True Heroes

When young children are asked who their heroes are they often respond with names such as Martin Luther King, Jr., Mother Teresa, or the most current young teen idol, such as Lindsey Lohan or the Jonas Brothers. While I don’t deny that people like Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mother Teresa are worthy of hero status, I have come to realize at the age of twenty-one that the real heroes in your life are the people that you interact with on a daily basis and have an extremely positive effect on your life. For me, the heroes in my life are my parents Steven and Brenda. My mom and dad are my heroes because no matter what, they have always provided for me and my two sisters, Jennifer and Stacie, and have always loved and supported us in everything that we do.

My father was born on June 28th, to my grandparents, Alvin Jesse and Helen, in Hagerstown, MD. My dad grew up in a loving household with his parents, his younger sister Laurie, and his younger brother Jay. When my dad graduated from high school he went to college, but decided during the first semester that college just wasn’t for him. Upon leaving college my father then worked for the family construction business. When the family construction business was sold he then began working in administration for Valley Quarries, Inc. At some point during his time there, my father decided that he wanted to open his own business and when I was in elementary school my parents opened a car wash in Hagerstown, MD. However, this particular business endeavor was more of a hassle than it was worth and my dad sold the business when I was in high school. When my dad sold the car wash, this is when he began driving for a living. My dad started out driving for a bus company and then he worked for a government contractor at Fort Dietrich in Frederick, MD, and he now works for a trucking company that transports sand to various businesses in the mid-Atlantic region.

My mother was born on June 2nd, to my grandparents, Robert and Betty Lou, in Bedford, PA. My mother also grew up in a loving household with her parents and her little brother Brad. When my mother graduated from high school she attended Slipper Rock University in Pennsylvania. While she entered college wanting to be a physical education instructor my mom actually graduated with a degree in medical technology. It was not long after my mom graduate from college that she met my dad at a friend’s wedding and they were married a year later in 1980. My mom then moved to Hagerstown, MD and began working for the county hospital where she has worked ever since as a medical technologist.

My parents had my older sister Jennifer and I was born four years later and my younger sister Stacie was born two years after that. My parents raised the three of us to always work hard, not only in school but in everything that we did, to treat other people the way that we would want to be treated, to always value the opportunities that were afforded to us, and to always praise God and to be thankful for everything that we were blessed with. It is because of my parents that my sisters and I have such sound, unwavering personal moral and religious values.

While my parents are amazing people and have raised three beautiful, successful, talented daughters, the reason they are my true heroes is because of how they raised three beautiful, successful, talented daughters. My sisters and I are where we are today because of all of the love, all of the support, and all of the sacrifices that my parents have made for our benefit.

There was never a moment when we were growing up that my sisters and I didn’t know that our parents loved us. Of course we got in trouble for things like throwing bottles of face cream at the bedroom door and having them explode, or dropping a can of white paint from the ceiling all over the carpet, but even in those instances we knew our parents loved us. But it is through such things as family dinners around the dinner table every night, picnics outside during the summer months, catching fire-flies in old jelly jars, vacations to Disney World, St. Louis, Halifax, Nova Scotia, the Great Falls, and Raystown Lake that my parents love for us shone bright every day.

However, one specific example that comes to mind that illustrates how much my parents loved us occurred in February of my junior year of high school. Earlier that year on January 1st I lost a really good church camp friend when he died from injuries that he suffered from in a car accident on Christmas Day. While it had been over a month since my friend’s death, I was still extremely depressed. On that one particular day in February, I was working on some difficult homework when I just broke down. Between the stress of my school work and the depression that was caused by my friend’s death I just couldn’t handle it, and I left the house early for my dance class that evening. However, due to my extreme case of distress I didn’t turn around when I was backing up in the parking lot at the dance studio and I hit one of the other dancer’s mom’s car. Upon apologizing profusely to this girl’s mom, I called my parents in tears and explained the situation. Knowing that I had left the house extremely upset they said that we would talk about it when I got home from class. Upon returning home from class my parents told me that they weren’t angry about what had happened and they just wished they had driven me instead, knowing how upset I was. Instead of being angry with me and scolding me for something I should have done, they loved me instead.

With regard to always being supportive, my parents have always been there for us. When Jennifer was growing up she expressed an interest in playing the piano, so my parents scheduled piano lessons for her. Then Jennifer wanted to join the marching band and the jazz band in high school and my parents supported her in that decision as well.

When I was growing up, while walking to swimming lessons one day I told my mom that I wanted to take ballet lessons (mainly because I thought that if I took ballet lessons I would get out of the much hated swimming lessons) and the next year I was enrolled in ballet class. Then beginning in middle school I expressed interests in playing lacrosse, learning how to play the violin, and taking lyrical, pointe, and tap lessons – all of which were decisions that my parents supported.

While my little sister Stacie was growing up she expressed an interest in gymnastics, dance classes, learning how to play the piano, learning how to play the trumpet, and taking modeling classes – all of which were decisions that my parents supported. However, it is not only through the encouragement that my parents provided my sisters and me in the many activities and hobbies that we pursued while we were growing up, but they also supported us through their time and money. I cannot imagine the countless hours that my parents spent driving us to ballet class, violin lessons, piano lessons, and gymnastics, and then sitting there waiting for the lessons to be over to drive us home. And, not to mention how much money they spent for us to take those ballet classes, violin lessons, piano lessons, and gymnastic classes and the equipment that was involved – leotards, tights, ballet slippers, a violin, a piano, etc.

Our parents' support in our decisions didn’t end once we had completed high school though. Our parents always told us when we were growing up that when we went to college they would pay for the first four years of college. When Jennifer went to UMBC to pursue a degree in chemical engineering my parents supported her decision and paid for her first four years of college. However, when Jennifer had to stay in school for a fifth year to finish her degree, Jennifer paid for that final year herself but my parents helped her when she needed help. Additionally, when I wanted to go join the military upon entering college my parents were not keen on the decision at first, however, in time they thought that it was a great idea and they have supported my attendance at the Coast Guard Academy ever since. Finally, when Stacie decided that she wanted to attend Villa Julia to pursue a degree in nursing they were completely supportive as well.

The most recent decision that my parents have supported us in has been Jennifer’s engagement to her fiancé Matthew, and my engagement to my fiancé Joel. While this must be hard for them to “let their girls go,” especially for my father, they have still fully supported us and have given us nothing but love and support.

Finally, and maybe the main reason why my parents are my true heroes, is because of all of the sacrifices that they have made on behalf of my sisters and me. From giving Jennifer a brand new bedroom suit for her apartment upon graduating from college, to buying her wedding dress, to working overtime to pay for activities for graduation week for my graduation from the academy, to buying Stacie a beautiful prom dress, my sisters and I never went without anything we needed and a little more. However, by constantly providing for my sisters and me, my parents sacrificed many of their own wants and needs. There were many times that my dad needed a new part to fix the car or my mom wanted a new dress to wear to church, but they often did without these things so that we always had everything we needed. While my parents have always loved us, and they have always supported us, it is through their constant self-sacrifice of their own personal desires to provide for my sisters and me that makes my parents true heroes.

Yes, people like Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mother Teresa are deserving of the title hero, for they are people who have supported love and fairness for all of mankind. But it is the people that you interact with daily and affect you in positive ways that are deserving of the title of being a true hero. For this very reason, my mother and father are my true heroes, for all of the years of love, support, and sacrifice that they have provided, I can think of no better, or more fitting title.