My Heroes

I have to tell you, I was one bad kid. I was a very bitter kid and stirred up a lot of trouble for my family and myself. I was smoking a couple packs a day at 10, drinking whiskey and wine pretty regular at 13, and doing drugs regularly at 14. I will not even go into the trouble I had with the law because I do not know if the statue has run out yet.

My friends and I thought we were little badasses when we were teenagers, but we ain’t squat compared to the little gun toting, acid dropping, nose pierced heathen gangsters of today.

It is down right hard to be a good kid. My kids started out going to a pubic school, but by the time they hit ten we would move them to a Christian school. A few years back Danielle wanted me to take her and a couple of old friends from her public school days to a Rockets game, and I agreed. While on the way to the game, they are talking as if I am not even there. After all, I am just a fat aging bill collector that does not know squat about life anyway. Danielle would say “So what’s so and so doing?” and the answer would always be, “Oh, she’s pregnant.”, or “He joined a gang and is now in jail.”, or she’s really messed up on drugs.” and on and on.

Although I strongly feel that my kids have it too easy, and that this could cause survival in the real world problems when they leave the nest (cannot do anything about this one - trust me!) - They are good kids. Even though they are good kids, I watch them like a hawk because I know how quick a good kid can turn bad. I watch close to make sure I can catch it in an early stage (should it ever happen) when I still have a chance of salvaging their life. They all think I am too hard on them - but I do this for them. They will understand someday when they have to protect kids of their own. I also grew up on wrong side of the tracks and I am not naive to the signs of sex, drugs and alcohol.

To this point, my kids have not had any trouble with any of that, or with the law. They are compassionate loving kids that go out of their way to help those in need of help. This is not easy for kids to do in today’s environment. Because of this - they are my heroes.