By Jennifer LinforthOur request to do a post about heroes came on the heels of me watching a video on YouTube regarding the epidemic of bullying in the United States. Finger to my upper lip, I thought about what makes a hero and one word leapt to mind.
Tolerance.
In the wake of so many teens committing suicide because they are bullied and demeaned by others, one teen stands above the others: Anne Frank... to me the epitome of tolerance.
She was born June 12, 1929 and the world knows her story. Force to go into hiding during the Holocaust, she and her family spent 25 months hiding in a maze of room above her father's office in Amsterdam. The hiding didn't last. Anne and her family were betrayed to the Nazis and forced, like thousands of others to be deported to concentration camps. Nine months later she died at age fifteen.Her diary has become one of the most widely read books in the world. Her words foster a belief in tolerance and preach the consequences of living in a world filled with racial discrimination, intolerance and disrespect. Anne spoke freely on the power of hope. Can anyone deny that this teen was, like so many teens today, bullied--to the ultimate degree?
A hero need not save lives. Sometimes all it takes to be heroic is a little belief and faith that things can and will get better, and a little patience for others and their life choices. Ann wrote: "Sympathy, love, fortune... we all have these qualities but still tend not to use them."
If only we did. How heroic would that be?
Jennifer Linforth expands the classics by continuing The Phantom of the Opera. MADRIGAL and ABENDLIED are available now. Readers should look for future books based on the classics, in addition to her unique historical romances. "Ms. Linforth's prose is phenomenally beautiful and hauntingly breathtaking." ~ Coffee Time Romance
