Silent Hero.(mothers)

Jessica Lynch. Pat Tillman. Tommy Hamill. Everyone loves a hero. Nobody knows this more than the media.

But there's another hero among us. A silent one. One who won't be grabbing headlines anytime soon. But what she has done deserves the same respect and recognition that our war heroes have earned. Perhaps more so.

Lauren made a life choice that can only be described as bravery at its finest.

Things had started to look up for her over the past year. She'd been fighting an uphill battle against private demons for decades, but she'd begun to face them with courage. Her life became peopled with social workers, counselors, and support groups. A new job and a new love in her life rounded out her progress, and you could see the strides she'd made just by looking at her.

What you couldn't always see is how Lauren keeps everything to herself--her emotions, her fears, and her struggles. Sometimes this tendency muddies the solid gold which makes up her heart.

She was an athletic child, winning all types of awards. She was a tomboy, and everyone loved her. Especially her father. She basked in the glow of his adoration. She was only 13 when he died, and that's when the tide started to turn.

Adolescence is never easy, but add to it the grief of losing a beloved parent and you have a recipe for disaster. Especially if you keep emotions bottled up, never having learned how to release them. She was ripe for the typical teenage temptations--smoking, drinking, and experimenting.