Sentimental Sunday The Hero

I started this with an audience of 6 children which grew to 6 children and 4 grandchildren. Now there are many family members as well as wonderful supportive blogger friends.  I thought tonight, I would let you know a little more about him.

Always telling a story.

He was born in 1946 to a family made up of a Father, Mother, and two sisters.  He was the first born of a set of twin. His mother was surprised to learn that she was having twins. The grandmothers quickly jumped in to aid and assist when the boys were born because they had to stay in the hospital for a week.  

The Hero was the first born and he was the smallest.  He had a small bone frame, bothered him because he felt large.  (Guess it was that big heart inside that fooled him.)
He was all boy.  He hated being closed in.  His mother said he would cry the entire time he had to stay in a play pen.
He attended a Catholic school until he went to Junior High.  That was his first experience with a public school.  Mixed reviews were given by him.
His mother from the time the twins were in grade school, would put them in separate classes.  She saw a tendency in his older younger brother to be competitive, and felt they needed to develop their own personalities. I wonder if it would have been different if they had been closer.
We discovered the Hero was marginally dyslexic when growing up. He just thought he had problems spelling...(yes, he did).  This came to light when our son was diagnosed.
There were some great enjoyments in his life, swimming, creating, he loved writing poetry (because of his spelling, his teacher discouraged him).  He loved learning new things. This he passed on to his children.
He must have just been innately protective of the weak, because his mother always expresses a wonderment when telling his actions toward his family and friends.  She was amazed that he would go to battle for those he felt had been wronged.
He lamented that his father was rarely home, and did not teach his sons how to do things for themselves.  I guess this is why he would research out how things were done and set about trying to fix things himself.
When he came to manhood, he added a romantic side. He was a dreamer. He would sing love songs, had a lazy grin, and could come up with some awesome date activities out of the ordinary.
He did not obtain a degree, but in putting me through college and grad school, he earned a degree many times over.  He was the greatest source for help in the family.
As an adult, he had two companies he started fail. Not necessarily because of inability, rather because of poor timing.
He made two companies of others highly successful. His last employer still laments that he is not here.
He love family, and his children.
As a teen, he considered becoming a Priest. Beginning college he  classified himself as an agnostic.  When he found God and Christ, he never waivered and grew in spirituality and understand the rest of his life. He read the entire Bible through 3 times.
He had a need for organization and cleanliness.  He struggled with a household of 8 and a farm full of animals, none of which seemed to get focused on his needs.
There was a great need also that his grandchildren should know him. Money was spent traveling to spend time with them and not on cruises.  I think maybe we should have taken sometime for enjoyment.  The children classified him as a workaholic.  It was not because he enjoyed it.  That is a subject for a story.
He knew in his heart he had cancer, months before he was diagnosed.  He had a way of that.
For our family he was a spiritual leader, and the logical backbone of the family.
At his death there were great feelings of loss by family and friends, and co-workers.  He had a great spirit about him that drew you to him.
I hope you understand a little about him now. I wanted to show you the man behind the stories.