05 Feb Carlos: Big man, Big heart

Carlos was the tallest and biggest Hispanic male ever in my classes. After high school running a successful construction business, he could paint my eight foot ceilings with no ladder, arms extended just slightly above his head. But I am getting ahead of myself.

Carlos was a transfer student in his last two years to graduation from a public high school in Maryland. His former school and neighborhood had been a breeding ground for gangs and he confessed many years later that a recent newspaper article with 2 gang members killed a few counties away could easily have been him. He knew the victims, he knew the gang from his time living in Maryland. His parents decided to move to Virginia before he could become a target for recruitment to a dead-end lifestyle.

Although his size was fearfully impressive to his teachers, his grades and attitude towards learning were not. He had come from a state that did not administer mandatory tests as a graduation requirement at the time. But he was now in Virginia and he would have to test, review, re-test to pass the state’s end of year assessments. Test, review, re-test. He was determined to graduate and to honor his father and family who had twice made sacrifices to move him to a safer place, once from El Salvador and then from Maryland to Virginia. After several attempts to pass the state subject tests, he was successful. At graduation he refused to walk on stage preferring to be with his teacher and family in the audience. He truly was a gentle giant and very self-effacing. I told him he would regret “not walking” across the stage but he told me he never did.

Together with his father during high school Carlos had started a construction business. His dad was a master carpenter and while he did the detail work, Carlos did everything else. After graduation, Carlos with his father and uncle helped with needed renovations in a home I had just purchased. They were diligent and hard-working; their prices were more than fair, as Carlos may have felt a debt of gratitude for his high school diploma to teachers who helped him achieve that goal. However, my fondest memories were not the work they finished, but the atmosphere when they were working in my home. It was full of laughter, humor and jesting. My new house had a lot of curious neighbors who wanted to know what I was changing, and after approving very positively the improvements, they wanted to know who was doing the work. Today Carlos and crew are often still working in that large cluster of homes now 14 years later. And owners often remarked to me how nice it was to have them around spreading their special mix of quality workmanship and cheerful “workplace” atmosphere.

Probably one of the happiest days of Carlos’s life was the day he could exchange his green card for U.S.citizenship. However, because Carlos and his crew looked Hispanic and spoke Spanish, they were at times targets for dishonest clients. On one occasion, Carlos had to go to court to receive payment for renovations to a basement project that was worth several thousand dollars. When the job was finished, the client refused to pay, saying rather emphatically that he knew Carlos and family were illegal. Carlos quietly told him, “Well, then, I’ll see you in court.” The judge at the hearing was not as calm and quiet as Carlos. He awarded Carlos payment for the contract with a bit more money in interest for the late payment.

Today Carlos’s business is thriving and he married a girl who he met while he was in high school. His wife has a good job after diligently taking many classes over the years for certifications in the medical field. Both proud parents are very attentive to their two children’s schooling and athletic development. The children now in middle school have excellent grades, swim competitively in a county program and have detailed plans for college.

All the same, everything wasn’t perfect until the flood. Carlos admitted that he never seemed to make enough time to finish his own projects to the house they purchased a few years ago and his wife agreed. But the flood changed that. With a little insurance money and blatant necessity, Carlos transformed the ground floor of their modest home into a stunning kitchen and family room. The improvements he had often recommended and built for others happily came home to roost.