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Challenge: My Dad Hero

Iron Man's Heart

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In 2015, my husband and I welcomed our son, August. I have never seen my Dad beam with pride over my little boy. He could not wait to come visit us and would drop everything at the chance. I could not wait to watch him interact with August and have a similar memory bank of one-liners and laughs that I have from growing up. In 2016, we had a close call where we thought we were going to lose my Dad due to heart issues. We traveled from Iowa to Connecticut to be with him because we did not know what would happen. We did not know if he would make it, he had already been revived a couple of times. A few days into the family emergency, my Dad started to awake a little while he was still hooked up to machines. My husband brought August in to see my Dad (I had a hard time seeing him hooked up to the "tree of life"). Dad's eyes lit up and he started to appear to try to sob out of joy and relief. August, only 10.5 months old, was cool, calm, collected, and not afraid of the scene in front of him. We like to think that August brought my Dad, his Bubbo, back to us. We have come to affectionately refer to Bubbo as Iron Man because he is living with an LVAD to keep his heart pumping, for a 3 year old that makes sense. Due to that LVAD and being on the heart transplant list, he has been able to make memories with August and our daughter Emelia, born in 2017. Having my Dad whole is is great, but it is even better I get to chance to watch his relationship with August and Emelia grow. We may be 1200 miles apart, but thanks to technology not only do we get to video call with Bubbo, but Bubbo got his Iron Man heart. An Iron Man heart that none of us could live without.

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