FN Blog - Seven heads are better than one!

I was asked for a name, I’m giving three—personal heroes, that is, since that is the catch blog of the week. So here it goes…

Batman

My Knight in Shining Kevlar

Come on, your partner in the war against crime is the son of Krypton, the guy who can fly at will, has laser vision, is faster than a speeding bullet, and has the strength of a thousand steroidal weightlifters. Meanwhile all you’ve got is a cool car, a cooler costume, and a utility belt. And yet there you go, saving the world one lunatic at a time, nakikipagsabayan with the naturally superpowered for whom the whole “with great power comes great responsibility” comes more naturally kasi MAY POWER SILA, ikaw wala—hello TAO ka lang. (Yes, I know I just mixed in a Marvel quote into a DC write-up, but hey, you get my drift. And besides, blog ko ‘to.)

“But Emma,” my friend countered, “Bruce Wayne is rich. Sure he’s human, but the money doesn’t help.” DUH, YUN NGA YUN, E. Tao ka na nga lang, with an angst-ridden childhood (compared to your best friend’s raised-in-a-farm-by-loving-parents upbringing), and loads of dollars you could be spending on blow and women. But no, the caped crusader spends his dough on a hi-tech base of operations, a car that can double as a jet, and an artillery of ninja stars and other mean-ass weapons to fight the bad guys because it’s not like he can just laser-stare them to submission or, oh, I dunno, fly away.
Being a hero when you have every reason not to be is what makes this guy my knight in shining Kevlar.

President Jed Bartlett

He’s funny. Really, he is.

I can’t expound on this enough until you’ve watched the Aaron Sorkin-helmed TV series, West Wing. “The show’s too idealistic,” I’ve heard naysayers critique. And though I have my own points to counter that, I’ll say this: “What’s wrong with idealistic?” I’d take this political fairy tale any friggin’ day over “what really goes on” behind the Swarovski-encrusted beauty bus of Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie.

U.S. President Jed Bartlett, for me, is what a statesman should be. An example of virtue despite the human predisposition to be flawed. He’s not perfect, far from it. He’s had to make tough decisions—like whether or not to approve the assassination of someone who’s ordered the murder of thousands of women and children, but someone who unfortunately enjoys diplomatic immunity, not to mention the protection of a little known world order called the Geneva Convention. It’s a cruel form of math to ponder how many more people have to be butchered for the sake of due process. But his heart’s always in the right place even when politics always gets in the way, a hopelessly Catholic economy professor charged with leading a nuclear superpower. And he’s funny, too.

The Dragon Lady

Me at around four, with Dragon Momma

Then there’s my mommy—whom we’ll call Dragon Lady since that’s what the rest of her closest kin and friends use to refer to her. Corny as it sounds, my mom is one of my personal heroes. A classic velvet heart in an iron casing. A single mom who loves her kid, her career, Clint Eastwood, the Beatles, CSI Vegas, and Jack Bauer (and maybe not necessarily in that order, haha!) She’s never seen the use of a kitchen mitt, as she hasn’t the culinary aptitude to whip up a decent adobo. But her carbonara sauce and yema balls are the best on the planet, bar none.

She’s the type of mom who will call you on your bull and your misdemeanors, just as she has several times with me. But she is also one of the most non-judgmental people I have ever known. When it comes to her non-negotiable principles, there’s really no haggling; but at the same time, no matter how much you can disappoint her, she’ll never quite relinquish the belief that you’re capable of becoming the best version of yourself.

Growing up as a young adult—and an only child, at that—I’ve always enjoyed her steady guidance from a safe distance. She has let me make my own mistakes and go through my own misadventures, while fighting off the urge to come to my rescue like a fierce beast shielding her cub. And while she has never fawned over me in true stage-mom fashion, I have witnessed her proudly relay my little successes and accomplishments to relatives and friends.

I have, like Wacko-but-Wise Woman Faye, kissed many frogs in my 28 years of existence. Bull frogs, wart-covered nasty little things, you name it. And she has been there to help me superglue my wasted little heart back together again (since she doesn’t sew), never letting me lose the wherewithal to continue turning over rocks and see what amphibian adventures I can find. Indeed what fear of frogs should a princess have when she’s got a dragon on her side?