Real Heroes and Heroines: Teachers

by Kristin Holt

I won the parent lottery. My parents read to me.

I won the first grade teacher lottery. I'll never forget Miss W's patience and kind explanations to my questions, including, "But how do you read so quickly?"

If you can read, you can learn anything.

Literacy rates in the Old West were lower than in education-focused New England.

1. Old West parents were more worried about harvesting the crop than their children's 100% attendance in one-room schoolhouses. In New England, well-to-do fathers saw their sons into high school as a preparation for college.
2. While the working poor of New England often did not need basic literacy skills (cotton mills and factory jobs), neither did most western pursuits: miners, railroad construction workers, and hired ranch hands.
3. Nineteenth Century Americans knew they needed a basic education. Without the ability to read a bill of sale or contract, swindlers had the advantage.
4. Old West Education often ceased at 8th grade--though a good percentage of students stopped attending before then. Whether orphaned or pressed into the work force, education, for many, proved to be a luxury.

TEACHERS are real-life heroes. Whether in a one-room schoolhouse on the dusty streets of an Old West town or in today's crowded classrooms, the work teachers do in building the future, investing in hope and possibilities and opportunity qualifies them as heroes.

Did you have a teacher who made all the difference for you?

Hi! I'm Kristin Holt, author of Sweet (wholesome, "clean") Romance set in the Victorian-era American West. Mail-order brides, small-town love stories, bonds strong enough to withstand significant challenges, and love to last a lifetime.

My engineer husband of nearly three decades rolls his eyes at my romanticism and fondness for happily ever afters. But he agrees with me--growing old together has been a beautiful journey. Given the opportunity, I'd do it all over again...and I'd still choose him. (Our 28th wedding anniversary is in two days, March 17th.)

I love hearing from readers. Please post a response here or stop by my website and say hello!

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My Children are my real life heroes by Paty Jager

The more time I spend with my grown children the more I see the parent or young adult I wished I'd been.

I grew up without a purpose. Well, I take that back, I wanted to be a writer and an artist but I was told I had to pursue a career in the medical field. I guess that would dash ones desires. Because I wasn't allowed to think about doing something as an adult that I wanted to do, I didn't think about my future as much as I should have.

Where, as my children grew, I saw their passions and urged them to develop their passions.

oldest with her nieces and nephews

Our oldest loves animals and became a veterinarian technician. Her devotion to animals and knowing what to do amazes me. When a young horse needed a home, my daughter took it in. She discovered it was wormy, full of ticks, and under nourished. She scrubbed the horse, clean it up and doctored it back to health. When a friend had to get rid of her dog due to health issues, our daughter stepped in, took the dog, (It had fleas bad) cleaned it up and found it an excellent home. She and her husband adopted two half sisters. One requires extra time, attention, and medical help. Our daughter goes at raising her daughters with the same thoroughness she does taking care of animals and she gardens, keeps an immaculate house, and helps at the school and with 4-H.

Daughter and kids riding

Our second daughter loves horses, children, and sewing. Those were her passions while growing up. Her senior year of school she sat down to make the decision of what she wanted to do with those three things to build a career. She ended up going to fashion design school. She loves sewing and drawing new designs, but she also uses that degree to design book covers for me and other authors. She has four children, three she is homeschooling as well as she and her husband like to remodel and build houses. Plus she gardens, makes her own soaps and household cleaners and volunteers to make costumes for her daughter's dance recital. And she does it all with a smile on her face.

Son and his nephew taking a nap

Our son, has been a single parent a good part of his parenthood. He surprises me with his knowledge of world events, what distributor cap works on what engine, and how to make his daughter's hair stay in a ponytail. He's in the military and has proudly been serving since 2001.

There is nothing that expands my heart more nor makes me feel as inept than seeing the wonderful lives and talents of my children. They are my heroes.

When Ordinary People Become Heroes by Kristin Wallace

The theme this month on Romancing the Genres is “real life heroes”.  I think sometimes we use the term hero loosely. Sometimes we celebrate the wrong people. We elevate athletes and other celebrities, when real heroes are right in our communities. The teachers who inspire students to learn, the doctors and nurses who go to work every day and save lives, the single mothers, those battling cancer or other disease.

Sometimes heroes turn out to be people going about their day who are suddenly faced with a situation where they have to step up. Then there are the times when a group of strangers becomes the rescue team. I see videos coming across my Facebook feed all the time. I love these videos because they show that people will do the right thing, despite all the negative news stories out there. Whether they are rescuing a woman from a sinking car, a father jumping into a river after his daughter, or even a deaf man pulling a deer trapped in the ice to safety, real heroes are all around us. We just have to look for them. Here are a couple examples. 

Kristin Wallace is the USA Today Best Selling Author of inspirational and contemporary romance, and women’s fiction filled with “Love, Laughter and a Leap of Faith”. Her popular series include the Covington Falls Chronicles, inspirational romances set in a fictional Southern town, and Shellwater Key Tales, women’s fiction/romances set in Florida. Look for her latest release COMING HOME TO PARADISE later this month! For info on her books or how to connect, visit her website at Kristin Wallace Author