I resorted to an old high school/college trick I used all the time (which I'm sure is used by others ALL the time, too) to try to answer this because I was having a VERY tough time with it.  First of all...I couldn't think of any of my heroes.  Then, once I did come up with a few I realized that none of them have ever let me down.  I'm pretty picky when it comes to the people I look up to and the people I trust.

I use to be one of those, "Trust them until they don't deserve it" kind of gals...then that got me totally screwed over and I became a "Don't trust anyone until they prove they deserve it" kind of gal.  I fully believe that no one is perfect (myself *ahem* included) so I don't think I have unrealistic expectations for anyone anymore...

So...the old high school/college trick I was talking about...I went to the dictionary.  Dictionary.com that is.  I got the definitions for Hero:

I've decided to write a letter to hero #5...yes, I'm writing this letter to a sandwich.

Dear Inferior Chicken Cheese Steak,

     I know that it isn't your fault.  I know that I should be writing this letter to the cook who threw you together without knowing that I had already tasted a far superior Chicken Cheese Steak that you could never compare with.  I know that you did your very best - but you were covered with American Cheese, green peppers and onions NOT simply Cheese Whiz.

     It isn't that I didn't enjoy you.  It's just that my expectations were so high.  When I saw you on the menu, I was so excited!  My mind raced back to standing in line at a little dive Cheese Steak place on a corner in Philadelphia while I was doing my first student teacher experience.  I remembered the bullet proof glass that the cooks stood behind.  I remembered the smell of grease and the heat that filled the little "hut" they were cooking in.  I remembered the impatience the man taking my order showed when I needed clarification when he asked, "You want it with or without?"  I anticipated your arrival in a piece of butcher paper wrapped around you, with a piece of foil wrapped around it.

     Instead, you arrived on a white plate with an order of fries and a slice of cantaloupe.  Again, not your fault.  Your chicken was also more chicken chunks instead of shredded or chopped chicken...it just wasn't as juicy or as tender or as delicious.

     Please, don't feel bad.  There have been other Chicken Cheese Steaks that have come after you and failed miserably as well.  It's probably more my fault.  I tried to turn you into something that you aren't - something you just couldn't be...

    Janene

Sorry - lame, I know.  It was either this or write a letter to Frodo telling him how utterly disappointed I was that he didn't just throw the damn ring in the fire when he first had a chance...or how he could have not trusted Sam after all they had been through together!  I almost took that route ~ so consider yourself lucky that you only had to read about a sandwich and not a hobbit...and please, keep reading!  I promise tomorrow's post will be better.  :)