Every single person that has a foreign passport or any kind of paper that can get them out of the country has used it to do just so. Well not everyone, my parents who are American citizens have decided to stick around. Are they heroes? Not really, I can't say that they're fighting on the ground.

So why stay? I can't really say. Maybe they feel that it's still safe where they are, maybe they feel that they won't be better off living at relatives' houses and feeling helpless. All I know is that my parents have been refugees before, they have witnessed the worst time and time again, and all the while they persevered and were able to provide safety and comfort for their children.

Mom, Dad, you are my heroes.

P.S. Most Lebanese of the older generation have lived through the hell my parents had to go through, and for me, they're all heroes.