Steven Kohler

Like many people my age, I look to my father for advice, encouragement, guidance, and occasionally, a few dollars here and there. Juggling baseball practice, lesson plans, grading homework, and still finding time and energy to help me practice my sports skills, my father is the epitome of a busy person. Whether he is hauling me from one of my numerous sports practices to another, or sending me motivating words to assist me through swab summer, my father is always at my side. However, it is not what my father gives me that makes him my hero, it is how he became the individual he is today and the challenges he faced and obstacles he overcame that make him my hero.

Growing up with four other siblings in extremely tight living quarters, my father and his family never really had that many privileges, and even as he grew up and graduated college, he was never a wealthy person. Regardless of the hindrances on his life and wallet, he went on to build and operate one of the greatest hunting and fishing camps in southeast Louisiana. My father spent many years worth of work designing and renovating the camp layout and design, costing him thousands of dollars. On top of managing the camp, my father also trained and bred excellent hunting dogs. Not only did the camp provide my father with connections to distinguished people and companies, it also brought the family copious amounts of income. However, to run and maintain such a luxurious camp, it also required vast amounts of money. My father put his heart and soul, his entire life into making that camp a sportsman’s paradise. While my father was managing the camp, he also found the woman he eventually married.

Shortly after I was born, a drunk driver hit my father, killing one of his finest dogs and nearly taking away his life. He suffered internal bleeding which required the removal of his spleen. Miraculously, he pulled through and, with time, reassumed his place as the camp manager. However, just a few months after returning to his job, the “CEO” of the company, who had asked my father to begin production on the camp, told him that he would no longer work there and that he was shutting down the camp, for no apparent reason. My father entered a state of severe depression and stayed at that point for years. It was hard for him to manage a family, look for work, and deal with the complications of his accident, mainly blood clots and bad circulation in his lower extremities. Nevertheless, he pressed on and eventually became a teacher. When he moved his family to Texas for economic reasons, he suffered his first heart attack. Upon recovering from this health condition, he began his life of meager pay as a schoolteacher in Texas while trying to raise two children. He went on to suffer a second heart attack and right now, you are thinking, “How could this man still be alive with all his illnesses?” I know this because I was thinking the exact same thought when I watched my father go in and out of the hospital, and to tell you the truth, I do not know either. He stayed strong during every one of the episodes and always kept a positive attitude.

However, his bout of sickness continued. Due to complications in his early life, he then suffered terrible kidney problems and went through many tests, where the physicians found that not only did he have a terrible liver, but he also suffered from Hepatitis B. At this point, I knew that I would probably not have a father for too much longer. Still, after years of painful shots and vile medications, his body no longer had the illness and his liver’s status bettered each day. At this point, I knew that my father was invincible and would still be alive when I am on my deathbed. However, he is now at risk of kidney failure and the doctors are prescribing medicine, but if his kidneys give out, then there is very little hope that he will be around much longer. Yet, he continues to go to work every day and continues with his everyday tasks with a smile on his face.

A hero, in my opinion, is someone who overcomes incredible odds to do something great. Many people will argue teaching seventh grade science class in a small town in Texas does not merit the title of heroism, and maybe it does not. However, I seriously doubt that any person would argue that my father is not a hero after having everything taken away from him and having to rebuild a new life out of nothing.