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Hero

This is my hero story and picture:

 

My Hero: Bruce C. (AKA my dad)

by: Virginia C.

My hero is Bruce Capehart. He is my dad. He was born on October 29, 1965 in Columbus, Ohio. He currently lives in North Carolina with my sister Camille, our mom Tracey, our dog Seuss, cat Molly and me. When he was younger, he also had two dogs named Maggie and Sam, and two cats named Freddie and Lisa.. He has a younger brother, my uncle Alex. My dad’s younger life was pretty different from mine. He walked to and from school, he did not have as much homework, so he had more free time. My dad did not play on a sports team, but he played a lot of football with friends in his neighborhood, and enjoyed reading about history. He went to Texas CHristian University and Southwestern Medical School. Now, he works as a Psychiatrist. He works with veterans who come home from the war, and have trouble with their emotions after returning to real life..

One of the traits I admire about my dad is how hard-working he is. Sometimes, my dad will stay up really late to finish a project, and only get a few hours of sleep. He drives me all over the Triangle so I can play soccer, even if he has work to do. He works a full-time job and almost another half of one. He gets up really early some mornings so he can go to work and get back in time to take me and/or my sister to soccer. He never complains or makes a big deal out of all he does for our family and that makes me proud.

In my opinion, my dad is very brave and courageous as well. He was in the army for a while. Even though that wasn’t his job, he worked as a medic part-time. He left our house to go and train for a few days each month when I was younger. I remember asking him, “Why aren’t you going to be here for my birthday?” I didn’t understand why he had to leave when I was turning really young. Now that I am older, I know that he gave me the best gift of all. He was protecting my family, our friends, and our country. I admire my dad’s courage, and he has taught me to not be afraid in challenging situations.

Another trait that I appreciate in my dad is that he is very honest and reliable. For example, if you tell him something, he won’t tell anyone unless you want him to. He is always very honest with everyone in my family. If there is something I need to say, but I am not sure how to say it, my dad makes it easier for me. I always know I can count on my dad to help me handle my problems and that he will respect the parts I want to keep private.

Those three traits are just a small part of all of the good things that make my dad a hero. I am very lucky to have him in my life, because he has taught me to be honest, to keep my promises and do what I say I will do. He has shown me by example to always work hard, and take some chances. This is why I chose my dad as my hero.

Hero Story

 My hero is my dad. His full name is Shu Shiuh-Shieu Lin. He was born on May 7th, 1966 to Amy and Young Tso (pronounced “so”) Lin in Kaosiung (pronounce “kao-shung”), Taiwan. He has two older sisters, Janet and Kay. He lived in Taiwan until seventh grade. For seventh grade he moved to California with his family. After he graduated from high school, he went on to be a Cardiovascular and Thoracic (heart and lung) surgeon. He also became a professor of Immunology (branch of medicine and biology concerned with immunity) and Pathology (the science or the study of the origin, nature, and course of diseases). He currently lives in Durham, NC as a surgeon and professor at Duke Hospital. He has two daughters, Sydney (12) and Samantha (7), and one son/ dog, Gomez (2).

    As a child, my dad did not like to study and he was very athletic. He was always playing baseball or hanging out with his friends. His best friend in 5th and 6th grade was Vincient Wang, the leader and founder of their group who was a couple years older than my dad. They called their group fēng gǒu, or crazy dog group in English. His greatest achievement in grade school was in 5th grade when he won an essay writing contest. One of the most disappointing times was when he didn’t get picked for the competitive dodge ball team. My dad and his sisters fought, but not much. When they did, it was usually over food. Once his oldest sister, Janet, sat on my dad’s model airplane that he made.

    My dad is my hero because he is so kind. My dad really likes to play basketball and has friends that he often plays with. When he goes, I go with him to watch. During breaks, he teaches me how to dribble and shoot baskets. We always play until his teammates call him back. After basketball, he always asks, “Do you want to go get some ice cream?”  Of course I say yes every time! Another way my dad shows kindness is in the way he participates and supports me in all of my activities. On Sundays, I participated in Mr. Block’s weekend basketball camp. My dad would come with me and always be one of the parents who helped out. The fact that he was so helpful by being there, always boosted my confidence since I knew he had (and still has) a busy schedule.

