New Orleans Hero

I worked for a large corporation and one day as part of a team building exercise, each leader described who their hero was and why. As we went around the room we heard about leaders of great power, CEO's, Billionaires, Politicians, and Movie Stars. When they came to gain my feedback, at first I was a little embarrassed. You see, my hero was not famous, had little money, little or no education and was somewhat older at the time. I thought, what will people think? Then I thought, to heck with that just tell them who your hero is and thats that! You see, my hero is an 80 year old shoe shine man in New Orleans! Why you ask. One day while he was shining my shoes, I asked him some questions about his life. I discovered that this father/dad/husband had put every single one of his children (i think there were 6 or more) through college on his shoe shine wage and shear determination to give them a better life than he had.
I was totally blown away that this person had dedicated his entire existence to his children and was still shining shoes after 50 years of doing so. Mr. Johnson had such a joy and wonderful spirit inside of him he touched every single client with what seemed to be the spirit of a Guardian Angel. Sure wish I could track down this amazing person to tell him he is my hero, by now he would likely be 95 years old or more. What an inspiring person he is and has been!

Submitted by Anonymous

Devotion