With Father's Day on the horizon, I started thinking about the traits that constitute a real life hero. In romance novels, the heroes are always tall, broad shouldered, devastatingly good-looking, fierce, brave, passionate, a tireless lover...you get the idea!  Those are heroic ideals and make for compelling reading. But in real life, if we all held out for that sort of man, well, I think we'd all be waiting around forever because he just doesn't exist, at least not with all of the above endowments. That's OK, of course, because as women we're not perfect either. In my experience, a real life hero might not have intense, piercing eyes, but when he looks at you, he doesn't focus on your flaws but sees you as beautiful. He might not always make sparkling and witty conversation, but he's willing to listen when you need him to. He might not cut a perfect figure in designer clothes, but he's always got a shoulder ready for you to lean on. He might not be a man of influence and power, but he supports you in everything you do. For the past few months, I've been struggling to make one deadline after another: handing in a manuscript, then revisions, more revisions and finally, just last week, copy edits. My husband scored big hero points by not only cooking countless dinners, but stopping off at the grocery store on his way home from work so that there was actually something to cook, and never once complaining about our habitually empty refrigerator. Then there was the cleaning, laundry, chauffeuring our younger daughter around, etc, etc.. Poor guy! But in my opinion, a true hero and definitely a keeper. 

So what's your idea of a real life hero?