My Dad is a super hero. No I am not 5 years old and no, my dad is not actually Batman or Spiderman. However, he is super and he is my personal hero.
My Dad was my inspiration for my physically fit lifestyle. Way before I was born, he became a fitness fanatic. At 76 years young, he still is today.
He loves to tell stories of the “Y” days when he did dips with over 125 pounds strapped to his body. Or the time he did 10,000 sit-ups causing his back to bleed because he was challenged.
Then there was the time he was in the gym and two pro-wrestlers, that were about 6’ 9” tall and 310 pounds, were doing bench press when my Dad, then 172 lbs. and 5’7” asked if he could work in with them. They scoffed thinking that my Dad, a man a fraction of their size, would be able to keep up with them and their weight they were using. They started off at 220 pounds and my Dad did that weight with them. They added more and more weight until they ended off this exercise at 280 pounds and again, he kept up. The wrestlers couldn’t believe it. They had assumed my dad would be finished too. My Dad however, feeling no pain, added another 40 pounds to the total as if to say “I’ll show you”. This is a snapshot of the type of man my Dad is.
He believes in not judging a book by its cover and not to let appearances fool you. Just because you aren’t a big strapping man, doesn’t mean you can’t keep up with the best of them. He believes in the underdog, the little guy. He started from nothing and put himself through school and became a dentist. He never gave up, on anything. He has that same expectation for us, his children. He only missed 3 days of work in 47 years of practicing dentistry. He believes in hard work, dedication and giving 100% in everything you do. He has passed on these qualities to his kids through his own behavior and an abundance of incredible stories such as the “wrestler” one above.
To add to his qualities, he is the most family focused man I have ever met. Once he had children, he wanted to spend as much time as he could with us. As fitness was also a priority, he slowly acquired equipment to build a gym in our basement. Rather than going to the gym after working until 6, he came home, had dinner with us as a family, helped us with homework, and spent “time” with us. He saved his workouts until after we had gone to bed.
For all of these reasons, he is my hero and inspires me to not only be fit, but to find balance in life with a strong focus on family.