    My dad is a hero because he is so helpful in so many ways. Not only does he save and lengthen people’s lives as a doctor, but he also provides for our family. My mom is a nurse at Duke hospital. She once told the story of a man that had just had surgery. He was starting to wake up when my dad, his surgeon, came by to check on him. The man reached up, grabbed my dad’s face and said, “I love you man,” then fell back to sleep. Later when I interviewed my dad he said, “I was just happy he spoke. And that he didn’t have a stroke. I understood his appreciation. People show their appreciation differently.” In my opinion, that man was lucky to have such a trustworthy surgeon.

    To do surgery you need a steady hand and lots of focus. Not only that, but you need to be trustworthy. Your patient needs to be able to trust you. My dad’s patients all trust him to do surgery on them. Another thing you need to be to be a good surgeon is intelligence.

    My dad did not like to study, but he was lucky that he was very good at it anyway. He said, “I was lucky. Also I was very persistent. Don’t be afraid to have to work hard. There is no free lunch, you need to work hard.” After finishing high school, he got into Harvard University. He graduated from Harvard University in 1988. After Harvard, he went to medical school, internship, fellowship, and residency at Duke University.

    My dad has influenced my life by teaching me how to play basketball and chess. Also he has inspired me to keep doing what I like to do by showing determination. I’m lucky to have him as my dad, because he really is a true hero.

Hero Books

In March, an Artist in Residence came to our school. Her name was Peg Gignoux, and she helped us create hand-made books having to do with our personal hero. In Language Arts, we wrote stories about why our hero was special to us. I hope you enjoy mine!

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My Hero

Allen Dickstein
By Samantha Baker

My grandfather, Allen Dickstein, was born on March 21, 1930, in St. Louis, Missouri. He is my mother’s father. My grandfather is eighty-one years old. I consider him my personal hero. Read on to learn why!

My grandfather  grew up in Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. Because he grew up during the Great Depression, my grandfather moved around a lot to where ever his dad could find a job. He was born in St. Louis, but he moved to Kansas when he was five-years old. My grandfather moved back to St. Louis for first grade. He does not remember what his houses were like when he lived in St. Louis or Kansas. My grandfather remembers where he lived the second time he lived in St. Louis, though. Initially, his family rented out several rooms in a big, white wooden house that was divided up into small apartments. The house was two stories high and he lived on the second floor. My grandfather and his family then moved into a flat in a two-story-high red-brick building. His mother was named Rose and his father was Samuel. Samuel died during my grandfather’s first year of high school. My grandfather had three siblings. His oldest brother, Sydney, he never got to meet because he died at a very young age. He also had two older sisters named Eleanor and Florence.
My grandfather went to many different schools. For first grade, he attended Clark School. He went to Pierre LaClade from second through eighth grade. For high school, he went to Solden High School. My grandfather lived very far away from high school. Since the schools did not run bus systems and his family did not own a car, he took a public bus for several miles before transferring to an electric streetcar for another several miles. The streetcar would drop him off near school and he would walk the rest of the way. It took him about half and hour to get to school!
My grandfather really enjoyed history. He does not know why. Since there were no organized sports when my grandfather was growing up, a group of kids would just gather in someone’s back yard or a big, vacant lot to play ball. When he was little, my grandfather, wanted to be an architect because he liked to build things. After high school he took one semester of architecture at Washington University. After that he had to stop because he could not afford it. There was no one to pay his tuition, and even though he had a half-scholarship for one semester, he worked for the other half. My grandfather also had to work all through high school.
After his one semester of college, my grandfather joined the Air Force. He worked for the Early Detection and Warning Unit in Burlington, Vermont. Someone would sit in front of a huge map with a grid on it. When a plane flew into the area, it would show up on the map as a little light. The person would call out the coordinates where the plane was located. Then, another person, who stood behind a clear plastic screen with another coordinate grid, would write the path of the plane. As the plane moved, the map person would continue to call out the coordinates to the clear grid person until the plane was out of their area. Before a flight, all pilots had to file a flight plan which showed their route. My grandfather’s  unit would know if there was an unexpected plane. The reason for this job was because America was at war with Korea. Since Russia was helping Korea, Americans  were worried that the Russians might fly planes to bomb America. The grid system would be able to locate the planes. My grandfather told me that because the clear grid person had to write numbers backwards so that people on the other side could read them. It was hard to figure out which numbers were forward and which were backward because you became so used to writing them both ways. After serving for two years in the Air Force, my grandfather was able to attend Washington University for four years because of the GI Bill. He became an engineer.
In 1966, my grandfather married Sandra Osheroff. They had three children, my mom, Rachel, my aunt, Lisa, and my uncle, Michael. My grandfather now has eight grandchildren, my sister Anna and myself, and my cousins, Sabrina, Alison, Evan, Jocelyn, Alex, and Shane. My grandfather goes by three names among the grand kids. For Alison, Evan, and Alex he is Lee Lee, but for the rest of us he is Zada. All of the grandchildren call him the Pickle Monster, after a hide-and-seek and escape game he plays with us. He now travels to Seattle, Washington and San Antonio, Texas, because that is where my cousins live. He does not need to travel to visit us because he moved from where he was living in Orlando, Florida, to Hillsbourough, North Carolina after my grandmother died in 2003. My grandfather is definitely a hero, not only in my life but in other’s too.

