The brief Terry Fox Run, which in this case was a stroll, took place last Thursday. From some kids' perspective, it was a break from books, boards, and bullies; for others, it was like a breath of fresh air. Well, actually, it was a breath of fresh air – probably 45 minutes worth -- exhaust fumes notwithstanding.
If you gawked at the walkers and the talkers, you may have seen a tall, dark, handsome dude walking very energetically over the complete circuit. Well, that wasn't me; I was the short, bald, facially-challenged dud walking beside him. That is, when I wasn't panting on the pavement and coughing on the curb.
Terry Fox. One of Canada's true heroes. All the kids and probably even some of the teachers weren't even born when he started his heroic trek across Canada twenty-eight years ago. He had to stop it because his cancer came back, somewhere in northern Ontario – near Thunder Bay, if memory serves me correct.
The cancer that motivated him to "run" from sea to shining sea finally caught up with him by the late spring of the following year. I remember it well enough by association: My wife and I were married just after he passed away and just before Charles and Diana tied the knot.
Many heroes pass away in the prime of their life and the memory of their deeds are larger-than-life itself. Not so with Terry. The only thing that appears larger than life is the huge sums of money that is raised in his name each year. But in terms of who he was, what he did, and so forth, he is just another common Canadian hero. And I like it that way.
I say James Dean (and most of you say "Who?), or mention the name of Elvis Presley (and the rest of you squeal). These are "heroes" (please, children, note the quotation marks: either quoteworthy or noteworthy), but heroes disproportionate to what they really did. Dean acted and pouted, whereas Presley sang and shook. If half of what I know about those rascals is true, then the word "hero" is a shameful misuse of the English language.
A hero, in my view, is one who gives himself for someone else, one who serves others selflessly. That's why I don't seek autographs of athletes who make more money in a signing bonus than I will make in a decade or two of actually working for a living. That's why few politicians qualify as heroes, unless one stands up against popular notions, standing up for what is right and moral, not merely trendy and easy.
My mother, and your mother, too, would be considered a heroine by the above test.
I also think by the above standards, Terry Fox qualifies as a true hero. He stood up and stood alone on his one good leg, and he threw himself into a cause that was bigger and greater than himself. We should all take a page out of his book, so to speak.
He probably would have made a poor politician but a fabulous leader. With an election looming, I think he would have made a great prime minister.
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