A Boy's Hero

When Jackie Tremont was a child, he would often daydream of becoming a hero. Not a superhero, just a hero, no super powers, no costume. He just wanted to be a hero, adored for his bravery and heroism. He would imagine intricately devised scenarios that would invariably end with his triumph over adversity.

When he walked down a street and saw a mother walking a stroller across a busy street, he'd imagine an out of control car hurtling toward them. They would be frozen in place and he would rush in just in time to push them away, but he would be struck. In the dream, he would end up in the hospital because that's what happens to people who get hit by cars--a realistic and pragmatic side of him that existed in both his imagined and real lives. But even as he would need recovery, he would be hailed as a hero, garnering accolades from the mayor, appearing in a hospital bed with a cast on the front page of the newpaper, talked about with wonder and reverence on newscast. There would be bystanders being interviewed on television who are awed by his act of bravery. The baby who was saved would be given Jackie as a middle name.

In his fantasy word, he was ever the optimist, that he could save anyone and everyone even when putting himself in harm's way. Some say that was the start of his career as a police officer and that it is a testament to his life, one that is full of actual citations of bravery from the city as well as a few pictures in the newspapers.