Hello,

I listen to your podcast weekly and I feel that I need to share the story of my father, Tim Howell. He has been an inspiration in my life because the man has also been very quite, loving but tough as nails. The man initially went college to play baseball but while at school felt that he needed to serve his country. During the 1970s he dropped out of school at enlisted in the Marines Corps. This pretty much meant he was destined to deploy to Vietnam and he did so with Third Battalion Ninth Marines. Years after being discharged from the Marines my father began to develop hip pain. When he went to the VA they informed him that he did not have a hip socket on the right side of his body. This meant the bones would just grind together. They told him that he was born with this defect. But his ability to never quit continues. He worked as a supervisor at a manufacturing plant where he had to stand and walk around all day while in pain. His time at home was either spent taking care of 12 acres of land we grew up on or helping my sister and I practice sports. We both were catchers so he had to squat down and get up constantly, which must have been very painful. While growing up I never understood the type of pain my father was in every day of his life because he never showed it. He was always there to help us and never told us that he couldn’t do something. He is now into his 60s and had both of his hips replaced a few years ago. It was amazing seeing my father walk for the first time without a cane because he used one for some many years. I love my father and he is the inspiration in my life. Without his never quit attitude and showing me that pain is not an excuse I would have never been been the person I am today.