My dad is one of my greatest heros, personally. Not just because he is sick, but because of everything that he has done for my family and I while he has been sick. He has shown me so many new lessons within my life and even after my dad is gone, I will never forget the things he has taught me and said to me when I needed him the most.

   George Albert Kipp, age 58, born on January 15, 1959. He was always at the top of his high school classes, on the Varsity football team, and obtained a very successful career when he grew older. Even though he grew up with a very sick mother, a father who now does not check up on him, and a brother who died at young age due to drinking and stupid decisions, he still managed to be successful with his life and do what he loved.

  He got a job as a contractor at first and went back and forth traveling between Florida, New Jersey, New York, and sometimes even Louisiana for weeks. However, he was on duty to inspect houses and rescue people from the worst situations after Hurricane Katrina hit all of those pour souls. Unfortunately, my dad was having serious complications with his health when he finally came back home to us. Since he was younger, he had asthma which always gave him problems with his breathing, however it was not too serious. When he came home, we had no choice but to take him to the doctors just to get him looked at and to make sure that nothing serious was up. Sadly, we were all wrong. My dad’s life was soon to change fairly quickly due to his new found sickness that came to him within two weeks of travel. The doctors told us that he had obtained illnesses such as emphysema and COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease).

  “Emphysema is a part of COPD which is a long term, progressive disease of the lungs that primarily causes shortness of breath due to over-inflation of the air sacs in the lung. In people that have this disease, the lung tissue involved in exchange in gases is impaired or destroyed,” according to Emedicinehealth.com.

  Throughout the years, my dad has gotten way worse. To this day, my brother and I get free lunch from our schools because our dad is very sick and unemployed, my dad is in line for a lung transplant but has a very very long wait to go until the day is finally here, every time he walks up and down the stairs or sometimes even to the other room he is out of breath, and he cannot hit his body up against anything too hard because due to the medicine he takes, he will scratch his skin wide open and bruise himself to the point where he is black and blue. Also, he always breaks his ribs because of how muchs he coughs and how delicate he is, so he is always in pain. For someone that can not breathe, you may need your ribs… he does not even have the luxury of that.

  “You could say my days have gotten a little bit difficult for not only myself, but us. I try, I just can’t make happen what I used to be able to make happen. But, I now have a little girl that can drive me around and help us out more by getting groceries here and there,” as George Kipp said with a smile.

  I am the daughter of a fighter. My dad has been told by countless doctors that even though he is being shifted throughout the waiting list on getting not only one, but two, that means both, lungs transplanted; he may not even get the chance to see the day where he could finally breathe healthy again and be able to actually catch a breath. He has been told that for eight years, and his hour glass was supposed to run up four years ago. Just comes to show how much he would actually like to give to show his love and support to my brother, a traveling township soccer league member, and a member of the varsity football team at his middle school… my mom, a stay at home mom, having to hold up most of the weight of the family while dad recovers, and the chauffeur of everyone to get them where they needed to go… and me, a traveling all star cheerleader of twelve years, an editor for the school newspaper, and a member of the school's varsity cheerleading team.  

  Now I may have a thought as to what you’re thinking, this girl is sitting here, writing a story about her father and what his life has been like as he struggles. It’s a total pitty party for her and her family… oh boo-hoo. That’s not how it works at all when it comes to our situation. We take everything day by day, some days better than others, and we do with what life throws at us. I eventually hope my dad proves all of the doctors wrong and does get to see the day when he will be able to breathe healthy again, but only time will tell. For now, I will be my dad’s biggest helper and continue to be his princess.