Joseph Lloyd Simmons

My hero is Rev. Run or Joseph Lloyd Simmons. He lives in Queens, New York, with his 5 now 6 kids and wife. Rev. Run has done a lot for everyone; he has made a very popular clothing and shoe line that a lot of people have come to love. He has showed me how to appreciate all the important things in life and to not take the little things for granted. If you watch his show about his family you will know how he treats and respects his kids and that is how I want to be with mine. He treats his wife with lots of love and she treats his kids as if they were hers.

People may be like, well he’s not very big, well to me I think that he is very big. He is very wealthy and not rich, has kids, a nice house, and he has his own business with his brother, Russell Simmons. He has 3 kids with his ex-wife and 2 with his current wife. They had a baby girl near the end of 2007 but she passed away a short period of time after she was born. She was born with her organs outside of her body which caused her life to end. The whole family was crushed and my mom and I were as well. That was a hard time for the family because they really wanted that baby to come.

Her name was Victoria Anne Simmons, but since his wife, Justine, and his family wanted another baby so much that they applied to an orphanage to get another baby girl. They have named her Miley Justine Simmons. Her middle name is after her mother. Rev. Run’s kids are Vanessa Simmons, who is the oldest, Angela Simmons, Joseph “Jo Jo” Simmons, his oldest son, and they are all by his ex-wife, Valerie Vaughn. He also has 2 younger sons, Daniel “Diggy” Simmons and Russell “Russy” Simmons the second, whose mom is Justine Simmons.

I like that even though the family lost the baby, Rev. Run adopted a baby so that she won’t replace the baby but so that they won’t have to think about the situation. I think that that was the best thing anyone could do when you just lost someone or something. He has influenced my life by letting me know how I want to raise my kids and how I want my house to be when older. How I want to be wealthy and not rich, because to be rich is to win the lottery or to get money and just have it, but to be wealthy is to get the money that you earn and deserve. You know how to use your money wisely and not just waste it on unnecessary things.

To give your kids what they want and need but not to the point to where they are so spoiled that they don’t want to do anything because they think they can't do anything on their own. To give them things but teach them how to go out in the real world and get what they need for themselves. He lets them see what is really out there so that, when they get grown and on their own, they will know what’s out there, what to stay away from and what to look out for. That’s why he’s my hero - who’s yours?