Who Inspires You?

Who Inspires You?

Who inspires you? This is a question that I have been asked many times over the years. When I was a young elementary school student the answer was Neil Armstrong because I dreamed about space and wanting to be an astronaut. Then I watched the space shuttle challenger explode in the sky from my back yard. Watching the shuttle launch was an advantage of growing up just outside of cocoa beach florida. The day that I witnessed that my whole outlook about being an astronaut changed, as well as my outlook about flying. I hate it! When i started playing baseball, the easy answer became Pete Rose, and to this day I think he was an amazing baseball player and deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. Now that I am an adult and work as a photographer, I guess the simple answer would be Annie Leibovitz. She is an amazing photographer, and really does inspire me. If you know much about her work and have seen some of my work you can definitely see the inspiration. Now that I am a marathon runner, I guess the simple answer would be Ryan Hall.
All of these people were and are great in their fields, but there is one person who if I look back on my life has always inspired me. When I wanted to be an astronaut I was inspired by Neil Armstrong, but he would bring me to Kennedy Space Center to see the sights and to watch the shuttle lift off.
When I wanted to be a baseball player, I was inspired by Pete Rose, but he was the one that would show up at my practices just to watch. He was the one who was at all of my games to watch me play. He was the one that took me out and threw balls to me just so I could get some extra batting practice and fielding. He was the one who worked extra shifts so that I could go to Florida State Baseball camp every year that I was in high school. He was the one that worked hard every day so that I didn't have to do anything except concentrate on baseball.
When I started pursuing photography I read a lot about it and began to be inspired by Annie Leibovitz, but he was the one who supported my decision to do photography. He was the one who told me how good my pictures were. He was the one that said do what you have to do to be happy.
When I started running I was inspired by Ryan Hall, but he was the one that said, "you can do a marathon, no matter how hard it is." He was the one who every time I told him that I did a race within a certain time he would shoot back with, "thats pretty good, how about a little faster next time." He was the the one that when I told him that I want to try to qualify for the Boston Marathon he said, "you can do it, go for it." He was the one that called me the week before my first full marathon to tell me that he was not going to be able to be there. I know that killed him. This is one of the only sporting events of my life that he had to miss, the other being the only two baseball games that he missed in which i hit two home runs. I know that he would have done anything to be able to be there.
When I went into the tattoo parlor the other day to get two new Chinese letters added to my back I had one definite choice in mind and that was endurance (the last one in the picture) and when I opened the book of letters to choose my other one, the first one that I saw was father (the top one on my back). This was a no brainer to me. I have always been close to my father, and it was only later in my life that I realized that all of my idols that "inspired" me were nothing compared to my father. He inspires me every day of my life and has instilled in me the inspiration to be able to set goals and do what it takes to accomplish them.
As we get older we realize many things. Seasons change, we grow older, and the people that we are close to become more valuable than they could ever know. Sometimes we never get to tell the people that we care about the most how we really feel, and time passes by before we ever get the chance. I want to tell my father thank you for everything that you have ever done for me. I want him to know that even when he his gone he will still be a strong inspiration in my life, and I hope to pass on the values that he passed on to me. I know that I could never thank him enough for all of the sacrifices that he has made for me, but now he will be with me forever.

Thanks Dad....... I love you.