Sherman P

I would like to nominate my dad as a hero. He lives across the country from me and my husband, but is never more than a phone call or email away. My husband and I live in beautiful Colorado where the mountains have become our backyard and playground. From time to time I find myself faced with having to do something that makes my stomach queasy, my head spin and my knees knock. But I do it, thanks to my father. He managed to instill a sense of adventure and can-do attitude into his kids when we were very young.

One of my favorite memories (there are many!) as a child is of my Dad and his reaction to taking care of me and my twin brothers one afternoon. My Mom was at work and my dad had a few days off and was playing Mr. Mom. It was fun having him home all day and I remember him encouraging me to go out and ride my new bike with my brothers.

I was riding along up and down the street. I still remember smiling to myself at how fast I could actually go without being in a car. I don't know what distracted me, but the next thing I know I'm skidding along underneath my bike. I scraped my knee pretty bad and was crying for all to hear. My Dad gently took me in the house, propped me up in his chair and proceeded to inspect and clean up the scrape. I remember crying and saying it hurts make it stop hurting!

My Dad had not always been left to care for all three of us at the same time without my mom around, so it was starting to make me a little nervous. He said, "I'll be right back, I know how to fix this." I remember feeling like he wasn't going to have the same finesse as my mom and it was just going to hurt even more with whatever he walks in with for my aching knee.

He returned with a big bowl of ice cream! I remember the tears stopping in a split second and I started giggling. I said, "Do you think its ok before dinner?" He replied, "I think its ok this time." I proceeded to dive into one of the biggest bowls of ice cream I had seen and was lost in thought. About half way through the bowl, my Dad returned and said "How's your knee?" I said with a big smile, "Much better!"

I think about this story a lot. I remember my Dad always just trying to make a situation better by thinking outside the box. He still does this to this day. Although I've gotten much better at biking and manage to get out with my mountain bike to some kooky places with my husband, I still take a fall once in a while and I always think back to that day with my Dad.

Submitted by Anonymous

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