The planet completes another revolution around the sun, a cosmic event unrelated to individual lives here on Earth. And yet throughout history the New Year has come to be a celebration of renewal and resolve. Perhaps discarding the old number for the new — a fresh 2019 on the calendar — reinforces that notion.
Whether or not there’s science behind it, society supports this concept: reminders to make resolutions around health, weight, better behavior of all kinds, the list of recommendations is endless.
So are the lists of role models, to which the Honolulu Star-Advertiser has added its most recent roster of “Heroes Next Door” (staradvertiser.com/tag/heroes-next-door).
Brief biographical sketches of each of six noteworthy folks appeared the final week of 2018, starting on Christmas Day. They offer valuable guidance for those who may be taking a New Year’s Day moment to reflect on the past year and look forward to the year ahead. They represent a wide range of people, each finding a special way to reach out to an important part of the community. Reviewing them, in alphabetical order:
>> Virgil Amoroso — an assistant pastor at Ohana Family of the Living God — serves a congregation in Hauula but volunteers all around the island, serving food to the needy and generally doing outreach to those who really need the help.
>> Maria Garcia is a Navy petty officer first class who supervises mail support for more than 20,000 Navy sailors and personnel, embracing her Santa role at the holidays, even with its heavy load. And on top of that: a full plate of volunteer work, too.
>> Hiro Ito, once a foster child himself, co-founded Kids Hurt Too Hawaii, a nonprofit helping children grieve over the loss of parents due to death, incarceration, separation or other life tragedies, services offered free of charge.
>> Magin Patrick founded Project Hawai‘i after moving to the islands in 2002 to work with homeless youth, her own displacement as a child underscoring her recognition of the need but not dislodging her from her educational path.
>> Danny Tengan formed the Aina Haina Prepared volunteer force, having brought his neighbors together to make the community resilient to local natural disasters, opening evacuation centers and performing other duties.
>> Glenn Uejio served in the Vietnam War with the U.S. Marine Corps, but now dedicates his volunteer time to tend to the needs of others at the Spark M. Matsunaga VA Medical Center, bringing them companionship and music.
What all of these people have in common, whether working for the poor, the young or old, is that they’re outward-facing, focused on the community rather than their private concerns. In truth, they likely derive their greatest personal satisfaction from exactly the service orientation that makes them heroic.
It is a perspective that everyone can emulate, to some degree, in the coming months. There are small but critical measures of community service to be performed, everything from keeping an eye out for children’s safety in the everyday crush of public spaces, to being serious about attentiveness to driving.
Those road signs lining the highways over the holidays, the ones cautioning everyone to drive sober and with hands off the cell phone: They’re addressing all of us.
Those mulling over ways to be all-around kinder, gentler people could always start by taking stock and being a bit forgiving with themselves. Yes, everyone has fallen short of annual goals, but most people have grown incrementally, in the right direction. New Year’s resolutions are a process, not a magic wand.
But it won’t do to look in the mirror too much. Becoming a hero, even in a little way, means looking all around, not always inward. The caring heroes we’ve met next door offer lots of guideposts on the road to a Happy New Year.
