Who's Your Hero?

Funny how ideas for blogs come to mind...I was chatting yesterday with a friend about our dads and he said his dad was his hero. That got me to thinking about my dad, who's been gone for 35 years now. Even though it's been a long time, I still miss and remember him. Is he my hero? I'd have to say yes...but not for any one specific thing he did, but for a variety of smaller things he accomplished throughout his life.

He fought in World War II - and that's about all I ever knew about it until my cousin gave me some letters he'd written to her dad during those times. Even then, he was purposefully vague about what he was doing because, in those days, letters were censored. He never spoke about it to us and all I knew was that he was in a couple of different places like the Coit Tower in San Francisco and the South Pacific. I guess what he saw and went through was bad enough that he never wanted to share that with anyone. Even my mother knows little about those days. My brother has his trunk with all the Navy memorabilia in it which sheds more light - but it still would've been nice to hear about it from him. I kick myself sometimes for not asking!

My dad was a farmer and a teacher - and not necessarily in that order. While he ran our family farm here for at least 10+ years, his heart was in teaching and working with young people. Even today I'll meet adults who had him for math or agriculture and say how much they enjoyed him as a teacher. At times, he was a teacher AND a farmer, which must have been rough! He'd get up at 4:00 a.m., milk cows, get ready for school, teach all day, come home, milk again, and do whatever chores he could before going to bed. I can't imagine that kind of schedule, but he had little choice in the days when he didn't have outside help.

He also was a member of the Ruritan Club, Lion's Club, and several others that I don't remember...and was usually, at some time, president of said club! He was an outgoing and funny man who enjoyed people.

Okay, you ask, so where is this all going and what's the point? I guess my point is that you don't have to do one single thing in order to be a hero. You can be a hero in how you live your life. My dad was a hero to me in how he faced and dealt with his everyday life in the good and difficult times and how he faced and dealt with his impending death with cancer at the all-too-early age of 57 (one year older than I am now). Who knows what else he could have accomplished?? however, he accomplished enough in his relatively short life that he will always be remembered and loved by those who knew him. What more can anyone ask for?