As Odysseus has taught us, there are many ways for a person to be viewed as a hero. A hero has to be courageous, hospitable, and intelligent. My father defines all that a hero stands for. He is able to repair many mechanical devices. He has repaired many cars and planes. He has worked hard to support us, and he would be working still if he was able. Since my father passed away more than three years ago (April 12, 2005), there is no legitimate way to communicate with my father. Instead, I interviewed my mother. She has known my father since 1986. My dad and she met through friends in Tulsa, Oklahoma. They got married two years later. During that year of 1988, they also added my brother, Shaun, to the family

“Things were very difficult starting out without very much money” said my mom. My dad and she had a child to support, and my mom was going through college. My dad worked hard with two jobs to try to keep the family out of debt. They did not have heating, air-conditioning, or phone service. And their water was shut off several times, but somehow, with my dad working hard, they made it through. Things got better when they moved to Petaluma, California in January of 1989. They now had extra support from my dad’s parents. My family lived at my father’s parent’s house until around the time I was born. They then bought a new house in Petaluma, California. It was there that the family started to thrive. We started to enjoy the many luxuries of a middle-class family such as: comfortable eating, living space, and security.

My father loved to provide for his family. In our backyard, he built and bought many enjoyable pleasantries. Whether it was the mini playground, the hot tub, or the Koi pond, we all enjoyed his hard work. And he worked very hard to provide for us. A lot of his laboring went into providing and maintaining our happiness. Despite all of the work he did, he was still a big goofball. When the Koi pond wasn’t quite finished, it was pretty much a pit of mud. While mowing the lawn, my dad fell off of the lawnmower and into the unfinished Koi pond. When he managed to crawl out of the cesspit, he was cracking up laughing and looked like the swamp thing.

My dad was a brave and skilled man. He had many jobs good and bad. His worst job was when he worked at a Circle K as a cashier. One night, he was robbed at gunpoint. The robber tied him up n the bathroom and left him there for several hours. Someone finally found him there and helped him. My dad quit the next day. Several years later and along came my dad’s best job. He was an airline mechanic for United Airlines. It was there that he fixed his most complicated machine, the Boeing 747.

My father was very adventurous. He was never afraid to do anything. He loved to do many things: Flying scuba diving, raising animals, traveling, riding motorcycles (especially Harleys), fishing, scuba diving, and spending time with his family were some of his favorite things to do. Most of all, however, he loved to fix classic cars. Being a mechanic was his true calling. He could fix any machine form air conditioning systems to zeppelins.

My father was always able to make the right decisions. When he was twelve years old, he had a German Sheppard named Romme. Romme was very aggressive toward humans (except my dad). Romme also kept escaping from the yard. My dad, even though he loved Romme, had to put the poor puppy to sleep. He was so distressed that he wore the dog’s collar for months after Romme passed.

“He was kind, generous, funny, strong, and a good father. He was my best friend and he will be missed always.” That was a quote from my mother. My father’s greatest fear in life was to not be able to provide for his family. He ever once faced his fear. He was always able to keep us happy. And that is why I consider my father my hero.