I remember my dad.

He’s a superhero.

Always has been and always will be.

He did not wear a cape, but he didn’t need it

For he always came home with an aching spine to show

That he was bearing the weight of the world on his back

Day, after day, after day.

My dad has super strength that makes

Superman seem like a frail man with glass bones

You see, my dad was strong enough to hold a whole family together

When we were falling apart.

My dad’s a hero. A superhero.

 

I remember my dad

As a Navy Man

I was told that whenever he left for duty

I would sit in the corner and cry right before he left

I feared losing him in those days

Before he walked out the door, I imagine him looking at me

And saying

“Don’t worry my son,

I’ll see you soon.

I love you.”

His words a promise that so many young men are given

A promise that is broken so often it has become expected.

But he always come back. Promise never broken.

 

I remember my dad

Making breakfast early in the morning.

Something about My dad’s sweet rice

Was able to make all other troubles in the world fade.

I remember asking him one morning

“Dad, why do you love me?”

He replied with

“Because you are my son.

You are what I saw long ago.

A future that I can’t wait to see unfold.

A life, a dream, a chance to do better than I.

You are the world to me.”

I walked off without realizing what he meant,

But now that I see that I am what he wanted for so long:

A clean slate. An opportunity to become anything.

 

Now that I am older, I realized that

He didn’t have

To stay

Be there

And craft five souls

My siblings and I

 

I remember my dad

As a man who loved music.

Memories of my family bonding through Karaoke are the most vivid.

No matter what we were going through

When the Karaoke came out, all problems went away.

I remember my dad singing every ounce of his soul into that microphone.

It was him who taught me that through singing

A man can change any situation for a better no matter what was going on in his life.

He bred my love for music.

He created my love for performing.

He made me the man I am today.

 

There are too many young men in our world who don’t know what a father is.

My father told me that

“Fatherhood is just making you sharper than this world’s blades

And faster than its bullets.”

My father showed me that a Father

Is one who puts his family above all else.

Nothing in this world can keep a father from protecting his children.

 

 

 

The greatest gift that my father gave to me was his name.

I am his son.

I am Gregory Hines,

The namesake of my father

My name serves as a constant reminder that my father chose to stay.

My name serves as a constant reminder that he will always be there

My name serves as a constant reminder

we can never show enough gratitude

To the men who stayed