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Charles Ramsey, the Cleveland man whose courage led him to help save Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight from nearly 10 years of captivity, doesn't think his actions were "heroic."
Perhaps not, but his motives are certainly worth mentioning.
And Sunday is Mother's Day.
A little bit on its origin and a bit more on how mothers influence our lives for good.
There is goodness in America.
The stories of crime and perversion and greed and deception often rise like a flood, drowning the acts of goodness in our world.
Charles Ramsey is not a perfect man, his language alone with its four letter words suggest that too is not perfect. But in a moment of crises he did the right thing.
CNN reports that Ramsey was eating a Big Mac when he heard a girl scream.
He ran from his living room, clutching a half-eaten McDonald's Big Mac, to the house and helped free a woman identified as Amanda Berry.
"Amanda said, 'I've been trapped in here. He won't let me out. It's me and my baby.'"
He said, "Berry didn't register with me until I was on the phone, like wait a minute, I thought this girl was dead."
"She's like, 'This (expletive) kidnapped me and my daughter,'" he told the 911 operator, according to WEWS.
After police arrived, Berry explained there were other women inside. When police came out with them, Ramsey told the station, "It was astonishing."
Ramsey told CNN he is no hero and should not receive any reward.
"You've got to put that being a coward and 'I don't want to get in nobody's business,'" he said. "You got to put that away for a minute."
Explaining that he had no idea Ariel Castro, his neighbor, may have had other people inside his home, Ramsey said, "I've been here a year. You see where I'm coming from? I barbecue with this dude. We eat ribs and what not and listen to salsa music..."
"He just comes out to his backyard, plays with the dogs, tinkers with his cars and motorcycles, goes back in the house. So he's somebody you look, then look away. He's not doing anything but the average stuff. You see what I'm saying? There's nothing exciting about him. Well, until today."
He added, "I knew something was wrong when a little, pretty white girl ran into a black man's arms. Something is wrong here. Dead giveaway."
"Hero" has been misused so much, he's probably right. He's not one.
The Christian Post has reported why Ramsey said he did what he did. And that's my reason for mentioning this story at this point.
He told the press, "No, no, no, Bro, I'm a Christian, an American, and just like you."
He also told the press, "I was raised to help women."
And speaking of acting on Christian and American principles, which has been a part of the fabric of this country since its founding, and being "raised to help women," we remember Mother.
Sunday is Mother's Day.
A Brief History of Mother's Day:
History of Mother's Day: Julia Ward Howe
The idea of official celebration of Mothers day in the US was first suggested by Julia Ward Howe in 1872. A writer and poet, Julia shot to fame with her famous Civil War song, "Battle Hymn of the Republic". Julia Ward Howe suggested that June 2 be annually celebrated as Mothers Day. She initiated a Mothers' Peace Day observance on the second Sunday in June in Boston and held the meeting for a number of years. Julia tirelessly championed the cause of official celebration of Mothers Day and declaration of official holiday on the day. Her idea spread but was later replaced by the Mothers' Day holiday now celebrated in May.
History of Mother's Day: Anna Jarvis
Anna Jarvis is recognized as the Founder of Mothers Day in the US. Though Anna Jarvis never married and never had kids, she is also known as the Mother of Mothers Day, an appropriate title for the lady who worked hard to bestow honor on all mothers.
Anna Jarvis got the inspiration of celebrating Mothers Day from her own mother, Mrs Anna Marie Reeves Jarvis in her childhood. An activist and social worker, Mrs Jarvis used to express her desire that someday someone must honor all mothers, living and dead, and pay tribute to the contributions made by them.
A loving daughter, Anna never forgot her mothers word and when her mother died in 1905, she resolved to fulfill her mothers desire of having a mothers day. Growing negligent attitude of adult Americans towards their mothers and a desire to honor her mother soared her ambitions.
To begin with, Anna sent Carnations to her church service in Grafton, West Virginia to honor her mother. Carnations were her mothers favorite flower and Anna felt that they symbolized a mothers pure love. Later, Anna along with her supporters, wrote letters to people in positions of power lobbying for the official declaration of Mothers Day holiday. The hard work paid off. By 1911, Mother's Day was celebrated in almost every state in the Union and on May 8, 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed a Joint Resolution designating the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day.
Mothers have had a significant influence on the men who would become president of the United States.
Abraham Lincoln said, "All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel Mother."
He also said, “I remember my mother's prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life.”
Wilma Rudolf won three gold medals at the 1960 Olympics and was named “the fastest woman in the world.” As a child, Wilma wore metal braces on her legs until she was nine years old. Of her mother, she said, “My doctors told me I would never walk again. My mother told me I would. I believed my mother.”
God bless the mothers.
