Adam Copeland
MDI Contributor
My father Glenn Ray Copeland was born and raised in Poway, California, back when Poway was a one-horse town full of cowboys and indians.
So he’s old school and a man’s man. For as long as I can remember he’s always been the go-to person for everybody.
He was definitely the one adult who would take on outings a rather large group of kids (cousins, family, friends kids).
Growing up it seemed we were polar opposites, which caused us to bump heads a lot.
It wasn’t until I was 18 and moved to Texas with him that we really it off. He’d been working in the oil refinery and sending money back to my mom. But now, for the first time, it was just him and me – no siblings to take his focus and no mom to act as a buffer. We would go to the gym together and explore the area where we visited. He’d tell me stories of his upbringing and of my grandparents. We even touched on my upbringing, how I felt as a child that I was always being singled out and on the opposite side of his two favorites: his first-born son and his only little girl. (It didn’t help that both of them played that card often.)
But now as I grow into a man, I see that he was on me so much so I wouldn’t turn out like them. Instead I would be the best me I could be.
Although I’ve got a long way to go, I’ve finally realized what a good man my father is, and how much of a hero he’s been – not only to his kids, but to our cousins and to the kids of family friends.
Forever in my eyes, my dad will always be Superman.