"All Kinds of Heroes"

Written on: January 28th, 2008
http://plainfieldsports.blogspot.com/

We all have sports figures we’ve come to admire in our lives. Throughout the sporting world there are all kinds of heroes...from little kids to old men and women. All of us have recognized the accomplishments of a favorite athlete. Maybe it’s someone like Michael Jordon, Tom Brady or Brett Favre. Maybe, it’s Jeff Gordon, Tiger Woods or Roger Clemons. Or it might simply be our best friend or teammate who bowled a 300 game, pitched a no hitter or hit a grand slam.

This article is not about a person who hit a grand slam or pitched a no hitter. She didn’t score the winning basket at the buzzer to win the game or pull off hockey’s hat trick. She didn’t bowl a 300 game or break 100 yards in football.

This article is about Jeanine Sheridan. After a lengthy battle with cancer, Jeanine passed away on January 20th, 2008. I think I met her two times while she worked at Eich’s Sporting Goods. She was a beautiful girl with a beautiful smile. Her outward appearance never gave an indication of her severe illness. I think I found out about her illness shortly before her last round of chemotherapy.

Throughout her illness, she never complained about her pain or suffering. Despite her challenges, she seemed able to help others with their emotional needs. She “protected” her friends from her own suffering.

When we think about athletes, we think about their daily preparations to do battle on the playing field. Jeanine Sheridan had a different battle.
She had a daily battle with a quiet, yet monstrous killer. Despite all the treatments, setbacks and remissions, she somehow managed the courage to get out of bed every day and face the day’s challenges. She faced those challenges with honor, dignity, a sense of humor and her innate ability to hide her battle from the unsuspecting. If those actions don’t qualify as truly heroic, I don’t know what would.

Jeanine's motto was "Life is not measured by the breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away."

So today, I must move all of my former heroes down a notch. I have a new hero at the top of my list. Jeanine may have lost the final battle, but she won all the previous battles in her life. She is an inspiration to us all and I hope her legacy will live on in the hearts of everyone she touched. God Bless You, Jeanine and thank you for enlightening us.