My Hero

by Charlie Fuchs
(Commack,NY, United States)

As I look back into my childhood, there were many inspirational individuals to me during those times of my life. Each one of them and an everlasting impact on my life. The most powerful person that I would like to give recognition to is my father.
My whole childhood memories of my father were that of physical struggle leading to his death, but among these struggles he had come upon during my childhood. The lesson of endurance was past onto me. He was diagnose with heart disease, and diabetes at an early stage of my life. He had undergone three heart surgeries, developed narapothy in his legs (due to his diabetes). Which lead he to the misfortune of walking with a cane. I remember bareing witness to all of these tragedies and at those times feeling depressed. I was feeling the depression because I never had a father to play catch, or most things that other fathers did with their children. One thing my father did not lack was his love for me. Honestly I believe I could not have had a more loving father (even though we could not engage in physical activities) Our father, son relationship grew great in the confides of our living room. I believe he passed on his sick sense of humor onto me in that living room watching comedy movies. In time his illnesses got worse and so did his physical body, but one memory that I do have of him was that he never complained and always wore a smile even till the day he died on 2-14-02 when he whispered his last words to me. "I love you, and i'm very proud of you." Today I use his words as my motivation to do well in bettering my life today. I use his lessons of endureing all he went through will I deal with my physical attributes today. He is my hero....love you dad....