(The Beacon)
By Joanna Goodwin, Guest Commentary -- The Beacon
There are times in our lives when we are in serious need of a hero. There are also times when someone needs you to be his or her hero.
Unfortunately, there are times when picking who that hero is doesn't come until it is too late and you can look back and see how much that one person has affected your life.
Bob Goodwin, my big brother, was a doctor, husband, father, soldier, son and my hero. On June 19, 2010, he and his family set out on a road trip from Bremerton, Wash. to Virginia. He died only four hours into the drive in an accident outside of Moses Lake, Wash.
What did he have to do to be a hero?
He never invented anything or brought peace to great lands (unless you include family feuds).
But what he did do is love. He had big dreams, and he achieved them. And he was never consumed by what he did, but instead by whom he could help.
Ever since he was a little boy, born in 1973, he had to be the best of the best. Like any good Catholic boy, he wanted to devote his life to the Church. But we're not talking some dinky priest. We're talking head honcho – this man was going to be the Pope.
He moved on from that idea and, as he grew, he proved himself an honorable citizen when he got his Eagle Scout and lettered in track, cross country and debate team. He was awarded the Congressional Award Bronze and Silver medals for service to the community and academic excellence.
After high school he attended the Naval Academy, graduating in 1995 with a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry and received his Doctor of Medicine at Georgetown University.
He married Bridget Singletary in 2000, and they had two boys: Christopher, born in 2003, and Paul, born in 2008. They moved all over the world and he worked as an emergency room doctor for Naval assignments in San Diego, Japan and Bremerton. He served in Afghanistan for almost a year ,and his family was planning on moving back to Japan because it provided stability and less of a chance for reassignment in Afghanistan.
Near the end of his life, he was presented the position of a U.S. Navy Commander, a status he had long been striving for.
From that point on, thanks to him, I have become a new person. Every proud, scared or trying moment I have, I think of Bob and the lessons he has given me.
I have realized the hero in my life is no longer with me, but I know I can always find him. I look into the eyes of his two sons and I see him smiling back with trust that we, as a family, will share his story. I want his boys to know their daddy as the superhero watching over them every day.
My brother has taught me that the best lessons I have learned aren't from my statistics or Biblical Traditions class, but the lessons that never had to be spoken to understand.
As collge students, we are in a time of our life right now where we have the freedom to act as crazy as we want without reaping the consequences. I can't even imagine how many times I have wished I had taken out an evening of partying to just talk to my brother, my hero, and tell him thank you for the impact he made on my life.
It is our own choice to decide on a carefree lifestyle, which I can easily admit to all too often. But don't forget about those moments of reality that carry even more importance. When you live your life now and to the fullest, it does not always mean making every day a party.
Could someone consider you his or her hero? What are you doing that makes your life an inspiration to others? When these four years are over, will we be able to claim ownership on the people we have become?
Joanna Goodwin is a junior elementary education and Spanish Studies major. She can be contacted at
goodwin12@up.edu.
