The unsung heroes

I was reading the biography of a famous Egyptian doctor, a dignitary and well respected personality who also became the Minister of Health around 1940. While being a talented student who worked hard to attain high standards of excellence, this story is not about him, it is about his mother.

Hailing from a village in Egypt, his father divorced the mother while she was pregnant with the doctor, simply because he was too poor to provide for her and the upcoming baby.

The mother returned to her father’s home, heartbroken. She gave birth to him and went through a lot of hardship to get him through elementary school. At this point, the father appeared in their lives again, not to help, but to take the boy for work. This was of course not the mother’s plan. She had much bigger ambitions for her son.

She managed to escape with him to the big city where she worked as a domestic worker, while taking her son through the education process. Her sacrifices paid off and her son attained the highest academic levels and was given many titles by leaders of the country during that time.

There are many unsung heroes and heroines who, like this mother, stayed in the shadows to help and bring to light the life of a loved one. In this case, the mother was divorced, abandoned while pregnant without a penny in her position. She was looked down upon by the society, still, she never gave up her dream for her son.

In other cases it might be a father who sacrificed everything for the sake of his children. I also heard stories of siblings who did the same for each other, one putting the progress and education of their siblings ahead of their own. Whatever the case, these heroes, may at some point in time feel unappreciated. Some might develop a high sense of expectation from others.

This may somehow dilute the great sacrifices they made. The best scenario is when the receivers of the deed, whole heartedly value the sacrifices made for them, and find means to show appreciation.
Even better is when the one who performed these sacrifices, is completely detached from their deeds, just like a mother would do for her children.