Heroes in my life.

There aren't many people who I know personally that I'd consider real heroes. Along the path of my life, I can probably count them on both hands. There are some of my school classmates who have served active military duty, a couple firefighters, and one who had the guts to go to Haiti right out of high school to be a Christian missionary.

But there is one enduring hero in my life, a man who has been stalwart in his faith, though it has been tested beyond most human limits, a testament to what men can be, and always there when I needed him.

My father.

I've really never told him he was a hero figure to me. And I'll never have the chance.

Well, that's not entirely true. Once, when I was about 10 years old or so, he caught a shoplifter at a local mall (who was stealing a nice fur coat). I called him a hero, and he quickly dismissed the idea.

Some of my earliest memories include him.

He took me fishing at a Lutheran camp in Bellingham many times when I was very young (a place I returned to a couple years ago for a 5K open water swim -- it seemed so much larger then).

We took many hunting trips together.

We butchered hundreds of chickens together.

We cut and split many cords of firewood together.

As a family, we built two houses together. All six of us, my three sisters included.

Countless others.

But, as a Lutheran pastor, he had to do many things without me. Such is the life of the clergy that many don't think about -- working hours don't mean a whole lot. You're on the clock almost constantly.

And the thanks for all that? Constant struggles approving a salary with the church, accusations of impropriety and conflict of interest, all the while having to fill in every volunteer position that remained empty, and making ends meet from the charity of people who are the supposed backbones of the community. Funny how that works. The price of a saved soul, I guess.

He never complained, at least not in front of me. He was stoic in his endurance of what came his way, staying the course of a career that was a true calling. One does not take on this kind of work for the money or free time, that's for sure.

He was also faithful to his wife, through everything that could have gotten in their way. It's said that behind every great man is a great woman. I'm proud to say that, in my father's case, that has always been my mother.

He retired from ministry amidst a storm of accusations -- it's what actually drove him to it. A long career punctuated with an exclamation point of ire from a few. They later recanted. Too little, too late.

In 1997, he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. Looking back, the signs were there long before, but in typically stoic fashion he just went on with life.

Sure, he fought it every step of the way, but Parkinson's is a cruel and relentless disease, robbing you of your mobility, your ability to think and speak... your dignity. Eventually it robbed him of the ability to swallow, and by that time he was at a point where the surgery to put in a feeding tube would have been beyond his ability to recover. It was the beginning of his final days.

And those final days are now. Any minute I could get the call that he has shed his mortal coil and moved on. The entire family was at his bedside this past weekend.

I will be hanging onto his ashes for a while, until such time that the mountain passes have cleared, and the whole family can gather again. His final resting place will be one of his favorites, outdoors, in the wilderness that he loved so much, and made so many memories with all of us.

Dad, thank you for always being there, for showing me, from my earliest days, the best of examples Thanks for being the hero, even if you shunned the title.

I read something on Facebook a couple weeks ago that really seemed appropriate:

A sick man turned to his doctor as he was preparing to leave the examination room and said, "Doctor, I am afraid to die. Tell me what lies on the other side."

Very quietly, the doctor said, "I don't know."

"You don't know? You, a Christian man, do not know what is on the other side?"

The doctor was holding the handle of the door. On the other side came a sound of scratching and whining, and as he opened the door, a dog sprang into the room and leaped on him with an eager show of gladness.

Turning to the patient, the doctor said, "Did you notice my dog? He's never been in this room before. He didn't know what was inside. He knew nothing except that his master was here, and when the door opened, he sprang in without fear. I know little of what is on the other side of death, but I do know one thing ... I know my Master is there and that is enough."

Godspeed, Dad.

A sick man turned to his doctor, as he was leaving the room after paying a visit, and said, "Doctor, I am afraid to die. Tell me what lies on the other side." Very quietly the doctor said, "I don't know." "You don't know?" the man said.
- See more at: http://www.spiritual-short-stories.com/spiritual-short-story-296-On+The+Other+Side.html#sthash.OQXFkNx9.dpuf

A sick man turned to his doctor, as he was leaving the room after paying a visit, and said, "Doctor, I am afraid to die. Tell me what lies on the other side." Very quietly the doctor said, "I don't know." "You don't know?" the man said.
"You, a Christian man, do not know what is on the other side?"
The doctor was holding the handle of the door, on the other side of which came a sound of scratching and whining. As he opened the door, a dog sprang into the room and leaped on him with an eager show of gladness.
Turning to the patient, the doctor said, "Did you notice my dog? He's never been in this room before. He didn't know what was inside. He knew nothing except that his master was here, and when the door opened, he sprang in without fear."
"I know little of what is on the other side of death," the doctor continued, "but I do know one thing: I know my Master is there, and that is enough. And when the door opens, I shall pass through with no fear, but with gladness." - See more at: http://www.spiritual-short-stories.com/spiritual-short-story-296-On+The+Other+Side.html#sthash.OQXFkNx9.dpuf

A sick man turned to his doctor, as he was leaving the room after paying a visit, and said, "Doctor, I am afraid to die. Tell me what lies on the other side." Very quietly the doctor said, "I don't know." "You don't know?" the man said.
"You, a Christian man, do not know what is on the other side?"
The doctor was holding the handle of the door, on the other side of which came a sound of scratching and whining. As he opened the door, a dog sprang into the room and leaped on him with an eager show of gladness.
Turning to the patient, the doctor said, "Did you notice my dog? He's never been in this room before. He didn't know what was inside. He knew nothing except that his master was here, and when the door opened, he sprang in without fear."
"I know little of what is on the other side of death," the doctor continued, "but I do know one thing: I know my Master is there, and that is enough. And when the door opens, I shall pass through with no fear, but with gladness." - See more at: http://www.spiritual-short-stories.com/spiritual-short-story-296-On+The+Other+Side.html#sthash.OQXFkNx9.dpuf