My grandfather has many heroic traits, but one of the main ones is his generosity. He uses this trait to help others in need. For the past year or so my grandfather has worked for Habitat for Humanity. Habitat for Humanity is an organization that builds houses for people who cannot afford to buy a house on their own. Recipients still have to pay for the house, but the cost is greatly reduced and they get help applying for a loan. Volunteers do all of the work, from hammering in nails to landscaping yards. My grandfather learned about Habitat for Humanity work from my mom. My grandfather’s main job is to put on the vinyl siding, although he also does some painting. The people that he works with are all very, very nice. Zada works for them about once a week for three or four hours. Most Habitat for Humanity houses are rectangular to square and generally rather small, around 1,500 square feet. The Habitat for Humanity house recipients that my grandfather has met have all been incredibly grateful.  My grandfather’s work for Habitat for Humanity shows how he uses his generosity for the good of others. This truly is a heroic trait.
After serving for two years in the Early Detection and Warning Unit for the Air Force, my grandfather was able to attend four years of college under the terms of the GI Bill, which are benefits given to people who have served in the army. One of those is four years of college. My grandfather went to Washington University where he studied engineering. After he graduated from college, he became a mechanical engineer. My grandfather decided to become one because he loved science and math and engineers were in high demand at that time. He figured that it would be pretty easy to find a job. Now, you might be asking, “How does this show any creativity?” The answer comes in the definition my grandfather gave as to what an engineer really is. His answer was, “[An engineer is] someone who solves technical problems of various natures according to the principals of science and economics.” That probably takes a lot of creative thinking to work out problems. In fact, my grandfather’s favorite part of his job was figuring out the answer to a problem. He never worked on any new inventions, but Zada’s main job was to design heating and air conditioning systems for institutional, industrial, and commercial buildings. My grandfather’s final and biggest project was to design heating, air conditioning, and ventilation systems for the last assembly of Boeing aircraft navy fighter planes known as the Super Hornets. Still today, Zada is a great artist from his days as an engineer. Creativity is one of my grandfather’s heroic traits, and it is a good trait to have not only to be an engineer, but for life in general.

My grandfather’s third heroic trait is his encouraging nature. He is our biggest fan. Anna and I can always count on him to go to almost all of our soccer games, softball games, tennis matches, and swim meets. Zada is our family’s babysitter, since he is the only person my parents will trust to stay with us. He helps us almost every day.
My grandfather also visits my cousi ns quite often. He goes for holidays and special performances such grandparent’s day, my cousins Sabrina and Jocelyn’s plays, Jocelyn’s big synchronized swimming performances, and my cousin Alison’s dance shows. He is always happy and ready for a game of Pickle Monster or just a big hug. My grandfather’s commitment to our family shows his constant support of his children and grandchildren.

As you can see, my grandfather shows many heroic traits, and these are just three of them. But, how does Zada impact my life? As I said before, my parents trust him to take care of my sister and me.  I too would trust him completely on anything and everything. Zada is a great person to do anything with because he is so flexible and willing to try pretty much any sort of game you could possibly think of. I love playing Scategories, Apples to Apples, and Othello with him. My grandfather is just an awesome “warm fuzzy,” and he can make me feel happy just by being in the same room as I am. It is really great to have someone like my grandfather, my hero, in my life.