They’re Regular Folks And Heroes
Every school morning, drivers along Northwest Boulevard in Spokane wave to crossing guard Jeanette Alberty. She smiles and waves back. When the ice storm hit, schools were closed and the drive to work along the boulevard was colder than usual. No Alberty, no wave, no smile.
Monday, school resumed. Because of the snow, students crossed at a slightly different place, but Alberty was there, the shepherd of the children, smiling and waving to the drivers. It felt warm and safe again on the streets.
Alberty is an everyday hero. In the past year, we’ve featured her and dozens of other everyday heroes in our news pages. Grandparents. Good neighbors. Special friends. Foster parents. Little League coaches.
They aren’t the people who run big corporations, chair important boards, win elections. They are just plain folks, living their lives as decently as they know how. They are low on ego and high on humility.
They have an amazing ripple effect in our community, and on this Thanksgiving Day, we pause to thank them.
Since the ice storm slammed into the region more than a week ago, many everyday heroes have emerged from hiding. For instance, police were geared up for car accidents at intersections where stoplights were darkened by the storm. To their surprise, there were few accidents. Drivers waited and then gave one another turns. Were some of these people the red-light runners so common in our community? Possibly. But the “everyday hero” part of those drivers emerged in the crisis.
We’ve received about 100 thank-you letters about people who helped one another through the storm. Everyday heroes abound. Neighbors shared heat, light, food and showers. They checked with older folks on the block. Shelter workers, numb with fatigue, kept going.
A pine tree crashed on Betty Pontarolo’s car during the storm. A woman on the scene hugged her. It calmed her shaky nerves and allowed her to drive home. That anonymous hugger is an everyday hero.
Judy Beloate of Mead called Washington Water Power, and the man who answered, a man named Jason, was very kind to her on the phone. She told him it was her birthday and how disappointed she was that she couldn’t bake a cake. Later, when the lights came on, she was grateful to Jason for having listened despite being frantically busy. Jason is an everyday hero.
Every family has a personal hero. Look around your dinner table today and say a special thanks.
, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Rebecca Nappi For the editorial board