I am often asked who are my heroes. Who inspire me or who do I admire. Whilst the obvious Miss World contestant default answer would be my mom (and the Lord Jesus Christ). I wanted to give it some more thought.
My first love as a child was and remains Mae West. You can keep your Marilyn and Rita. I love a ballsy fiery woman who roared at society, stuck her figure up at segregation and was willing to go to jail for her beliefs. My favourite story is that Mae was dating a man of African descent and when the building manager of where she was residing refused him entry, that classy broad bought the whole joint. It didnt matter that she dated the gentleman for a few weeks, no one told Mae West what to do. Not the most beautiful of woman, she worked hard and proved that beauty is nothing without substance. She wrote, produced, acting amongst so many things. She never lost her bawdy attitude.
Mae…Glam.
Why I like her is all that and so much more. Mae West had her problems but she was one hell of a business woman and I think she is one hell of a force.
My other hero is my Step Dad ‘Jack’. Needless to say I wasnt the best of kids when I came to spontaneously live with him and my mom when i was 17. I was a tad mixed up (as all angst ridden teenagers are) and determined to hate the world. He made me laugh and welcome. He works hard in the military (first here in the UK and now in Australia). He didnt go to a massive university but is one hell of a mega brain (Dont play Trivial Pursuit with him!). Often we argue like cats and dogs and the other times we are as thick as thieves. Jack has served in some horrendous areas during his military career and I am sure hasnt told us at the home the true extent of it. Whilst it’s so easy to say he is my hero for that reason, its because he makes my mom happy when she has had a pretty rocky time of it. My choice to join the RAF wasnt because of Jack’s own forces career but I *think* I made him grin doing it.
Me and the ‘Jack’. The day I graduated from RAF Training…my badly fitting uniform…
My other heroes are: Lucille Ball, Claire Balding and Stephen Fry. There are more people I admire for a variety of reasons but as I get older my heroes change as life develops before me. One day I hope to inspire someone else…or is that too egotistical to say?
I have so much more in life I want to do, knowing my heroes have paved the way for so many people after them in their own ways, I like to think somewhere one day I may do the same…
Who are your heroes?
