My Father, Stephen Paul Gibbs

Me and my dad are at Buffalo Wild Wings...YUM!

They are dedicated...they persevere...they have an impact...they are heroes. The word hero to me is much greater than solely a word...it is a person. A hero has a huge impact on a person and their admirers. A hero might not comprehend that he is affecting that person. However, the person admiring the hero sure knows the impact that that person has on themselves. To the hero they are just one person, but to the admirer they are so much more. The hero is a role model, a macho man, superman, and many other things. Trust me, I know. I have a hero.

My dad, Avery, and I are ziplining in Tennesse.

My dad, Stephen Paul Gibbs is a computer graphic designer for a computer graphics company. He was born at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi. That's where his father, Charles Keith Gibbs, was stationed at the time. My dad's wife's (also my mother) name is Sylvia Lee Gibbs. Together my mother and father had four kids: Jonathan (me), Avery (the eldest girl), Sophie (second eldest girl) and the baby, Audrey. My father has four brothers and no sisters. First comes Shannon, then my dad, and then the twins, Joey and Jeremy.

This is my father and mother at the parade.

When my dad was two years of age, he suffered a serious accident due to a carbon monoxide leak in the back of his mother's car. However, that didn't stop him from living a normal life. When he turned five, he first contributed to a tee-ball team. With that note, his unending competitiveness was unleashed. Still to this day, he is the absolute most competitive person I know. Baseball and sports play a huge part in his life...a huge part. As he continued playing baseball, he joined choir in the fourth grade. This also played a large role in his life. He continued to play baseball and basketball, as well as sing choir at DeQuincy High School.

This is my dad playing golf with me...like I said

In his freshman year at DeQuincy, as well as his sophomore, junior, and senior years, he made all state choir. He also played baseball and basketball. During his sophomore year, he lettered and started for the baseball team and played basketball. He also made an addition to his sport-playing for the high school...football. He was recruited by the basketball coach because he would run into things and get angry. So, for some odd reason, the coach wanted him to play football. In his first year playing football, he started at cornerback and lettered that year. During his junior and senior years, he lettered in every sport in which he played. He graduated in 1993.

The annual mustache comptition.

Later, after high school, my dad joined the National Guard and was stationed in DeQuincy, Louisiana for six years in peace time. However, he went through basic training and AIT at Fort Benning in Georgia. He was a Bradley Gunner. He loved the experience and, at times, enjoyed what he did. He has been through a lot of jobs, from a mental facility to a paint shop salesman, to an airplane sheet-metalworker to what he is now, a draftsman. He has had many jobs in-between. He has also been involved in ministry... practically all of his life. He loves helping people and ministry. Now, that means something to me.

His ministry is just one reason why my dad is my hero---because he goes out of his way to make the lives of other people better. Isn't that awesome? He has the ability to make people feel better, whether it is with laughter, being there for you, or just a hug. Another reason he is my hero is because he scolds me, when I deserve it, and trust me I deserve a lot. I realize at the time I'm being punished I'm not too fond of my dad. However, now, I realize it's just another way of saying, "I love you." Like I said before, my dad is funny, too, and that's another reason why he’s on the top of my list. I can also relate to him through sports, which is really cool because we both love sports. There's one more reason why he, and not anyone else, is my hero. He is my dad...a great dad, a macho dad, a super dad, my dad. That last reason there is good enough for me, and should be for you, too.

Honestly, I can get past my dad yelling at me a couple times when I see what good he has done all my life. He is a great man to me and a hero---just to me. That is precisely why he is my hero. He is only mine...not anyone else's...just mine. That's why a hero is a hero. That's what a hero should be. That's what my hero is. Dad, I want you to know one thing: I love you and I'm not afraid to say it.