My son has a hero. His hero is not a professional athlete, not a movie star, and not even one of those Marvel characters. Although he may not be the typical six year old's hero, he well deserves the title. My son's hero is Bill Harley. Bill Harley is a singer/songwriter/storyteller from Seekonk, MA. The first time we saw Bill, my son kept waving his hands, trying to ask for a song. He wanted to hear "Macaroni and Cheese". Bill was not able to sing the song that day, but, after the show, sang a few bars of it for my son. That was it. We were hooked. The Cd's we bought were played over,and over, and over again. That Summer, we went to Mississippi on vacation. While at a lake, my son began collecting milky quartz from the grounds and the shores. When we asked him why he was collecting it, he told us it was for his "best friend" Bill Harley. It seems that my son believed he needed these rocks, because of his song "The Milky Way". So, we came home, wrote a letter to Bill, and carefully wrapped up the milky quartz as a gift. Bill responded with a wonderful handwritten postcard of thanks. It was very cool! Later, my son and I went to a storytelling festival in Chillicothe, Ohio. As soon as my son saw him come on stage, he was crying out, "Look! Look! It's Bill Harley! Look!" He looked out, smiled, and waved. My son and I listened to several storytellers, and then we saw Bill. He loved every minute of Bill's story. Once he was done, we walked out to the front. We found the manager, and asked if Bill would be coming out to sign autographs. My son was jumping up and down, saying "I want to see Bill Harley! I want to see Bill Harley!" The manager walked us back the performers trailer. He knocked on the door, and told Bill he had a fan outside. I was amazed. He came right out to see us! My son, was star struck. Then, Bill Harley did the most amazing thing. He crouched down to be at eye level with my son. I told him that this was the boy who had sent him the milky quartz. His response? "Hello, Robbie! The quartz was great. Thank you!" I was blown away. How many children write to him? And he knew my child's name? Wow! We were about to go, when I realized that we had forgotten our camera. I told Robbie I was sorry about that. Bill asked us to hold on, and went to get his own camera! I took the picture of Robbie and Bill together. He asked me to email his wife, and we'd get the picture. Sure enough, we did. (Thank you, Debbie!) The next time he was in Cincinnati, we went to see him again. Again, Bill recognized Robbie. Again, they had a wonderful picture taken together, and again I was amazed. Here is a man who takes the time to pay attention to my child, who remembers the letters he has written to him, and takes a picture with him every time. My son thinks of Bill Harley as his hero, and I for one, think that fits perfectly! If you ever get the chance to see him, GO! It will be a great time for all.
