRTHDAYS because it is a time to honor and shower with love the people who are so dear to my heart. It is a time of laughter, of getting together with family and eating cake and ice cream.

The honorary birthday boys this week: Brian and his dad.

His parents came up this week and we went out to dinner with them, Holly's family and his niece Ashley. It was a lot of fun spending time together and celebrating.

Holly (Brian's sister) and her family, Lizzy, Lauren, Greg and Jackson
Brian's Mom and niece Ashley

As I was looking for an appropriate birthday card for Brian, I found the perfect one. Perhaps it wasn't really a birthday card, but it said how I feel about him. The front of the card had a superman-like figure on it with the word "You...". The inside of the card was plain except for 3 words: "are my hero." I've been thinking a lot about heroes since then. I don't think the definition of a true hero is someone who is "faster than a speeding bullet", or who has spider-like characteristics, or who can lift a semi-truck with his little finger. I believe that true heroes are ordinary people who inspire others to be more than they believe they can be.

One of my heroes!

Brian is one of those ordinary people who has the extraordinary ability to love others. He genuinely cares for everyone and is sincerely interested in their individual lives and life history. He is constantly placing everyone else's needs above his own and is always on the lookout for ways that he can help others. I am one of the main recipients of his love and concern which inspires me to try to be a more loving and caring person. I am truly blessed to be married to Brian. He is the love of my life!Brian, Myself and my Dad

Another hero in my life is my Dad. He had an extraordinary work ethic. While growing up, he was always working on one project or another. It was rare to find him just sitting around. He was usually working in one of his gardens (His flower garden was one of the most beautiful in the town we lived in and his vegetable garden was always very productive. Makes me wonder how I got a semi-black thumb.), building something with wood in the basement (Two of my most prized possessions are the head board and entertainment center that he made me.), or adding on to our house. Even when he was extremely ill with cancer, he worked as long as his body would allow. He enjoyed doing a lot of these projects with his children and he instilled in each of us the ability, if not the love of work. This isn't to say that he didn't enjoy playing. He enjoyed riding motorbikes or horses with us as well as camping and hiking, but he also enjoyed good old fashioned work. Although he died two years ago, his love and example live forever in my heart.

Bertha Rosa Furhrer

My Great-Grandmother Bertha Rosa Fuhrer had extraordinary faith. In the 1890's she, her sister Mary and her father were introduced to and accepted the gospel in Switzerland. Soon afterward, both Mary and her father died. The rest of her family were bitterly opposed to the LDS Church and told her that she would either have to stop her association with the church or leave her childhood home, for they would have nothing to do with a "Mormon". Her continued faith supported her in many trials and hardships in Switzerland and then in Utah. Whenever I am discouraged, or think that my trials are too difficult, I try to think of this wonderful ancestor; and I am buoyed up by her example of faith and determination.
I have many heroes in my life, people who are wonderful examples and inspire me continually to be the best that I can. I would like to share just one more. Actually this time my hero is not just one person, but a group of very special people. As some of you know, Brian and I are hoping for the miracle of adopting a child soon. Each birthparent is a hero in my eyes. I am inspired by their extraordinary strength and courage. I am awed by the love that I feel for each of them, although individually I do not know them. I know that for some of you that might not make any sense, but I believe that this love in inspired by the pure and selfless decision of each of these amazing parents. My heart aches for each of them and I wish that I could do something to ease the monstrous weight upon their shoulders. I have realized, though, that the only thing I can do is to plead for help from the one who helps us all, our Heavenly Father.
Who are your heroes?