HEROES

Do you remember when you were young and growing up. For a lot of us we all had our heroes, whether they were cowboys on television,sports figures or just really great people that we knew. As we got older our heroes changed whether it was because we got older or somebody new came along to take their place.

My greatest hero was my father. He was a physical education teacher and everybody at the school loved him. I think this was because he was a very fair man. If you deserved to get into trouble, he would punish you but not so severely that you didn't like him.When he punished you , you knew it was for a good reason and that you deserved it.

He was also very understanding. I remember when he had this one kid who would always skip school in the spring to go fishing down at the river. My dad would always find him at his favorite fishing hole and bring him back to school. He would talk to him about the importance of an education and they would come to a compromise solution. The kid would come to school Monday to Friday morning and if he did, he would be allowed to go fishing Friday afternoon. This solution worked terrifically for the both of them. That kid was the only one my father did this for and he told him he wished he could go too.

During the summers, we would leave Montreal and head to our cottage up in Thunder Bay. At our place there, we had no plumbing as such. We had an outdoor "biffy" and gravity fed water. We would pump water from Lake Superior to the cliff behind our house by gas pump. Up there, we had a huge cattle trough which we would fill with water.A hose would lead out and down to the house and we would have "running" water. Hot water was by boiling a kettle. We also no no electricity. Just the old coal oil lanterns and finally propane.

It was here that my dad and I were always close. He used to go up and down road in front of the cottages everyday and ask older people if they would like a fish that day. When he had enough orders for his limit(5) we would head out onto the lake in a 16 foot runabout with a five horsepower motor. My dad knew all the best fishing spots.Usually we would have our limit within 2 -3 hours. when we came to shore the first thing we would do was deliver the fish. He would do this everyday for the 6-8 weeks he had off. Then came the lamprey and the fishing died off.

Sometimes we would get caught in a storm. Not fun! We could be 6 or 7 miles from home and a sudden storm would come up. On lake Superior, they are ferocious. They have massive waves and the water is ice cold. My dad would make my brother and I get under the bow, put on our life jackets and stay put out of the rain. I was never really worried at times like this because he always got us home safely. It was a terrific time.

My dad also had a great sense of humour. He could tell funny stories like nobody else and he always could make people laugh. He told me that if you can bring a smile to somebodies face you have really done something. I know my mom always smiled at thing he did. Of course, some were inadvertent

One time he fixed an old wooden door,put on new hinges and a new handle and got it hung perfectly. He did such a good job that he called my mom to see it. When she came in, she burst out laughing. He was a little hurt by this reaction and asked her what was so funny. When she could finally speak, she told him that it was the first time she had seen a door with the knob and the hinges on the same side. Yup, he was a clown even when not trying.

Do you have a hero? Please let me know!