Sitting here as an adult it is clear the heroes in my life…. no, not the ones that jump in the burning building to save your life at the last minute, but rather the ones that gave you just what you needed at the right moment that stays with you a lifetime… saving that moment for you without you even knowing it. Giving you wisdom with just the smallest gestures or words. I believe that we make soul ties as we go through life… the ties that help center us as a person. There have been so many times in my life where all of a sudden what was said to me in one of those moments comes flooding back in my memory and the importance of it becomes clear. Being from a Blended family myself I have had many different people pass through my life leaving their mark.. good and bad, each teaching a lesson. Most of my greatest lessons in showing love come from people that shared no blood with me, only the common tie of love. The most important of any of those was my grandpa, he was the greatest lesson to me on many levels , he showed love, empathy, self sacrifice, and strength. I learned these things from him through his actions. He adored me and I knew it.. he was a man of very few words but so loud in action. He held my heart like no other and protected as his own. I remember many times when he would comfort me but one will always stand out. I was just a young girl and was on the heavier side, I was teased greatly at school and on the bus. One day I stepped off the bus in tears… he didn’t say a word. He walked me home, sat me at the table and proceeded to make us tomato and green onion sandwiches, still not saying a word… he then sat next to me and said ” do you know why I love your grandma so much” … now my grandmother was a very heavy woman so as the world would see it i naturally thought of everything else… he answer ” because she keeps me warm at night” and he smiled at me… that was all I needed and we sat there in silence again. From that day forward my grandpa was at the bus stop everyday waiting for me. When he passed away my heart was broken and empty… that void was never filled again until now… until the man that stands before me now. The man that reminds me everyday of my grandpa.. my hero sent me a hero to stand in his place.