hero.

the house was always cool in the summer; warm in the winter.  if wood was running low for the fire, he would head out to the woods and he would work so hard his hands would bleed making sure there would be plenty of wood for the fire.

when his baby girl was tired, he would carry her to bed.  when she got too big to be carried, he would walk with her to her room, tuck her in and turn off the light.

he worked so hard during the week, but when he came home he always had time for his little girl.  time to sit and talk to her.  time to let her paint his toenails.  time.  as his little girl grew, she often thought about her dad when she was working, how she should always give it her best. always try her hardest and when she had pushed and tried as hard as she could, there was always just a little left in the tank.

he held her hands and she learned to walk.  and praised her for her victories, no matter how big or small.  even the day she caught over twenty frogs, he was grinning with pride.  every time she sees him, he tells her that she is a winner.  she always needs to hear this.  from him.

he would give you the shirt off his back if you needed it, and has.  he would pick up a stranger and give him a home for a night, and has.  he would give the poor money so they could get their next meal, and has.  he would pick up a hitchhiker and take him wherever he needed to go, and has. and she got to watch and learn from her hero.  watch and learn how to live a good life; how to really love others and how to have joy in doing.

when she was born he started praying for the man she would marry.  he has prayed for him everyday since.  that's one blessed, lucky, fortunate man...to get all of his prayers.

now it's her turn.  her turn to pray.  her turn to love.  her turn to be what he raised her to be.  she had the best teacher, the best father.  now it's her turn to be all those things he taught her to be.  she hopes that daily she makes him proud in each and every decision that she makes.

because that strong man is having a hard time. that strong man that would give her the world, the world is caving in around him.  the legs that carried her to bed, are now getting too weak to even hold him upright.  the brain that gave him the intellect that made him the man that he is, is now a brain that is confused.  the hands that held her hands as she took her first steps, are shaky and unsteady.  the voice that made him sing like an angel is almost too weak to hear.

he is my daddy.  and life is being hard on him right now.  but because i had such a good teacher, i will do exactly what he taught me....after all, i'm a winner, that's what he tells me.