Column 11: Hero.

In 2 weeks, I will be attending a dinner party for my friends' daughter, Michelline. She's turning 1 years old, & I have promised her mother, I will help her set up the party. Michelline's father is my X's best friend. He is the most responsible, hard working & wise 22 year old, I have ever met. He is the main bread winner; he works full time at a community center, as well as studying to be a fitness trainer. All this, while juggling a very active family life.
He is amazing. I spoke to him the other day, & I asked him advice about a situation that had been bugging me; my X's presence at the birthday party & the rumoured presence of a date...
& of course, as usual, he offered constructive advice & reassurance.
I know that he is not perfect. He has vices, threads of his personality that contribute to his humanity, but damn, He is a great person.
He sets the bar higher; he reminds me to stop worrying about trivialities of my calm life, & push harder in every domain. This manchild (still a boy, but a man because of his wisdom & father figure) is doing things that many men cannot, in their 20's, 30's, 40's & beyond; He's being a good father, he is tired, overwhelmed, but he is doing what he must to insure his daughter's future. That, ladies & gents, is a modern Hero.