Its 3 o’clock in the morning. I am woken up by the sound of my dad coming through the front door. He had just taken the red-eye flight home from Texas because his flight was cancelled. The next morning, he wakes up and starts packing again. “Why are you packing?” I ask him. He responds, “I have to catch a flight at 10 o’clock to go to Minnesota.” It seems that he would never have time to be with his family. However, my father is a smart, hardworking, funny, and productive man who works hard for his family.

When you see my dad, you see a determined man who won’t let any obstacle get in his way. He is a slightly bigger guy, approximately 5’9, and thick glasses, as if he would be blind without them. His combed back, brown hair is balding at the top and turning gray at the sides. Most people would see him as a man who just goes to work every day, but I see him as much more than that.

I see a taxi pulling up my driveway, and then my dad step out of it once it comes to a complete stop. The taxi driver helps him get 3 large suitcases out of the trunk and brings them up to my front porch. When he came inside, he immediately collapsed on the couch and started to snore. This time, he had just gotten home from being overseas for more than a week. My dad works very hard for his job and he always tries his hardest to get all of his work done. It is Saturday morning at about 9 o’clock and I am eating breakfast. “Where are you going dad?” I asked. “I have to go to my office to finish some stuff that I didn’t finish this week.” he responds. Even though my dad works a lot, he somehow finds time to be with his family. For example, we try to go skiing as a family every year and. One time we went to Colorado for a week to ski. Another time we went to Belize for almost a week. In Belize we went scuba diving, snorkeling, and explored the jungle. I have had a lot of fun because of my dad.

My dad has to overcome his time consuming job to be with his family and he manages to achieve this. When I was little, we played a game called “Tickle Monster” where my dad was the tickle monster who tried to catch us and tickle my brothers and I while we had to try to escape. This game helped form a bond between us, but there was something different we did if I wasn’t very happy. If I was eating dinner and I was angry, he would sarcastically say “This is the mad table! Theres no crying at the mad table.” This action always made me smile no matter how mad I was. My dad always knew how to cheer me up.

My dad is my hero because even through tough times he made time to be with his family. This action is very important because if he did not spend time with me then we would not be as close as we are today. It is amazing to be able to balance two very important parts of life the way my dad does. I wish to do the same when I am older; balance work, family, and other aspects of life - so I can be like my dad. Now I know that when I see my dad going to work on Saturday or traveling twice a week, that he is doing it for his family.