My hero, as of today, is Zanni Meguerian. Two and half years ago, her children, Alex and Zaven, who were 12 and 9 at the time, were abducted by their non-custodial father. During a routine visitation with their father over the boys’ summer vacation, they disappeared. The boys were abducted along with their cousin Greg who’s father also didn’t have custody of him.

At the time I was Alex’s Sunday School teacher. The impact of their abduction on our community was devastating.

After two and half years of searching, working with federal authorities, working with the media, and paying for private investigators, Zanni found her boys. It was announced today in The Daily Breeze and The Los Angeles Times that the abductors were found in the Netherlands, where they are now under the custody of the local authorities awaiting extradition. Zanni, and George’s mother Christine, are on their way to retrieve their sons who are waiting in a safe house.

Throughout this whole time Zanni never lost her faith, and rarely despaired (at least in public). She didn’t seem to succumb to self pity, and remained in hope for the sake of her sons.

Real stories rarely have happy endings, simply because stories are never so discrete that they have endings. The boys will return, and I’m sure their transition will awkward and difficult. Alex became a teenager and spent formative years living the life of a fugitive, jumping from country to country with a father who was constantly avoiding being caught by an international manhunt. He has hard times ahead of him.

Despite this, the reunion of a loving mother with her sons is as close to a cinematic happy ending as many people will ever experience. In this story, to me, Zanni is the hero.