We have a lot of heroes in our community. 

The word hero is bandied about a bit too much. 

When you overuse an accolade, it can lose its meaning. 

There is little doubt, however, that when people put themselves in harm’s way for the safety and well-being of others, they are truly heroes. For that reason, we rightly think of the brave military women and men on the battle lines in war as our heroes. 

For nearly a year, a different kind of war has been waged across our nation and throughout the world. The enemy is COVID-19. 

The heroes in this war are the frontline workers. 

They are respiratory therapists, nurses, doctors, other clinicians and support staff. 

But there are hundreds, thousands of people just “doing their jobs,” who are daily heroes, treating and caring for patients, working the emergency room, giving breathing treatments, setting up ventilators, providing daily care in the COVID unit, providing hospice care, administering vaccines, all while putting themselves in harm’s way, knowing that a high number of health care workers have contracted the dangerous virus while caring for others. 

We cannot all be right there with them while they do their important — and dangerous — jobs but there are things we can do to support them, respect them and help them. We can help stop the spread of the virus by wearing our protective masks, socially distancing, avoiding gatherings, washing our hands, using hand sanitizer, and when it is our turn, getting the vaccine. 

For now, we just want to take a minute to say thank you to all of these brave women and men working on the frontlines. 

You are our heroes.