Role Models

Role models play a huge part in the shaping of the person. I do not mean heroes or sports stars. I mean the real life examples set down by a close person who daily interacts with a person. As I stated earlier I was blessed with a great family. My father and his brothers were the role models that taught me what it is to be a man. If I can ever be half the man that they were, I can call myself a man. They were from very simple means. Born and raised in Mingo County, in the southern part of West Virginia. My Grandfather Shela Lester worked in the coal mines, and was married to my Grandmother Vernice Cline. They had six children, Earl, Thomas, Duane, (Duke), Curt, Jo Ann, and two of which had died at birth. My Grandfather’s back was injured in a mine roof fall, and he had breathing problems for the rest of his life. My father would tell my sister and I stories of growing up poor, how that the brothers had to move to Columbus Ohio and stayed with an Uncle at the age of eighteen. He worked in a glass factory until he was drafted into the military during the Vietnam War. Each of the brothers were in the military, and each loved this country. My father worked during the war as a typist in “Remington’s Raider’s.” His older Brother Earl was stationed in Alaska, His younger brother Duke was a Combat Technician in the 101st Airborne Unit in Vietnam, and the youngest Curt was stationed stateside in the Fifth Army, which he would tell me was “Custer’s army.
These four men have had a lasting effect on my life. My father is my personal hero, who no matter what the circumstances has taken care of his family. He to me is the very definition of what a man is to be. He is strong, stoic, kind, brave, and above all else a wonderful person. Throughout my life until now, the man continues to teach me, and I am thankful for it. Uncle Earl was my scout troop leader, and he shaped the lives of many young men in our community, including my mother’s two youngest brothers who are not much older than me. Earl and I were close; he taught me many things, from a good work ethic, to always doing what is right. His untimely death in the late 2000s was very hard to deal with; I still feel a sense of loss when I think of him. Uncle Duke is a true American Hero, in every sense of the word. The Veteran’s administration is currently trying to help petition him for a congressional medal of honor, which he was nominated for in the late 60’s. He is a great man, who has had a tough time in life, but has overcome so much. I would love to see him right his memoirs down one day. Uncle Curt is the most charismatic man I have ever met. People love and naturally flock to him. He is always ready to tell a joke or make you smile, even if you don’t want to. He and Dad are close, and they go out to dinner once a week with my Mother and Aunt. These four men helped shape me as a person. They are my own personal heroes, and God blessed me to have them in my life. As I grow older and watch the men who I view as being immortal age, I realize they are mortal. I have lost one, but still have the other three in my life. As time continues and each one passes, I will uphold their memories as best I can.