We Become Our Heroes: A Tribute

What you are about to read forms the basis of a speech that I delivered at the Toastmaster Club where my wife Christina used to be a member.  The speech was part of a special edition of the club to honor Christina. I run out of time but the club was very gracious and allowed me to deliver my speech without interruption. Thanks

What inspires us? Is it music, flowers, a great tree, other people's sacrifice and endurance, their heroism? Is it everything we see and sense? Is it looking at the firmament from a distant mountain to wonder how many other worlds are out there just like ours? Is it injustice, oppression, and witnessing others suffer?  Perhaps everything!

Christina Iren Horvath was a romantic person. She inspired me with her determination in the things she did and cared about. Even when she prepared a speech for Toastmasters; she would pour her entire heart into it! I believe that her heroes, what inspired her, molded the way she projected her life and I loved that. 

To me, Christina was a comrade, a lover, the mother of my children, a partner, my friend, my family. Her list of heroes was long, but she had a special few for their intangible qualities and altitude. Her heroes included Mary Magdalene, Joan Of Arc, Amelia Earhart, Marie Curie, Virginia Hall; what five!!! She knew detailed aspects of their lives and we would seat together, next to each other and she would mesmerize me with their stories. What a privilege!

Madam Toastmaster, distinguished guests, this evening I have the privilege to address you to talk about the people who inspire us.

When we are inspired by something or someone, we become a new person with the potential of reaching new heights, and this happens because this mental stimulation sets our minds free to form new thoughts, new visions of the future that become possibilities, and this new level of excitement can change us forever, change the way we view the world and how we project ourselves, how we create and solve problems.

Interestingly, we are capable to inspire each other, and we do this without even doing anything extraordinary but just being true to our own emotions, ideals, and principles.  If we are inspired by a colleague, we could do a better job, if we are inspired by music we could become more artistic, if we are inspired by a big tree then we could take better care of nature and people.

We find endless inspiration in other people's life achievements, bravery, dedication, courage.  We called these people heroes.

Her Heroes

My wife and I were married for almost 27 years and during this time she influenced me to become a better person, she inspired me.  During the years I discovered her heroes because she would talk about them with admiration and devotion.

Mary Magdalene

Christina was a spiritual person and what she found inspiring about Lady Mary Magdalene was her loyalty.  Four women were present when Jesus was on the cross: his mother,  and her sister, the wife of a merchant and a follower, a disciple, when everyone else disappear fearing for their lives, including all of Jesus' closet associates.  Her loyalty was stronger than her fear and this moved Christina since she was a child and marked her life.  Christina was loyal to her family, to her friends, to toastmasters, to things she cared about.

Joan of Arch

I asked her in one of our evening conversations – “If you had to name the bravest woman in the history of humanity, which would it be” – Her selection: “The Maid of Orleans”: she was young, she lead French armies against the English invaders to free occupied territories and cities, her bravery helped the crowning of a king… and yet was betrayed and died at the stake accused of wearing men clothing and being a heretic!  That would infuriate Christina and this injustice would inspire her through very important life events... oh, yes!!

Marie Curie

Christina held a Master of Science in Chemistry.  I also have an advanced degree in Chemistry and that is how we met each other; in a laboratory setting.  She could have been a professor somewhere because she was brilliant, and I admired her for that.  When she explained to me the subject of her master’s I wanted to change my subject of study and go and work with her!

She had her science hero:  Marie Curie.  What inspire Christina about Curie was that she was a pioneer in the study of radioactivity, she was the first woman to become a professor at the University of Paris, she was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize, and the first woman to win the Nobel Price TWICE IN TWO DIFFERENT FIELDS!  But it was not easy for her, just because she was a woman.

Are we starting to see a pattern?

What all these heroes had a common is capital DETERMINATION, in their journey.

Amelia Earhart

Amelia, a female aviator in a male-dominated world.  When I asked Christina:  

“Why do you think that Amelia is such an important woman, she was just a pilot, a driver”, her answer came like a bullet:

“That is what the boys want you to believe!  She was an aviator opening doors for women when women were supposed to be pretty, put on pretty dresses, have lots of children, stay home and be the property of a man.  She had a passion and she died for it!”

Virginia Hall

Virginia was an American spy working for the British Intelligence in France during WWII.  Virginia wanted to be a diplomat but in those days that was impossible not only because she was a woman but because she also was a disabled woman who had lost a leg in a hunting accident.  But this did not stop her and she became an ambulance driver for the French army.

After the fall of France, she was recruited by British intelligence and returned to France as a spy under the cover of an American journalist.  She became the most wanted spy in France but the Gestapo could never catch her!  She organized jailbreak escapes, assisted wounded agents and pilots, would conduct espionage, sabotage.  At some point, she was in so much danger that she had to escape herself, but she returned a second time as a radio operator and continued her work from the shadows until total victory!

There was a time in my life when Christina was my “Virginia”, and she performed beautifully to save me.

When we are inspired by our heroes, we are changed forever because we take that inspiration and experience it in a very personal way, then we mold this inspiration with our own personalities to create something new which has the potential to inspire others.