The Story of A Great Man

Emily R.

English 11B

03/19/2012

Period: 3

A GREAT MAN

   Bravery, accomplishment, anxiety, hurt lies, and consequences. All these characteristics signify my father. August 16, 1976 in a pale and humid hospital my grandma gave birth to Gerardo DeSantos , the youngest of five. From this day on, the world invited a great man to join the value of life.

  My Dad was born and raised in a small town of Bell Gardens, better known for its Hispanic cultural background as a home to people escaping the Mexican government. While growing up during the late 1970s life was tough for a young Hispanic boy, either by being tormented because of his race, or getting in trouble with the law. I say this because my father has always been a  rebel. A story I remember that he has told multiple times is him and his friends were scavenging through the riverbed and like little mice, they went inside one of the dark damp tunnels. They heard the police outside and scattered off terrified in the dark. After that afternoon they kept going back for the thrill. Being the youngest child in the family, I feel he was neglected. So as a little boy my dad probably did things purposely to get him in trouble and gain attention from it. My dad’s stories are really visual, I can imagine a medium skinned, 4’2, bushy haired child as his character.

  If you were to ask me to describe my dad in one word during his teen years it would be ‘Greaser’, all he would talk about is grease, friends, cars, music, sports, girls and partying. He has a couple of friends that have stuck by his side most of his lifetime, sort of like the handful of boys in the film “Stand By Me” they have been close since my dad was around four and although a couple have passed away they are always inviting new members to their crew. In high school the boys decided to name themselves after the rising film and novel “the outsiders." Yes, at the time it sounded extremely cheesy, but they out lived their name. In Bell if you were friends with a member of "the outsiders" you were an instant hotshot. Sadly to this day the former greaser gang no longer exists at Bell high and now the classes of 1995 are all in their mid thirties. I can't be recognized as an heir to the throne of fame.

 However, my father's teenage years also had their hardships. Especially in a low income family living off of welfare , of course my grandmother and grandfather are nice, but most of my dad’s stories include that they were always addicted to a drug that would be fatal to get out of their systems: gambling. One of the worst of them all. So as the youngest and not being able to always have someone to look up to, my dad also went through things like homelessness, crimes, drugs, and alcohol abuse. Thank god he is now around 11+ years of sober and he is a better man completely. In an article about sobriety and underage drinking its shows the struggle for people like my father as statistics, “only 4% even make it to AA (alcoholics anonymous) in the first place, and of that 4% who do, only 2% decide to stay on”₁. Another interesting thing about my father is his story on how his first child came to be, Me. He met my mother in tenth grade. They were high school sweethearts and they ended up falling “in love.” My mother was a preppy private school girl who was also in the greaser edge as a teen. At around the ages of sixteen and seventeen they became a statistic and she became pregnant. It was rough but over all our family still stood strong throughout these years; although my parents are divorced I am able to see my dad every other weekend.

 I know my father Is a great man , as so are many other fathers. We have to learn to appreciate every little moment we have with a person no matter how wrong their morals are or if you are not able to function with them, just realize everyone is great in their own way. A famous quote said by Dwight David Eisenhower explained the characteristics of someone with a sturdy foot into life “the qualities of a great man are vision, integrity, courage, understanding, the power of articulation, and a profundity of character."(Eisenhower)