MY
HERO
Webster’s dictionary has a definition of hero as a person admired for courage,
fortitude, and nobility. Some people think of a hero as a person who saves the
lives of other people with no concern of their own wellbeing. Other people believe
that the only hero’s around are those fictitious characters brought about
in some type of media, such as movies and television.
When approaching this subject for this paper, I
thought long and hard as to what person or persons I looked upon as my hero.
What I discovered was that my real
life hero has never been in the military, nor is he a police or fireman,
and as far as I know, he has never saved a life; but for everything else he has
accomplished, he is truly my hero. For the sake of this document, I shall call
him “Wayne”.
I haven’t always thought of him as a hero, mainly because it took some
time on my part to understand him more. He is a fairly quiet person who doesn’t
sit around tooting his own horn.
Wayne is very modest and more concerned with the individuals that are around
him then for his own wellbeing or gratification.
One of Wayne’s greatest achievements is his three sons. With a little help
from his wife, Wayne was able to raise three boys and turn them into very respectable
men. For those with children, we know what kind of task this can be. It is not
a simple one. All three of Wayne’s sons are now grown and off raising
families of their own. But to look back, not one has spent a night in jail,
been convicted
of wrongdoing or as shown any malice towards any other person. All three of
these men have grown into hard working, respectable, God fearing men who treat
those
around them the same as they would like to be treated.
A great accomplishment was that Wayne worked for the same company for thirty
five years until his retirement. At the beginning of his time with the company,
he began investing in every type of stock option that he could. He also began
saving at least 25% of everything he made just to make sure that money was never
an issue later down the road. He often made vehicles last well beyond their limit
and never bought into any of the comfort options on his vehicles. He bought only
needed items when it came to his personal use. His family never did without.
There is a saying that anyone can be a grandfather but it takes someone special
to be a grandpa. Well Wayne has got to be one of the best grandpa’s around.
He has eight grandchildren that have been raised right along with the style
of parenting that he has passed down. He has been able to teach the lessons
of fishing
and hunting to those that wanted to learn while enjoying the ability to teach
others the art of waterskiing. With the investments that were made, he has
been able to take his entire family on vacation trips to such places as Florida,
Tennessee,
and Wyoming in order for all of them to be able to see what lies outside of
the confinements of their home state. Wayne became quit the artist after retirement
being able to create works of art out of wood and pass it down to the grandkids.
And although he has three sons, he has had five daughter-in-laws with grand
children
from each and none are treated any differently then the others.
I would have to say that his most outstanding achievement is the fact that
he has been married to the same person for over forty seven years. And for
all that
time he has treated his partner with the utmost respect and admiration that
she deserves. And now for the last couple of years, he has had to sit and watch
as
Alzheimer’s begins to take its toll. Once again he is put in the roll
of caregiver. He now has to see to it that she eats right and takes her medication
properly.
Cooking was never his responsibility, however now on days when his family
is all together, he is the main cook. having to learn how to bake pies, and
cook
vegetables. Doing all of this while keeping himself healthy due to heart
disease has become quit a chore.
To most it would seem that Wayne is not very heroic. Rather he is just a
simple man who lives a modest means taking care of the responsibilities that
he chose
long ago. Wayne has never won any great medals or been invited to the Whitehouse.
He can’t run faster then a train or leap tall buildings and I don’t
think you will ever see him in a cape. But to me he is a Superman.
For you see, it just so happens that Wayne is my dad. My brothers and I
have had the great opportunity to be raised in a great family where our
father
was a mainstay. He was strict but loving. And for those of us who have teenagers,
raising three boys in their teens with hotrods couldn’t have been easy.
He taught us that we couldn’t get anywhere in life without hard work and
to always treat people right. I didn’t always understand him. But now,
I appreciate more then ever what he did for me. I am the man I am, do to the
fact that I want to be just like him. We have never been a very lovy- dovy family,
but just in case he didn’t know, I love you dad!
Thanks for everything!
By: Richard Craig Kelley
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