"Janet Wells."
The six-year-old walked up to the front of the classroom to the spot where the previous child had vacated. In front of her were her classmates and their parents as well as a few extra guests. Unlike the other kids Janet did not have her paper to read. She wanted to speak from memory. She looked at her teacher who nodded and then back out to the crowd.
"My heroes by Janet Wells.
I have two heroes. The first one is my daddy. He's a soldier in the Air Force. He fights bad guys and protects mommy an' me. Also, he flies planes! My other hero is Dr. Janet. Mommy says Dr. Janet was a soldier and a doctor. Daddy says they named me after her. 'Parently right 'fore I was born daddy got hurt and Dr. Janet saved his life. I wanted to meet her but daddy says she died right after she saved his life. That makes me sad, I wish I coulda met her. Instead I met Dr. Daniel. He's not a people doctor but daddy says he was there too and he helped Dr. Janet save his life. So I guess that means I have three heroes. Dr. Daniel says that Dr. Janet was nice and loved to help people. He says she woulda loved me. I think I woulda loved her too. Thank you Dr. Janet. I hope you like heaven."
The little girl smiled and flounced back to her seat as the room was filled with clapping. She looked behind her to see her mommy and daddy and Dr. Daniel smiling at her proudly. She grinned back and turned around to listen to the next kid's speech.
Later that week a copy of the speech was found hanging on the infirmary corkboard.