Who Is Your Hero?

Do you have a personal hero? Tell us about them. It doesn’t have to be perfect to make a difference in someone else’s life.

Your Everyday Hero: Tommie & Jan M.

When I was five years old, my family had a family meeting to decide where we would go on our summer vacation. The children in the family suggested Disneyland. My parents supported the idea of going to Disneyland and then asked us how we were going to pay for it. My dad was a school teacher and we had a large family. To say the least, there was no discretionary money in the budget to pay for a nice trip like that.

My parents helped us come up with the idea of selling snow cones and suckers to pay for the trip. At 5 years of age, I pulled a red "Radio Flyer" wagon with my four older siblings and younger brother around our neighborhood almost every day throughout the summer. We earned the money to pay for our entire family to go to Disneyland but more importantly, we learned the joy of hard work.

I have since started several successful businesses and I give credit to my parents for teaching me strong values at a young age.

Submitted by Burt Matthews