A hero is a courageous and brave individual and is known to be a faithful leader. The person lives their own life, but also has feelings for others. A hero has humor, cries when needed, and is passionate about what they do.

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My hero is Anacleto, who is my grandpa. I thought of him as the dad that I never had, however. Everyone called him grandpa Beto, though. He was 5’11’’, and fought diabetes his whole life. His legs were amputated due to diabetes. Beto’s favorite color was red, he had dark, kind of curly hair, he loved my grandma’s homemade food, and he loved and cared for all of his children and grandchildren. His favorite sport was basketball, and he loved the Los Angeles Lakers. He was born in Nueva Rosita Coauhila, Mexico, on July 13, 1943. In his early years he did a lot of farm work and later, he worked as a bartender.

Everyone in the neighborhood knew who he was. Beto was respected by all the neighbors and family members that knew him. During his later years, he struggled with several cases of pneumonia. He became sick a lot and everyone knew that he was in pain. When I was a younger child he would tell funny stories or sometimes make them up, but they were enjoyable. When he started getting sick, however, the stories went away and he started saying some things that were not so enjoyable, such as “I want to die already, so I don’t have to suffer anymore.” This would bring pain to my heart and I wished my grandpa could have been healthy again. I never did experience a death in my life, until February 19, 2006. Grandpa Beto passed away in my mom and grandma’s arms that night. My life changed from there on.

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My hero has inspired me to play basketball. Basketball is my life and the main thing that matters to me, thanks to him. If basketball were a girl I would marry her without a doubt in my mind. My grandpa and I would watch Lakers and Heat games when the NBA season started. He would root for Shaq and Kobe, who played for the Lakers, I would root for Glenn Rice and Alonzo Mourning, who played for the Heat. We also watched college basketball, but he didn’t have a favorite school. I would watch the North Carolina Tar Heels. He had me watching basketball when I was five years old, and I decided that it looked fun and I wanted to play. During recess at school, I would go out on the basketball court and pretend that I was Kobe Bryant. I started playing organized basketball when I was in 3rd grade. Every game that I play is for my grandpa, because I know that he is watching down on me and I want to make him and myself proud.

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In the end, my grandpa is the reason why I play the sport. I want to go to college someday off of a basketball scholarship. I will be involved in basketball throughout my life, even though it’s likely that I won’t go pro. I would like to coach a team in my future. I dedicate my life and my upcoming legacy, whatever it may be, to the man who changed my life, my grandpa Anacleto.