My Five Living Heroes

[Abby McPherson]

Living Hero #1 – My Mom

 

My first living hero is my mother. She teaches me in a way that no schoolteacher ever could. She doesn’t teach me math, history, or physics, but instead she teaches me loyalty, honesty, and how to be peaceful. She helps me through my troubles, and I really don’t know where I’d be without her. Thank you, Mom!

Living Hero #2 – My Grandfather

 

My Grandfather, who I know as Grampy, is really one of the strongest people I have ever met. He stands for what he believes in, and helps others to take a stand as well. Whenever I’m feeling down, he’ll always start telling me about when he was young and the funny things he did. Like once, he sat down next to me and just said, “I remember, when my family came out of the cave to join the annual ‘Mammoth Hunt’…” or “Back in my day, when we used to ride on Dinosaurs…” He has a great way of cheering people up. Grampy also has just the right amount of seriousness and life-lessons to balance with his good-natured humor. When I want advice on big things, usually, he’s the first one I go to.

Living Hero #3 – Mr. Baxter

 

Mr. Baxter was my fourth grade teacher, who always seemed to have a joke up his sleeve. He was the first teacher I had when I made my school transfer from Island Park Elementary, to West Mercer Elementary, so I could go on to the highly capable program. At first I was really nervous when I walked into the school, because teachers had a different way of teaching there than they did at Island Park. Almost… more strict. But Mr. Baxter broke the ice when he started a paper fight on the first day of school. He made me feel welcome in a new environment, and I’ll always be thankful for that. In fifth grade, he taught Social Studies, and that’s what spurred my interest for the American Revolution. To this day I can still have a little conversation about John Quincy Adams, or the Constitution.

Living Hero #4 – Cassidy Uderitz

 

Cassidy is my cousin, who I could also call my best friend. She trusts me as much as I trust her, and she is one of the only people who deal with my craziness for more than five minutes. We’ll talk to each other about anything, and discuss things that some cousins would never even think about, like if there really were Pooh Bears, and what it’d be like to meet one. In short, she’s not only a relative, but my best friend.

Living Hero #5 – Alexa Glasser

 

Alexa is a friend, that I’ve only known for about a year, but still is as best a friend as one of my friends from Kindergarten. I met her when she was very shy, a new student in a new school, half-way through the year. Fro what I’ve learned, one of her hobbies is making up nick-names for everyone. She calls me “Blabby”. Despite her bouncy, carefree demeanor, she keeps a secret better than an iron safe, guarded by the top watch-dogs. She’s willing to help anyone with almost any problem, and her happy smile makes her hard to stay mad at. Whenever I had some sort of maddening event happen in the morning at my house (i.e. getting in a fight with my mom), and I storm up the hill to the school like an elephant with a thorn in his foot, her practically flying at me saying “Blabby!” always vanishes my bad mood immediately.