His Working Class Hero

A lot had changed in the forty-three years since I had adopted Tim. Sure we had our fights and there were many times that we had not agreed on everything, but one thing was certain; I never regretted my decision. There were days that I had thought that he would throw his life away, throw away all of my hard spent time teaching him and educating him. But even through his rebellious years, he had never stopped learning, never stopped school; even if he tried to hide it from me.

I had worked my fair share of years and way past the retirement age of sixty-two. By the age of seventy, my osteoporosis had gotten to the point where it hurt me to walk. Sitting too long would cause me a problem in getting up and I had no choice but to retire last year.

The longer that I worked as a social worker, the more people asked me what it was like to adopt. People became hesitant of adopting because of the bad cases that would be publicized by the media. But with every one bad case there were twenty cases that went by perfectly, no family or child disappointed.

Of course not all of my cases dealt with adoption. There were times that I was given kids who had families, but were abused. It was easy to prove most of them, but some were nearly impossible and it would happen that the child would stay with their abuser. After the day that I saw Mr. Greene beating his wife and kids, child services came knocking on his door fairly quickly and the kids were taken away from the family.

To my surprise, I was granted their case and by the end of the year, I had found them two loving homes near the neighborhood that I lived. They went to the same school as Tim did and had become close friends. I still see the Green girls around, they come to the house parties that Tim has ever few months. He was a big shot business owner in Savannah and made his millions easily. But he wasn’t greedy nor was he was foul hearted. He gave back to the world as often as he could and helped his friends and family out. Of course he wasn’t too frugal with his money, he was a businessman and he understood how to spend his money and more importantly how to invest it.

“Mr. Seward are you ready to go?” Susie came up to me a smile on her warm aged face. I simply nodded my head as I pushed myself out of my lazy boy chair as I grabbed my cane for support. Susie, she was always trying to do good, put her arm under my armpit to help me get up but I waved my hand telling her I did want it. Until my disease paralyzed me, I refused to get help.

“Susie? How long have I been telling you to call me Johnny? You’ve been married to my son for so long, gave us three beautiful grandchildren and yet you still call me the same name you did when you two were teens dating.” A laugh passed her aged lips as she walked side by side with me to the door.

Walking outside in the hot Savannah day I saw my kids standing in the front yard chatting. Jake was the youngest and he always felt like he had the most to prove in the family. He was the one that we all babied and gave the world to him on a silver platter, but he wanted none of it. His character was stronger and that was by in part as to why Tim wanted only Jake as his business partner, even with the fifteen-year age gap.

My twin girls Tamara and Jackie were the kind of girls that were satisfied with living the middle class life. They didn’t want fame and they didn’t care for having crazy amounts of money and that was why I always assume Theresa became a social worker and Jackie was a civil engineer. There would never be monuments put up in their honor, but they had the greatest gift of all. They had husbands and kids and loved and respected them and a family that would support them through the hardest.

“You ready to go Dad?” Jake asked me as he was the first to notice me and all conversation quickly ended. I nodded my head as I headed towards Tim’s car, knowing already that it was his car that would get us to our destination. I wasn’t a man of many words, especially after my wife had left to live in the nursing home.

Getting in the back seat I was shocked to see a person that I hadn’t seen in many years. She had left Saint Francis many years ago and I had lost contact with her. I had figured that she had passed on years ago after all; she was twenty-three years older then me.

“Sister Teresa. I can’t believe I’m seeing you. How long has it been?” She picked her hand up, her thin fingers shaking as she patted me on my arm.

“Johnny, it has been ten years now. I couldn’t believe it when I saw Tim knocking on my door. But he told me what was happening today and I wouldn’t miss it for the world. You had helped me and the kids that came through my doors for so many years, I had to come and pay my respects. Will your wife be joining? She was always such lovely company.” A frown came to my face as I looked down and leaned on my cane as a sigh passed my lips. She knew nothing of what had happened to her and every time I had to tell my story over, it pained me.

“Unfortunately she won’t be able to make it. Four years ago we had discovered she had Alzheimer’s and she was okay, but in the past six months she took a turn for the worst. She’s good on some days and bad on others, but she almost never remembers us anymore. It hit Jake, my youngest the hardest out of all. He wasn’t ready to lose his mom.” Sister Teresa nodded her head as Tim got in the car and looked back at us in his rear view mirror, a smile set on his lips. I knew that he wouldn’t say anything about this reunion that he put together, but he knew that I appreciated without having to speak any words.

“I’m sorry to hear that. But I she will live a long life and so will you. If you aren’t together in person, you are together in spirit and she will be there when they are giving you your award.” She told me as she leaned further in the chair, preparing herself for the drive.

I patted Susie on the shoulder as we drove and she turned her head, her blue smiling eyes boring into mine. “Will Mr. Tenenbaum be joining us there?” She nodded her head as she looked back at the road.

“Dad told me he wouldn’t miss it for the world. He told me only the good get recognized for their work and it was about time you got yours.” I nodded my head as I looked out the window. The cars weren’t what they were when I was young. They were smaller and the speed surpassed the cars of our time. It was impossible to get around without a car and I never in my wildest dreams believed that they would be such a big part of our lives. But then again I grew up in a rural area of the south. Cars were a luxury only some could have.

“You’re a good person, you deserve all of this and more for what you did for my kids.” Sister Teresa told me quietly from her passenger seat.

“The good live long.”

“Well then you’ll surpass my years and live into your hundreds.” The rest of the ride to my old office was spent in silence. The radio was off and no one talked, but then again it wasn’t needed. Silence spoke greater then words could. I had been shocked when my office called telling me they wanted to hang my portrait up. I was a man of inspiration, a man who had done more then any job required of him. I was someone to be emulated, though I never believed it. Pulling up to the tall building Susie quickly got out and helped Sister Teresa out of the car and Tim came around to my door. He didn’t help me, he knew that I hated it, but after we had closed the door, he put his arm around my shoulder, a smile on his aged features.

“Thanks Dad.” My eyebrows burrowed together as I looked at him, confusion evident on my face.

“For what?”

“For being my working class hero.”