My Dad, and the Little Things

A year ago today my Dad passed away after a 4-year battle with prostate cancer.

A few days later I stood at his graveside after the funeral, and one of his ex-pupils, who I barely knew, came up to me and told me to take comfort from the fact that my Dad had been an inspiration to him, believed in him and encouraged him more so than even his own father. He said that his life would have been a whole lot different if he hadn’t ended up with my Dad as one of his teachers.

That’s pretty powerful.

In the past year, particularly in the days and weeks after he passed away, I was surprised by the number of people who told us stories and sent messages of the positive effect he had on them at some point in their lives.

My Dad was a great people encourager. Being his son I always knew that, but he encouraged everyone in the same way he did me and my brother and my sisters. Not in a fist-in-the-air shouting “You can do it” kind of way, it’s just that he had a respect for everyone, he always seemed to have time for people, and he would encourage people to be better by getting in there alongside them and helping them.

For 36 years through the worst of the troubles in Northern Ireland, he was a teacher at a school in Strabane, which in its time was a troubled place. During the 70′s and 80′s a lot of kids in the area would have been tempted to join one of the paramilitary organisations. On more than one occasion someone has told me that they were about to join up, but my Dad reasoned with them and talked them out of it.

It was just little things like that I kept hearing.

Teachers who worked with him told me that he had really helped them settle in to the school when they started, and encouraged them to be better

Just little things

Several people told of how they had been going through a very difficult time in their lives and he (and my Mum) were there to listen and help for as long as it needed.

Little things

And so so many pupils who had been part of the school where he taught spoke of just the respect he had for them, the encouragement he gave them, and the time he gave to anyone who needed it.

Little things he did every day which mount up to a huge deal over time and really made a difference.

There are 2 quotes which come to mind when I think of my Dad, and I think best sum up what he was about -

The first is from “Within my Power” by Forest Witcraft:

“One Hundred Years from now it will not matter what kind of car I drove, What kind of house I lived in, how much money was in my bank account nor what my clothes looked like. But the world may be a better place because I was important in the life of a child.”

The second is from Mary Anne Radmacher:

“Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, “I will try again tomorrow.”

It seems he was very important in the lives of a lot of kids.

I’d like to thank every single person who’s said nice things or left a comment about him since my Dad passed away.

Your encouraging words have all made a difference.

I couldn’t put it any better than the some of the people he taught, some of who have commented here (among other places)

Willie Breslin Facebook Tributes

By saying these things you help keep his spirit alive.

Thanks

Who's your hero?

Tonight I sat with my missus and watched “Pride of Britain” awards on ITV. If you haven’t  heard of it, it’s a UK star-studded ceremony which happens once a year, attended by everyone from Prince Charles, to Cheryl Cole, to Simon Cowell, to David Cameron, and everyone who’s anyone in the world of British entertainment, politics, sport, and public life in general.

But these “stars” absolutely fade into insignificance in comparison with the people who are there to accept the “Pride of Britain” awards. People such as . . .

- Aimee Dempsey who was badly burned when she saved 7 children from a fire (she’s only 12 years old!)

- An off-duty policeman who rescued over 50 people from a burning bus on the edge of a motorway

- A boy who’s been in hospital 900 times, but has managed to raise over £90,000 to help provide toys for sick children, and he’s just 12 years old!

-70-year old heart surgeon Sir Magdi Yacoub, who set up the “Chain of Hope” charity which has helped save the lives of over 23,000 people with heart problems, many in developing countries

- Anne Glover, a woman who stood up to thugs and drug dealers in her housing estate, even when they fire-bombed her car and threatened her life.

. . . . the list goes on and on, and every story is humbling – people with the odds stacked against them due to health, or poverty, or violence, or just plain circumstance, but who just wouldn’t lie down to them.  Every one of them is without doubt a hero for what they’ve done, but also because they show us just what everyday ordinary people are capable of.

We don’t hear enough of this – every day the news is dominated by all the negative stuff happening in the world, because that’s what sells. This event happens once a year, and interestingly it gets double the TV audience of any other UK award ceremony (e.g. Brits / BAFTA’s)

But we need to celebrate our heroes every day, not just once a year.

And not just the people who have performed acts of bravery, but also those whose everyday actions demonstrate that there is hope for humanity and that most people are good, and the ones who appear on the negative news are in the minority.  The people who shine a little light over everyone else and uplift us all a little bit.

Do you have an everyday hero in your life? From acts of extraordinary bravery, courage, and overcoming the odds, to someone who’s always encouraging when you need it.

I’d like to know.

Because in sharing the story you will in turn spread that light a little further.

So tell me about them in the comment section below . . .