Inspiration

There are many people in the world that could be the utmost importance to you, someone you respect, someone you may not even know personally but still somehow, by what they do, they inspire you. It may only take one small gesture that only lasted a few moments, or an on going contribution. But, however, in my case my father is the one who inspires me the most.
For all nineteen years that I have been around and been able to know my father, it hasn't been until the past nine years did I really start noticing how fortunate I am to have him in my life.
For example, It will be 10 years in April that I lost my mother. Ten years ago, my father was left alone with a six year old little girl and a ten year old little girl. For anyone, that would be a very frightening thing, parenthood alone is frightening. But my father never gave up, never took the easy way out. He was always there to stick by my side along with my younger sister's. He has been through rough patches with both work and attitude adjustments with his two girls. He had to find some way to keep his full time job and still be able to be there for my sister and I, giving us love and care and still be able to do his own things as well. Honestly, that is a very hard challenge to up take. More so when that challenge entails having to go through puberty with younger girls...twice! So being a single father, only having the help of his own parents during the week for only a few hours, and still continuing with a job that is an hour and a half away from his kids, providing food , shelter, and still eating up the hardship that life dished out to him and his family, he still stayed strong. I respect my father and he inspires me because its a lesson to learn.. Never give up, never toss away your dreams just because life gives you a rough patch, no matter how long that patch lasts, never give up.
--K.D.