I don’t know about other people, but the idea of being a Hero when I grew up was the most exciting prospect in the world.
Yesterday I looked up at my toys and asked Optimus Prime what we were going to do next, cause I've run out of ideas , then I woke up to find the man who voiced the character and that made such a huge impression on me as a young man has passed away.
I know the death is a natural part of life, but it hits different when it's your childhood hero's
I guess really lost my first hero when I was 10, when my grandpa Stebbins died, I really looked up to him,
I was sick in 2004 when my grandma Francis died, so her death didn't hit me as hard as it should have and I know I didn't appreciate what I had at that time or what I had lost, I just trying to survive.
These larger than life figures brought so much joy to the lives of people, some they never even met.
I started writing this August-26-2026
It's been just over 4 years since my Dad passed away. He used to take my brother and I to local video rental shops and I loved picking the same Transformers VHS over and over.
I used to think we were going to save the world. I thought we had all the tools. but as the years passed, nothing ever got better and the tools became less helpful than ever.
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In 2025 we were told that the voice of He-Man passed, then the Immortal Hulk Hogan passed away.
My childhood was filled with endless hours playing with the Masters of the Universe toys my parents bought us. I got to dress as He-man for Halloween and I destroyed the sword of power while fighting an imaginary foe in the back yard.
My father took my brother and I to see Hulk Hogan wrestle Earthquake I think? lol at Springfield civic center. It was like a dream come true, even though we were in the nosebleed seats and I remember wishing we could sneak closer, it was such a magical moment.
We watched wrestling every week, so being there and getting to experience the energy of the crowd when Hogan won the match, then his music dropped... That thought still gives me goose bumps.
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My grandfather, their father passed away in 1988, his older brother in 2014, and then my Dad in 2022, all died of cancer.
They all taught us everything they’re ever going to teach, the lessons we get out of it all are up to us now.
All we have is what they left behind.
But what do you do with all those lessons?
Why aren’t we trying to save the world?
Why haven’t we cured cancer?
How many other people's hero's died of cancer?
Why do I think things are getting worse and not better?
I don’t want to be handed anything. I want to feel like I am a part of something and that I can contribute when other people need me.
Unfortunately our world isn’t designed to identify problems and solve them. Our world is designed to extract pain and suffering, then offer money in return, if you survive and if someone is willing to take your case.
So many times I needed my role models and they didn’t have any answers I so desperately needed, so I started writing and gathering documentation, so I could better explain my issues and helpfully recruit help in my quest to solve problems.
I haven’t forgotten all the life lessons I’ve learned and I’ve been trying to use them to work towards building a brighter future for all people, but it’s not been anywhere near as easy as I had hoped.
I had always imagined people would jump at the chance to change the world, but I also question whether we all have the same idea and if we think saving the world means the same thing.
I always thought that it was older people’s responsibility to pave the way to a brighter future for all people, not just our families or ourselves.
My mind jumps around a lot, I draw from so many different experiences and none of them bring me to the point we’re all at now.
Cullen even voiced Zandar and Nemesis Enforcer in the GI Joe movie and although he played bad guys, he fought SGT Slaughter, who has one of my favorite lines of all movies.
We all go home or nobody goes home.
Unfortunately that motto isn’t something people are taught in school.
I went to Catholic school in the 1980’s and we were taught to think one way and act another.
What is the point of claiming I love imaginary figures like Optimus Prime, if I’m not going to take any of the ideas they taught us and actually use them to try to save my planet?
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I had the chance to go to a Comic-Con and meet Peter Cullen. I also could have met Sgt Slaughter, but I had other things going on at those times in my life and getting an autograph didn’t seem all that important.
Now I’m sitting here alone. I can’t find anyone that wants to save the world, but I can find people that love to collect junk. lol
I joined 1980’s Facebook toy groups with the hopes of connecting with like minded people, but it’s more like I connected with guys that like to collect toys, not that like to think about how we could save the world.
Where have all the dreamers gone? Where are all the people that wanted to join a team and save the world?
Deep down I know my hero’s are all flawed, they’re all human, but the people that play these roles must imagine it actually happening and wonder why we’re not trying to at least improve our world, even if we can’t save all of it.
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My idea of a hero has changed over the decades.
Of all the ideas my hero’s taught me it’s our responsibility to care for my elders that confuses me the most.
Though I’ve learned that those elders around me would rather spend their time avoiding conversations about all the problems they allowed to grow out of control. I have a feeling a lot of these elders are going to be in for an even ruder awakening than what people are experiencing now.
This hits me hard on a personal level, since I got a job at a nursing home in 2004 “after” my grandma Francis died in a nursing home.
She was always there for us growing up, yet I never thought of her as a hero, even though she was and played a larger part in who I am than I can ever explain.
Yet when she started to get sick she moved in with us for a short time, then moved into assisted living, and finally was left to rot in a nursing home.
After she passed away and I was looking for a job, I went to school to become a Certified Nurses Aide and worked at a Nursing home for less than a year.
I didn’t understand how the system was willing to pay others to house the elderly and provide limited support, yet provided next to nothing to keep them at home.
It was demoralizing. I had to care for 12-15 patients every 8 hour shift, so time with them was very limited.
I honestly thought I could make a difference, but once working there I realized that those in control didn’t want to improve things and these nursing homes were a nightmare.
It horrified me thinking of how my grandma Francis was treated at the dumpier home she died in, when she could have spent that time closer to family.
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Even though I’m almost 48 I still love the idea of super heroes and larger than life characters, I know they’re not real and there’s no one coming to save us.
I use them as fun ideas when I think of different ways to alter our current path and pave a way to a better future.
I did get to meet William Shatner, Captain Kirk himself. I got a first bump, took a picture I don’t have a copy of and didn’t even get to hear him say hi, we got silence, since he wasn’t in the mood to chat with anyone that day. lol
It’s moments like that help me realize that he’s just another person trying to get through life, he helped create things that brought endless hours of joy to my life, so I guess it’s okay to feel like you’ve given enough for one day, even though this is a kind of obligation. lol
I mention Captain Kirk since I think most of us would work towards a Federation type future, if money wasn’t such a pestilence in our world.
I don’t just want to imagine a better world, I want to work towards it, but I think too many ideas are Band-Aids, when people need reconstructive surgery. I think we’re doing something, but it’s not solving our problems and I think we need to change course, I think we need to go back to older ways of doing things.
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It’s unfortunate that the real world is full of sexual predators and that’s a totally different type of monster to fight.
I bring this up because I have friends that told me they thought our presidents were going to change the world for the better, that these were men to be respected, admired and emulated, but instead we get scandals, lies, disgusting public comments and no sign at all that the majority of the population will benefit from Bills being passed or Laws changing.
I think a select few will prosper, our community leaders, our elected officials, the very people who could save a community and be a real world hero won’t do it. People in high places won’t stick their necks out these days and do the right thing for the greater good, instead they’re all selfish.
I have found zero elected officials that I would call role models, or that have admirable qualities that I would want my own children to emulate. I think most elected officials are so disgusting that I think child shouldn’t be allowed to listen to the things they say, unless their parent or guardian are standing right there ready to explain things in detail, so children don’t get confused by all the sexual messages and other lies government officials try to place in our minds.
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I don’t think I’m the first person to think any of these things, I doubt I’m the first to write them down either, but I feel alone in this current system, so I write from that perspective.
What does being a Hero mean to you?
What makes someone a Hero in your eyes?
Who are the role-models in your life helping guide you towards your future?
Do you think these people have guided you towards a better future or left you with more questions than answers?
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