The following blog post finished 4th in our recent contest for a free autographed copy of our Heroes book. This entry is from a Brazilian woman, FabÃola Garcia, who has only recently learned to speak English. Next week we will post the 3rd place winner. Congratulations to all of these excellent entries. — Scott Allison and George Goethals
By FabÃola Garcia
One day, someone asked me who my heroes were. And, naturally, I said my parents.
That is really true. But about three months ago, I watched a movie, Remember Me, which changed my whole way of looking at life. The movie itself is not what changed my life. But one of the characters did, a man named Tyler Hawkins.
In the beginning of this story, Tyler is just a rebel boy against the world. However, during the movie you can understand his reasons.
He lost a brother who killed himself. From that point on, he has had a strained relationship with his father, a businessman. His father seems to ignore his youngest sister, who suffers from her father's absence and also is bullied by some classmates because the way she seems alienated. She is the closest person to Tyler. 
During the entire movie, Tyler tries to make his father see what he is doing to the rest of them family. And the father understands in the end.
Nevertheless, the end of this movie is quite tragic. It takes you to New York City on September 11, 2001. And I am not going to reveal the final scene.
You can ask to yourself what it means. And I will tell you. It meant everything I needed in that exact moment of my life.
Tyler is my hero because he made me see myself as someone with a purpose in this life. He uses a quote from Gandhi that he added some words to, a quote that says: “Whatever you do in life will be insignificant. But it is very important that you do it. Because nobody else will.” It made me see that no matter how insignificant an action might be, it could be the chance to be remembered forever. Our fingerprints never fade from the lives we touch.
Tyler's hero is probably Gandhi, because he cites him several times. Gandhi once said, “Every life and every death changes the world in its own way." Gandhi knew this, and he lived it. He understood that his life would mean something to someone, somewhere, somehow. And he knew with as much certainty that he could never know that meaning. He understood that enjoying life should be of much greater concern than understanding it.
This idea has completely changed my life. I saw Remember Me and encountered Tyler Hawkins during a moment when I was searching for a reason to exist. Tyler allowed me to figure out that I am not going to understand it all. And I realized that I have a purpose in this life. Even though I don’t know what exactly is it, I am changing some lives.
Tyler Hawkins is a fictional hero with no superpower. His power was his words and the way he translated Gandhi’s thoughts. Tyler lived those thoughts and told us what those ideas mean.
All of his story comes to down to this conclusion: You can be whoever you want, do whatever you want, live wherever you want. All your actions have the power to be unforgettable. And each of you reading this is unforgettable. Your fingerprints will rest on this earth forever.
Below is the trailer for the movie Remember Me.
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