Who is your hero? The Tribune’s annual Profile edition is about Everyday Heroes. It will feature stories that our readers suggested of amazing people who make our towns and villages  a better place to live.

I am extremely lucky. My heroes are my parents.

Growing up I was an Army brat. If you do not know, an Army brat is the child of an officer or soldier of the United States Army.

My father, Richard, served in the Army from 1950 until 1971. During his tenure, he began as a teenager fighting a war in Korea and ended it training soldiers for Vietnam. My dad was an Army Ranger. My dad was also a skilled woodsman who trained all of my brothers and sisters how to clean and take care of our guns when hunting. He taught us hunter’s safety and always stressed the importance of teamwork and believing in your country.

Learning about the flag and our country was the other important part of what we Army brats knew about. My dad made sure we respected the flag, knew the rules and knew the Pledge of Allegiance. You know it makes me quite sad that today our flag and the Pledge are not honored as much as when I grew up. My father passed away when I was 14. I sure miss him.

My mom, Marilyn, turned 82 years young this year and is astonishing. She raised six kids and still kept her sanity. My mom held our family together. I had siblings born in Germany, Kentucky, Texas and Colorado. A big portion of being an Army family is moving and when Uncle Sam called, it was usually up to my mom to make sure all of us  kids got into our new town, schools, and home without any big problems.

My mom was also really good at giving out advice to all of her kids through the years. Maybe some of this advice will sound familiar to you as well.

“In or out” — as the screen door was slamming.

“I hope you have children who are just like you.”

“You plant potatoes, you get potatoes.”

“Money doesn’t grow on trees, you know.”

“Close the door! Were you raised in a barn?”

“Stop crying before I give you something to cry about!” (This scared me quite a bit)

“Your face is going to freeze that way.”

“You’re not made of sugar. You won’t melt.

“This hurts me more than it hurts you.” (This never hurt my parents more than it hurt me. Never.)

“As long as you live under my roof, you will follow my rules.”

“You should move out now while you know it all.” (My personal favorite that I also still use.)

I think you really understand your parents after you become a parent yourself. You give up time, new clothes, and new cars for the chance to give everything in your soul to your child. When there was only four pieces of cake for five people, my mom would always say something like: “I never did care for cake all that much,” or “Oh my, I am way too full right now.” Dads always make sure you had a running car, gas money, and decent tires. It comes down to sacrifice. Good parenting is sacrifice. Sacrifice is the reason that my parents are my heroes

Join us on Saturday, Feb. 24, 2018, in reading about our local heroes. Profile is a large, glossy magazine that offers you all local, positive news. Profile will be inserted into the daily newspaper on this day. Our team here at The Tribune hope you enjoy reading this tremendous issue.

Thanks for listening.

 

Scott Schmeltzer is the publisher of The Tribune. To reach him, call 740-532-1441 or by email at scott.schmeltzer@irontontribune.com.