You deserve good things
When Ricky Mena found himself down on his luck and unsure of where to turn, his grandmother came to him in a dream and led him to a heroic new mission
Ricky Mena sank onto his friend’s couch with his head in his hands. With nothing but a duffel bag and his beloved Chrysler 300 car, the 37-year-old had been crashing at his friend’s Pittsburg, California, apartment after his music deal fell through and left him penniless. He’d gotten a job as a personal trainer, but in his heart, Ricky wanted to do something more…something meaningful. But what? he wondered. What’s my true purpose?
As he fell asleep on his friend’s sofa that night in 2014, Ricky’s deceased grandmother came to him in a dream.
“I want to show you something,” she said, leading him by the hand to an old movie projector. On the screen, Ricky saw Spider-man walking through hospital doors into a room full of smiling children.
“That is you,” she said, smiling softly at him. With that, Ricky awoke. For days afterward, the dream nagged at him. I’ve never been that into superheroes, but what if there’s something to this? Ricky wondered, scrolling through Spider-man costumes online. When he saw the email address of a man who made them by hand, Ricky felt a strong nudge to reach out. But his heart sank when he discovered the custom costume cost $3,000. I could never afford that, he thought.
“What were you looking to do with it?” the man asked.
“I wanted to use it to visit sick kids in the hospital, just to make them happy,” Ricky explained, his hope rising.
“In that case, I’ll drop the price to $1,400,” the man said.
That was still a lot of money for Ricky. But suddenly, he was overwhelmed with a conviction stronger than he had ever known. So he sold his car, getting enough money to not only buy the costume but also buy a used car to get to the hospitals.
Excited to get started but not sure how, Ricky began mentioning his new venture to his fitness clients. And one day, a stranger called.
“Is this Spider-man?” she asked tentatively. “It is!” Ricky beamed. The woman explained that her young son, Jeremiah, had been sick for months in a nearby hospital.
“He hasn’t taken his SpiderMan costume off once since he’s been here,” she explained. “Please, visit him!”
When Ricky showed up, the boy’s eyes grew wide. “Wow! Spider-man!” he cried, a huge smile spreading across his face.
And in that moment, Ricky knew in his heart: This was what he was meant to do.
Soon, Ricky turned his heartfelt mission into a nonprofit, Heart of a Hero (Heartofahero.org), and began visiting children’s wards three times a week. Today, dressed as their “friendly neighborhood Spider-man,” he’s brightened the lives of more than 10,000 children. He even expanded his organization to include other superheroes.
“We all have something special we’re put on this Earth to do,” Ricky smiles. “For me, it was this. Suiting up and making kids happy is my purpose, and nothing brings me more joy!”