The supportive father

I remember sometime during the end of the soccer season; I was playing right defense. I knew I was playing badly for the most part. I just wasn't focused, I had something on my mind that I couldn't shake. While the ball was on the opposite side of the field, I took the time and looked out toward the sidelines. There he was. My father who had just had open heart surgery was making his way slowly but surely so our side of the field. He looked over and he gave me a smile that said he was proud of me. I will never forget that smile for as long as I live. I was extremely happy that he showed up. I wanted to play a game for him that was worth seeing. One he reached our side of the field, he became the same old dad I know in love. He started yell pointers at me so I could improve my game. I could see that it was hurting to yell. He put that aside and he kept supporting me. After the game ended, I walked up to him and we preformed our handshake.

The strongest man i know

My dad has also gone threw an experience that no one should have to go through. He had open heart surgery on January 26, 2009. He was on the line between life and death. He came home a couple days later. The nurses and the doctors were surprised that he was able to go home so early. He tried to be as independent as he possibly could. He couldn’t move his arms very much, due to the surgery. They had to open up his chest to reach his heart. He lost a lot of muscle mass in his arms. If any one saw him at the time they would be able to tell the difference in his shoulders right away. He was in excruciating pain, but he never complained about it. When he moved his arms a certain way I could tell he was in pain because of the face expressions. He would never let my sisters or I see that he was suffering. While he was healing he was telling us that we had to change our diets, and we had to make healthier decisions.

After a couple months my dad started to go to therapy. At first he seemed to have a little bit of trouble, but that quickly started to improve. He made great progress through out the sessions. The therapist was impressed to how fast my dad was recovering. My dad never gave up on himself and his family was behind him the entire way. Even in the state he was in he tried to come to my soccer games. It meant a great deal that he showed up, even after he had his chest ripped open.

A witty man

Marty was walking home from a skating ring, with a couple friends and his little brother. His little brother was only about eight at the time, this would mean Marty would be about thirteen, and in eight grade. They didn’t leave the skating ring until midnight. It was pretty dark when they were walking home, other than the light coming from the few street lights down the road. Marty saw a couple of figures in the distance before anyone else noticed that they where there. When his group walked a little further down the road he was able to tell who the to figures down the road where. It was a sophomore, that my dad was an acquaintance to. The sophomore was walking with one of his older brothers who was a senior in high school. Everyone was afraid of the senior because he had a mean personality, and he had a black belt in karate. The two groups eventually met along the road. The sophomore and Marty walked up to each other and exchanged hellos. Marty was about the same size as the sophomore and if not, Marty was taller but definitely not bigger than him. The sophomore looked at Martys little brother and told him its a little late for an eight year old to be out. Tony, being as witty as he was, basically said that he should mind his own damn business. This didn’t sit well with the sophomore. He turned to Marty and told him if he was going to let Tony talk to him like that. Marty simply said that he talked to Tony in a disrespectful manner, and Tony was only returning the favor. The sophomore gave both of them a dirty look. He then turned to his older brother and signaled him that it was time to leave. Both groups went there own ways.

The next night the sophomore and his older brother knocked on the front door. Lena, Martys sister, answered the door, and the sophomore asked if Tony was home. Lena went to Martys and Tonys room to tell Tony that the sophomore was at the front door and was asking for him. Marty had already seen them pull up to the side of the house. He knew for a fact that these guys were up to no good. He told Tony to grab the shotgun. Tony grabbed the shotgun and came back into the room. Marty proceeded to tell Tony that the guys were looking for trouble. He then told Tony that he wanted him to sit by the front door shot gun at hand while he went outside with the sophomore and senior. He then told Tony that if the senior got involved, he was going to have to run outside with the shotgun and shoot a warning shot in the air. If they didn’t leave by then, Marty told Tony that he could shoot “their asses off”. Tony was excited all of a sudden. Marty made sure that Tony understood not to come out until he was completely sure that Marty was in trouble. Tony reassured Marty that he understood.

When Marty walked out the front door instead of Tony the sophomore had a surprised expression on his face. The senior was just leaning on his car a couple yards away. Marty and the sophomore started to talked. Everything seemed to be going smoothly, until the sophomore got the stupid idea of slap boxing with Marty. Marty didn’t want to slap box because he knew in slap boxing peoples feelings get hurt. The sophomore insisted on the game. He was confident for the fact that he was a wrestler. Marty was finally annoyed and agreed to play. They both got into their boxing positions and started to play. Marty was the better boxer, and kept slapping the sophomore around. As Marty had thought the sophomore started to get angry and embarrassed. He started to try to throw real punches at Marty. He landed a couple of hard blows. Marty just kept slap boxing the sophomore regardless that the sophomore was already throwing real punches. The sophomore tackled Marty to the ground. He yelled at my dad “had enough?”. Marty quickly rolled over and pinned the sophomore to the ground. He then raised his fist to punch the sophomore in the face, but Marty just held it there. He then told the sophomore “have you had enough?”. The sophomore couldn’t get loose. The senior said that was enough. Marty got off the sophomore and let him walked to the car. They drove off quickly.