HEROISM-DAD

2 Pages 575 Words

When I hear the word hero, the first person who comes to mind is my father, Raymond Mathers. He defines every part of the word “hero”. He is a good father and a dedicated teacher of life. He saved his own life, and mine. My father has overcome a countless number of obstacles.
Raymond Ledoux was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts on August 17, 1950. When his high school years were coming to an end, bad crowds introduced him to all sorts of drugs and alcohol. This started a horrible beginning to a long road of struggles. Although New Bedford is the “heroin capital” of New England, the interest of substance started in a visit to Florida. Coke, marijuana, heroin, alcohol and cigarettes were all vices in my father’s life. A coke deal in Ft. Lauderdale is the romantic story of how my parents met each other. Looking beyond all of the negative aspects taking up there lives; they were in love and wanted to start a family. At the age of thirty-eight, Ray had a baby girl that goes by the name of Jamie-Rae Ledoux.
Our family moved back to New England and my parents were looking to straighten out there lives for there baby and themselves. My father finally realized that staying with my mother was making the process longer and more difficult so he left with all positive intentions. Once living on his own, he defeated all bad habits on his own. He stopped drinking, smoking cigarettes, and all drug use; including the methadone he was on which was supposed to help stop the drug and alcohol addictions themselves. There were not any AA meetings, drug counseling, or nicotine patches; he quit every addiction with his own willpower.
In the mean time I was living with my mom, who was still abusing alcohol and drugs. My father knew it wasn’t anything a child needed to experience. He wanted me to grow up in a safe, loving, and substance-free home. As a result, he bought a house and took me out of the negative environment my mother provided. I ...