A Good Man

On Friday I took off early from work.

I met up with my family and a dozen roses from my favorite floral shop, I Love Roses (they have the biggest roses in all of Dallas!), and I headed over to the court house where an award assembly was being held.

We waited in the back.  It was my mom, Vanessa, Checo, my uncle Jorge and Tia Patty drove in 8 hours and my Tia Nydia took off early as well to come to my dad’s award ceremony.

They had a guest speaker who went on forever, and my sister was wondering if she could stay that long since she only had 2 hours allotted time for her lunch break.  As the awards were begin handed out, we awaited patiently in the back room where all the other family members of the other recipients were…waiting.

They start to announce my dad’s award.  It was something like this:

“Our next award recipient was really hard to hide because he is part of the award committee.  One of the pioneers who got the whole award thing started years ago by handing out small tokens of appreciation to his team.  He has been with the county for 26 years.  He was born one of 9 children and raised in Mexico and came to the US when he was 17 not speaking a word of English.  He started HS and received his HS Diploma at age 19 from Woodrow Wilson High School.  He went to UT Arlington, received a Bachelors degree and worked a full-time job while married and raising a child. He is now the father of three children: Claudia, Vanessa and Sergio.

This man enjoys all sports, but his passion is salt water fishing…”

We new that the second they said 9 children and Woodrow Wilson, my dad was in the audience knowing it was him who was receiving the award.

They went on and on and on.

I sat there and heard people screaming out his name, the audience clapping…I realized, that for everything they said, they missed so much.

They forgot to mention that his older brother passed and he soon became the oldest and the “Man of the House” for lack of fatherly presence from my grandfather.  They forgot to mention that while married to my mother and going to school full-time and living pay-check to paycheck, they lived in 2 different apartment complexes that were burned to the ground because of reckless tenants and they had to start from scratch, literally.  In one fire, my dad only got out with a towel wrapped around his waist because he was taking a shower when the fire was in mid burning.

They forgot to mention how despite the money issues growing up, we never lacked anything.  Maybe i couldn’t get a brand new clarinet for band when all the other kids parents bought them their own interments and i had to rent mine from the school.  But he was there front row with roses waiting for me every school recital.

They forgot to mention that he’d save up his vacation to take us on 3-week road trips to mexico in the summer so we could meet our extended family.

They forgot to mention that he baby sat us at night when my mom worked the graveyard shift and he’d balance my brother and feed him on one arm while showing me how to find something in the encyclopedia for my research papers.

They forgot to mention how he taught us all how to fish using just a can of coke and some fishline when we were kids.

Or how when I hit a wall in my life, he never asks what’s wrong, he simply hugs me and tells me, “You are my daughter.  You are not meant to be sad or give up.  I raised you better. You were meant to smile, make other people smile…and inspire them. Never forget that.  You ARE my daughter, your heart is good.”

They forgot to mention how he walked every single one of my aunts down the aisle when they got married because to them HE was their father.

I sat in that room and i know we weren’t the family with the most people there.  But i also know that my uncle just got a job 2 months ago and he risked asking a day off to be there for my dad.  That meant the world to my dad.

My father received Supervisor of the Year award.  He got a standing ovation. He was surprised to see us, but more surprised to see his “Baby Brother” as he kept saying.  The youngest of the family, my uncle Jorge.  He didn’t cry (which surprised all of us).  But you could tell he was about too!!   After the ceremony so many people came to say hi to me and kept telling me so many wonderful things about my father.  They would hug him and congratulate him and it just made my heart so happy.

My father is not a rich man. He doesn’t have some huge important title. He doesn’t have fame. But…he’s such a good person with a heart of gold. You just don’t meet men like him to often.

As i sat down later that night, after dinner and a rendition of “El Rey” from the mariachis at the restaurant, my uncle came and sat next to me and said, “You know, your dad never asks for anything.”

I know, i told him.

“The least i could do was drive down here and be here for him.  He’s always there for all of us.  I know you and your mom didn’t tell my sisters about the award because they’re such blabber mouths, and would have called him and ruined the surprise…”

Yeah…

“But you know, they all would have come.”

I know.

Yep.  They would have.  But i was forbidden by my mother to tell my aunts.  I love them…but lets face it.  5 sisters…uh yeah… WHAT SECRET?! hahaa.

Here’s a bit from the El Rey!!

Una piedra en el camino
Me enseno que mi destino.
Era rodar y rodar.
(Rodar y rodar, rodar y rodar)
Tambien me dijo un arriero
Que no hay que llegar primero
Pero hay que saber llegar.