a hero to me

a story was told of a man the other day
that called up his sister around midnight
back when no one called past eight
his nephew answered the phone 
his uncle says go wake your mom and dad
i need some money
the nephew let a few days pass
but he couldn't take it any longer
he said uncle why'd you need that money
the man said a man at work had been arrested
and i had to get him out, he has 3 kids, he needs to work
this man my grandpa, around 1965
after my grandparents passed away
and we were cleaning
we found letters my grandma had sent to judges
for a family friend to get custody of his children
i learned that they let a man live on the porch because he was homeless
even though they had four kids
i had witnessed my grandpa pick up strangers on the side of the road 
and give money to smelly, dirty people
he made and took fruit baskets to every widow and shut in in the community
no matter their color or religion
even when he had no money himself and couldn't see, much less drive
no he isn't going to have a monument made for him
or a movie
but he will always be my hero

writing for 5 minutes today on hero with Lisa Jo