My Four Amigos

One of the advantages of working in the same neighborhood over a period of 8 years is that you see a lot of change. Hopefully this is all for the good even though at times ‘stuff’ happens. I’ve had a ‘blast’ watching my four guys, Matt, Chalino, Sammy and Stick-Boy grow-up. I can remember when all of the guys were actually shorter than my wife who is less than five feet unless she wears heels. These guys have now all aged significantly and are taking their separate paths in life. Last night helped me see the reward from my perspective of being there for my 4 amigos that are true friends.

One of the amigos, Matt, had recently just finished a HVAC program at a local trade school and was graduating. Matt isn’t known for his timeliness so I received a text in the morning the day of his graduation. I knew that he would at some point be walking or graduating for his trade school. He had taken a month longer to finish because one of the sections was much more difficult than expected. What made this joyous occasion special is the relationship we have with his mom, dad and sister. We were invited out for dinner with them at our favorite Chinese Buffet! It was amazing thinking back to some of the ‘stuff’ that my 4 amigos had put me through over the years.

I can think back to an incident that was four years ago where a couple of my amigos had played a prank on one of the teen gals that had pushed her over the edge. The guys had taken her cell phone and hid it. So after the complaint of the gal we had to actually frisk everyone to search for the missing phone. It didn’t appear so on the lead of another teen I ended up asking 2 of my amigos about the phone. They finally fessed up about it and the gal was calming back down to normal. It was another situation that had happened a few weeks before that was the bigger concern.

I had to confront one of the amigos about an iPod that had been taken from one of the adults who had helped out with the Slide Rock Trip. This was a rather difficult push for me because I didn’t have evidence that was first hand for me but just someone that snitched. So I ended up getting into this teens ‘face’ a little and eventually talked to his parents. This wasn’t the happiest moment of my life but I had to do it. The end result was that the teen avoided his parents for a few hours after I had talked with them but eventually made his way home and got the parental scolding.

Yeah, I was really frustrated that someone I thought I could trust had actually done something crazy with an adult who I really liked. I fully expected this adult to stop helping and disappear from our group. Yet, she didn’t and if anything continued with the same passion and interest in helping transform the lives of our teens. I could fast forward and another one of the amigos did something real serious, like borrow my truck and crunch it.  This unfolded into a couple day nightmare because this happened while we were away. This caused a lot more trouble in my life because of having to deal with insurance, getting another truck and then relating back to parents again. I’m still a little numb over what happened and the obvious questions as to why?

I could tell a lot of more crazy stories about my 4 amigos but the point is that as time has passed the guys are actually growing up. All of them have jobs, 2 have graduated from high school, the other 2 will graduate soon and all of them have become responsible tax paying citizens. I have had the privilege of helping one of the amigos actually get his dreamer card so he can work. All of the amigos had helped this last week with one of our larger community projects that saw 300 volunteers paint 9 houses of senior citizens. I was blessed to have one of the amigos help me a couple of mornings pick up paint and deliver supplies. Another 2 amigos actually got up early the day of the project and assisted with setting up each of the painting sites.

As I texted one of the amigos earlier today to say it was cool hanging out last night he quickly texted back ‘the same’! I know that my amigos will discover their life passion and at some point getting married and have kids. I look forward to the day that I can be an abuelo with all of them. I know that crazy stuff happens and at times pushes us over the edge and we might at times doubt whether all of the work and relationship building is worth it but it is!

I hope everyone can find their special amigos to help, walk with and watch grow up. This is one of the most rewarding experiences in my life!