Honoring a True (American) Hero(ine)

Today, Thursday, July 14th, 2011, America will lay to rest the final remains of a remarkable person, Elizabeth Anne Bloomer Warren Ford, better known as simply Betty Ford. The more I read about her, the more I am simply in awe.

To explain my curious orthography in the title, it is quite deliberate as it is tricky to praise such a human being. Betty Ford is not a hero(ine) because she is American, nor is she "just" a heroine, meaning because she is a woman. This person was without qualification, courageous beyond the normal human capacity, irrespective of gender, race or nationality. So, bear with me if I do settle with an "American Hero" for lack of more confusion.

A hero in ancient Greece was a dubious entity as heroes were not always known for being perfect, far from it in fact, yet, that is what made them even more human, sometimes supra-human. Odysseus (Ulysses) is often thought of as the epitome of the hero. If you know the story of Odysseus, however, he looses all six hundred of his men on their return from the battle of Troy, hangs out with a beautiful nymph-goddess Kalypso for seven years while wife and son are at home and when he comes home he murders all of his wife's suitors in a very devious and cold-blooded way. None of this in my mind makes him a hero. What does, on the contrary, is the final act we read/hear about in the Odyssey. Odysseus must humble himself before Poseidon, the god of the Sea, because the "hero" had insulted him and harmed Polyphemus, his son.

As penitence, Odysseus had to carry an oar so far inland that men would not recognize it, and there erect a temple to honor the insulted deity. Odysseus had to be the humble (and for the first 99% or the Odyssey we see anything but a humble man) servant to what he had disrespected, that which was his life, the Ocean. Only then, in my eyes at least, did Odysseus own up, grow up and become humble, he lived humility and made his amends to Poseidon.

Betty Ford was far better than Odysseus.

When one stops to consider the sheer power, humility, courage, strength, and gratitude that this woman exerted, it is nothing short of staggering.

Although I have no real opinion on Gerald Ford, Mr. President, I can appreciate what he was faced with coming into office. Following on the heels of Richard M. Nixon, Mr. President, was no easy task. This was not the job he signed up for I doubt. Coming in on the wake of the Watergate affair in a time that American was still reeling from the utter shock and awe of the disaster of the Vietnam War, being the President of the United States of America was not an enviable job, far from it.

Add to that, Betty Ford was "just" the wife of the President. Granted, though one could argue she didn't make her husband's job any easier as she raised the hackles on nearly every Republican with her outspoken views on abortion, ERA (Equal Rights Amendment), women's rights, gun control, and on and on. She talked openly on a 60 Minutes interview about sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll. She rumoredly wore a mood ring (I had one, did you?) in the White House! She rocked! Basically, she, the First Lady, was the scourge to many Republicans of all things Republican.

But, Betty Ford was no slouch, nor knee-jerk reactionary. She was a hero, not for being outspoken, but for humility.

In 1974, Betty Ford had a mastectomy for radical breast cancer treatment and she went public about her illness, an illness that just was not spoken about. She probably could have kept quiet about this, stayed out of the limelight during recovery, but she spoke out about the need for the awareness of breast cancer. This was the first time that Americans talked about breast cancer in public. I know the fear that this disease can bring, both to someone very close to me, and myself. Debilitating fear.

That was just half of the humility that Betty Ford exhibited. Within two years after of her husband having lost the election to become President to Jimmy Carter, Betty Ford came public with an even darker secret, she was an addict and alcoholic. Darker only in that this was a stigma seen as a weakness in an individual, not as something that happened to her. She had a problem.

A mother of four, the former First Lady of the United States of America was an alcoholic and an addict. I imagine that some of the crustier conservatives sat home wringing their hands in glee at this revelation. That "woman" as some called her "No Lady" was what they said all along, defective. People often like to revel in the misfortunes of others, unfortunately.

But, what did Betty Ford do? Did she run, did she hide? No. After having battled this problem for decades, she cleaned up, owned up, and began the Betty Ford Clinic. The Betty Ford Clinic, later the Betty Ford Center, has helped tens and tens of thousands of people, families, and gives hope for many more out there. Regrettably it has become associated with celebrities ducking from the public eye for a quick-fix media score, the exact opposite of its intentions. But, those are the exceptions. I have met many people in person who have had their lives changed by the Betty Ford Center. I know the pain and suffering that addiction causes individuals and families. Without people like Betty Ford, how many more would be suffering in silence, guilt, shame, or hopelessness.

Betty Ford single-handedly brought the awareness of Breast Cancer and Addiction to the public consciousness. Though we have far to go in both areas as well as others that Mrs. Ford addressed, she opened the door.

She did it with humility.

Betty Ford was a hero in my eyes, full stop. Hats off.