Hero Worship 5-on-1 Topic 04/24/2020

This week's topic is Hero Worship. We've all had heroes at some point in our lives - my first was faster than a speeding bullet.

 It took me a while to switch to cowboys but I have loved Superman since the first time I saw George Reeves on TV. I have seen the movies and TV series. Yes I will likely watch the newest version next year.

Like most American boys I also had cowboy heroes, starting with Hopalong Cassidy. Those of you on Facebook may recognize this shot of me in my Hopalong Cassidy outfit as it is my annual post Thanksgiving profile picture.

 I frankly was never as enamored of Roy Rogers as most kids, but I was very fond of The Cisco Kid and Wild Bill Hickock. I had every souvenir gun used by a television cowboy from the Rifleman to Steve McQueen's Mares Leg in Wanted Dead or Alive to a genuine imitation Buntline special that Hugh O Brian used as Wyatt Earp. The NRA would have loved me.

Alas, as we grow older and up we tend to become enamored of real people instead of TV and/or movie heroes. Don't get me wrong - I still love my fictional stars - I was a huge John Wayne fan but enjoyed Robert Mitchum more. As a big music fan I particularly enjoy the makers of my favorite tunes from the 60s through the 80s, especially the British Invasion stars of the 60s and 70s, especially the Beatles - IMO the greatest band of all time. My all time fave rock tune is Born to Run and these days I am particularly fond of 2 Cellos but none of these reach the level of hero worship. My real hero these days is my brother, Mike.

Some of you know Mike as my little brother - you met him between the ages of 5 - 12 and there is an 11 year difference in our ages. I typically introduced him as my little brother but when it dawned on him that at 6'3 he had surpassed my 6'2, he informed me he should be known as my younger brother, not little brother. Fair enough.

Like any family, mine has had its ups and downs. My brother, sister and I share the same mother but different fathers. Jack McConvey - the man most of my friends know as my father was really my step father and since he legally adopted me his name is on my birth certificate. What that means is Mike constantly had me thrown in his path as the one to beat in anything and everything he did. I was a moderately successful jock so that was lorded over him constantly. From his first day in Little League Mike had me to contend with as his benchmark. Then, when he hit high school it got even worse - I was a 3-sport jock, adding football and wrestling to my resume. No problem - Mike played all three of those sports. I got farther in wrestling with my second place finish in the league,  3rd place finish in the North Coast Sectional, an invitation to the state tournament and a 3rd place finish in an AAU west coast tournament but Mike wrestled in a much tougher weight class - 191lb. I was a heavyweight aka, Unl. He made all league in football and baseball. By the time he finished high school I had graduated college with a BA in Political science and had a modestly successful JC college football career but I ceased athletics beyond the  recreational level from then on. On a return home trip I had occasion to attend one of Mike's JC football games at my alma mater Chabot College.

One of Mike's coaches was an old friend and teammate of mine named Ed Galigher. We were teammates at Chabot and went to competing high schools - Ed to Sunset and me to Mt. Eden. We had known each other since our Little League days. I ran into Ed after the game - it should be noted that Ed played in the NFL for seven seasons for the NY Jets and SF 49ers. After competing bear hugs, Ed smiled at me and said "Damn Chuck - your brother is a legitimate stud and would handle us both easily." Ed did not embellish things - he simply told the truth. So much for athletics - Mike bested me, but I did get a BA and that remains the only instance in which I bested him. Mike earned a scholarship to Boise State after Chabot.

Then life interceded while we were both busy making other plans. Again, as in most families there were good times and bad, Our parents separated and divorced. I ended up in Texas and Mike stayed in the SF Bay Area. He married his wife Margie, and they have three daughters and so far 4 grandchildren. Sammy - the youngest - had a scholarship to Notre Dame De Namur - she got the family pitching genes -and a Masters degree. She works with autistic kids. Rachel -the oldest - has 3 kids and her own business and Becca - the middle girl has a BA and lives in SoCal. Since  our mother's passing, Mike has been the family goto guy - he has been there for us all, including having our dad live with him and Margie for the last several years of his life. That job usually falls to the oldest but in our family it has been the youngest. I spent most of the last seven months living with him and Margie while sorting through issues of my own. He has a stressful job in the concrete business and coached kids through the years as well as played the protective father when his girls were dating. His tales of intimidating young men are legendary as well as hilarious. He has been and remains the family rock and I am extremely proud of him. While having dinner the night before I returned to NC, we were discussing a family issue. I laughed and said since he was the family honcho, he should take care of it. He grinned, leaned back in his chair and said "I am the boss, and I am assigning this one to you". Damned if he hadn't bested me again.  That's Mike, Margie, Samantha, Becca and Maverick in the photo below along with Sammy's dog Ray and Margie's dog Mickey

Please visit the other members of the 5-on-1 team to see what they have to say about this week's topic, chosen by Ramana. Ramana, Padmum, Sanjana & Conrad  

See you next week, same shack time and same shack channel.