>That said, you still started higher on the ladder than some other people.
>
>Yes. I used to feel sorry for myself because I had no shoes. Then I met a woman with no feet....

Lest we leave things unsaid.. yes we all have had luck.. good or bad..
However, you've done a great job, as you certainly know, Marcia, and you have my deserved admiration.
Whatever that intangible thing that you needed, you reached down and found it when many other people couldn't.
Great job!
You're a hero.

Yes, there were other factors at play, but you've succeeded where many others have not and you're a hero for sure.

My personal super hero is my late mother.
Widowed at 30 with two sons at the depth of the depression with an 8th grade education- she somehow fed us and got us through it.
She was on welfare for a while and she got help from the church and the American Legion (my father was a vet) but she scrounged an old typewriter somewhere, taught herself shorthand and typing, and became a dynamite legal stenographer.
Unlike ordinary people, that lady fired her bosses if they didn't meet her standards- they were ridiculously high.
Among the bosses she fired were Louis Nizer, Bernard Baruch, Louis Auchincloss and Richard Nixon - good lawyers all, but not up to her standards.

When she typed one of my college papers (after a two hour commute and cooking us a dinner), I was guaranteed a grade boost. Her syntax and grammar were flawless.

Her two sons graduated at the top of their college classes only because of that tough lady who wouldn't quit.

So, yes, there are heroes who need to be recognized.

On the other hand, if you see a single mother who is struggling, give her some slack and see if you can give her a break, Marcia.
She might be a hero in the making.