To my father...my hero

(By Mike)
Since I typed the title of this post, I've been staring at the computer, thoughts swirling in my head. I have always struggled with taking the thoughts and feelings of my brain and heart and organizing them into coherent words and sentences. Tonight is no different. How do I describe in appropriate words what my father means to me on the eve of the day in which we remember those men? Simply, I love him.
I can recall as a small child looking forward to the stories he read to me. The tone of his voice would change for each character, making them that much more real. If they yelled, he yelled. If they laughed, he laughed. Oh, how I enjoyed those readings moments! I close my eyes and see him wrestling with me on our lawn in Charleston, SC. I see him pitching me plastic ball after plastic ball from that wrinkled, worn, paper grocery bag as I diligently try to hit one back with my plastic bat. I see us fishing with cane poles. I see him building a magnificent tree house for me to play in. I did not know at the time that he woke up so early each day, working a paper route before going to a full day’s worth of school, only to return and fulfill his fatherly duties. I did not know how tight we were for money in those days. I did not know that while he pitched me those balls he probably had so many things he had to do, and yet he was there by choice, spending time with his son and that right there, exemplifies my father. It is that trait which caused him, years later, to spend his summers off taking his boys camping and visiting historical sites not because that was always what he wanted to do but because he wanted us, wanted me, to experience things that he felt were vital for my development.
I have always loved my Dad. Sure, we all have our fall outs, disagreements, and times when even perhaps a little hate enters our heart for the man we call dad. But, in all honesty, if I took all those things and bundled them up, they would pale in comparison to the amount of love and admiration I have had for him throughout my life. He used to say, amidst one of his several (and by several I mean uncountable) lectures that he was sure what he was saying was going in one ear and out the other. It never went out for me. I have always wanted to impress him, to gain his admiration.
I remember while on my mission, my appreciation for him (and my mother for that matter but this post today is for him…I love you Mom) deepened. I realized that I was where I was, in large measure because of him. I will never forget the day I walked off that plane at the conclusion of my mission. Long awaited hugs greeted me as I passed security. Looking around, I asked where my father was. I was shown. A short distance away, he was there, filming the entire reunion. As I began walking towards him, I saw this man who hadn’t always had an easy life but sacrificed day in and day out for his children. All that I had experienced in my last two years I owed in some way to him and I was so thankful and I missed him. Never have I had a more intimate embrace with my father than I had that day. My heart was full of gratitude.
Now as father, I find myself trying to emulate those qualities I so admired as a child. When I read to my children I try to bring the story alive for them…and I think of him. When I am bogged down with work and the stresses of life and I’m asked to play a game or to go outside to play I remember what really matters in life…and I think of him.
Many times in my youth my dad would tell me, “I will never ask you to do something that would harm you.” He would say this to illustrate that anything he asked or told me to do was in my best interest, or better said, that he had my best interest in mind. He always stood true to that. He always stood true to his word, period. He gained my trust and his has never violated it. I trust him with all my heart.
Heroes don’t fly and they don’t wear capes. They don’t shoot webs and they don’t have superhuman strength. What they possess is greater than any power here mentioned. It is the love in their hearts and their capacity to sacrifice for the happiness of others. My Dad is my hero. Never did a boy have greater father. I feel lucky to carry his name with honor.
Happy Father’s Day Dad.