Sam Taylor writes:
>No fair... there are too many WONDERFULL people on this list to choose
>from!  I want Bill, Bob and Charlie in first place, along with everyone
>else on this list who has made a major impact on all of the ferret
>community. ... There are countless other people, who have made major and
>minor contrubutions to others lives, by emailing a sympathy note to someone
>who lost a baby to the bridge, to people who have given others information
>to prevent it.  I hereby nominate the whole Ferret Digest Family as "Hero's
>of the year"!
 
Sam is absolutely right.  There are many people on the FML who have had
major impacts on the ferret community.  And many more who have had smaller,
but still important impacts.
 
Ferret heros might rescue and rehome 100s of ferrets a year, they might
fight for legal protection in their states and communities, they might
research life-saving medical treatment, they might hold ferret educatation
days to teach about proper care, and so on.  But they are also heros who
rescue a single abused ferret, educate a single person, spend one Saturday
afternoon cleaning cages at a shelter, and a thousand other small things.
 
People think heros must be brave and self-sacrificing, and many many ferret
heros have shown great bravery and make great personal sacrifices.  But you
don't really have to be very brave or sacrifice very much to be a hero.
Just give a little of your time, share your knowledge, offer your
compassion and sympathy.
 
The purpose of the FML Ferret Hero award is to give some sort of formal
recognition to those who have done and given so much.  But is also serves
as an inspiration to the rest of us.
 
Be a hero.
 
Linda Iroff
Oberlin OH
[Posted in FML issue 2869]