After a year, I went to her house with my brother.
My mom didn’t really handle it being around me really well.
She really chose my brother over me Like she would like.
If we would go out, she’ll put me in the stroller and she’ll cover me up and like, leave him out.
If I got annoying, she’ll put me in a closet.
It was a struggle growing up emotionally, having my mom there, but at the same time, just your mom being your basically your worst enemy.
At the age of two years old- a little bit less than that, I was in the house with her
And she left the crib down
And I fell out of it
And I ended up breaking my leg.
And that’s when I was taken from her
And I ended up at a foster care facility for about a year.
And then, around the age two and a half, they was telling my grandma that if they were interested in adopting me- because they were gonna transfer me to North Carolina to try to see if I had any better luck over there- I was just a struggle, trying to survive another day.
To figure it out, you know, And it was thanks to my grandma that I was able to be.
I was able to just do what I did.
She took me.
She took on the responsibility to raise me.
My grandma devoted a lot of time from two years old all the way until 20 years old.
She spent in the hospital.
She never like I would go to sleep and wake up and she was there.
She never missed a beat.
I lived behind the canal, so I seen all my cousins siblings swimming and I was just, you know, left out.
They would go running around with her friends and it was tough.
– Why weren’t you allowed to be included? –
Mainly I couldn’t swim because of my tracheostomy tubing.
I had it until I was 12,, 13, and all the way, and I had a feeding tube for a while, so I was Never-
So, with the trache, were you hooked up to an oxygen machine – I was basically hooked up to, yeah, to a humidifier machine I couldn’t like if I was 10 minutes without it.
I started suffocating and start like changing colors and losing oxygen, and so I was never really allowed to move around much.
– What was it like for you to see all the other kids playing? –
It was tough, you know.
Like any little boy, they wanna run around and interact and get hurt like their sibling, do you know?
But you know it taught me a lot of lessons.
– Tell me about your eyesight – My eyesight.
It was alright until at the age of seven, when I had my, when they cut me open from side to side and they pulled my skin forward, they damaged my optical nerves
And so I have corneal scarring.
So, like I can see, I can see like people and stuff like that, but it’s more like a blur.
But it’s enough to, like you know, get around and see my kids, And there’s people worse than me, you know,
Like there’s people that can’t see
And it’s worse.
So I don’t let it bring me down.
You know, I know that eventually technology will catch up and something will happen. –
Tell me about the first time you met Ariel. –
Well, we were outside.
I had seen a dog loose outside my house and I just went outside.
I love dogs.
So I went outside to see it
And I ended up catching her.
And he came outside realizing she was out.
A few minutes later – One morning I let my dog out and she went out.
She wandered off and I lost her
And then, 20 minutes later, I found her with her –
And then just talking every almost every day, Ended up being a dog sitter for him, watching the dog when he was at work.
Like just seeing how they react and how they smile all the time.
It just shows you that you’re doing something right.
What is it like to be a dad? –
It’s great, Amazing, like a feeling that you get, just the satisfaction that you get every day Seeing your kid call your dad and how they love on you and how they’ve all received my disabilities.
It like true satisfaction, Like it’s hard to really explain it til you’re actually in it,
Like it’s something that you can’t really explain it to words.
For some reason you have to like, feel it.
But it’s a true, like a true blessing, And even after five kids, I’m still in shock with just seeing them grow up- –
Uh-oh –
And just the opportunity that I get every time I get a new baby.
You know -, Mommy, Mommy – Would you consider it an honor?
– Complete honor, just being their father and just, you know I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. –
As an adult, how have you processed the trauma your parents put you through so that you can be a great dad for your kids?
– Well, I always aspire to be what they weren’t for me.
You know, Like I always, I knew what it was to be without a parent
And I always promised my kids all of ’em that I would do whatever it takes to make sure that they’re always together, no matter what, That they’re always gonna see their mom and their dad together, because I know how it is to be in a tough moment
And I’m blessed not to have any of my kids go through what I went through.
I always make sure that they have, you know memories that they never forget about us.
You know, like it’s just been a true blessing being there for them every day of their lives, From the moment they wake up to the moment they go to sleep before they get up, before they go to school, after they get out of school.
We’re there for them.
It’s been, you know, amazing to know that they have all their memories with us around all the time.
– What’s your favorite memory with your dad?
When he goes swimming with me and he lets me ride on his back when we swim – I always told them: “Even, if my baby was born with half a head, he’s gonna be born.
There’s a reason why we’re all here and no matter how we look, we all have a purpose, whether you find out at a young age or at a old age”.
All that matters is you look for that purpose and you know, once you find it, it makes life a lot more worth it. –
