Battle of Life

What is courage?

The high school student who mows my lawn for me is supported by a single mother. Father was in active combat. I am not sure the details but he was discharged and became an alcoholic to the extent it was not good for the child. So mother separated, works as healthcare worker helping patients who are bed ridden and supports the son. Sometimes she looks so worn out because of lifting seven to eight patients a day and taking care of them. I understand soldiers have a lot of PTSD and life is not the same again after battlefield. I am not putting down the father. Just explaining the situation.

My neighbor was an independent company owner who was working in high voltage power line maintenance. He had throat cancer around ten years ago. Ever since, he has a feeding tube. His company is gone. Can't talk as they took out his voice box. They buy houses, fix them and rent them. They don't get any government benefits. He can only communicate by writing on white board. He gets up every day ( unless he has some problems with feeding tube), does yard work, does chores, drives around. When you see him, he is this thin short man with a white slate and erasable marker. But he is still up and running and doing his duty. He even drives out of town for short assignments.

So how do you define courage? What title do the mother and the cheerful worker who lost so much in life and yet get up and perform their duties day in day out get?