Autobiographacrazy Part 2

Victor and I had to have a serious talk about his 7 page (SEVEN PAGE) autobiography. Seriously - We just need to answer the questions the social worker asked of us! But of course, the talk didn't make his autobiography any shorter.

He has a lot to say.

In the previous blog post I told you that his first line is 

"Before I begin the story of my life, I must begin with a brief history of my parents.  I would not be the person I am today without their sacrifices and strength to do what is right."

Because what else would we expect from Victor?

He proceeds to tell the story of how his parents came from two very different backgrounds from different parts of Mexico. Through many trials, they emigrated to the United States. The two met in Chicago at a wedding, were married, and lived for several years in a small apartment with several other families, adding to their family a first and then a second daughter. Victor was born after they had bought a 2 flat house in Cicero which offered considerably more room for his little pinball ways.

Two sisters and little ticklish Victor

“My parents ensured we continued on a “good path” and avoided the public schools.... My parents wanted to keep us from attending the local public high schools which had already become known for having gang issues…  My sister was the first to attend college, graduate school, and eventually earn a PhD."

Victor was very involved and successful in elementary and high school, but during his 1st year of college at University of Chicago he found himself having an inexplicable academic turn for the worse. It was not because of the rigor of his program, but rather he found himself avoiding his school work, church (in which he had always been very involved), and his family. After some attempts to figure things out, including taking a break from school, Victor made a decision that his family found very unexpected.

"December of 2001 I walked into a United Marine Corps Recruiters office and told them I want to join without question.  I remember I had tested high enough where I could have had any job in the United States Marine Corps.  I chose the Infantry.  My recruiter actually tried to convince me to try other things.

I remember him saying, 'Why do the smart ones join the infantry and the dumb ones try to be rocket scientists?'  I was able to get a ship out date for January of 2002."

While it was very tough news for everyone who cared about Victor, it seemed to revitalize him.

"This was a significant moment for me, the day they shaved my head, I felt like I was getting fresh and new start of course in an extreme manner.  After Boot Camp I was sent to Twenty-Nine Palms, California to report to my first unit.  At the same time, my sister started her PhD program at the University of California San Diego.  I would eventually spend every weekend visiting her from my base in the desert."

Victor attempted to reassure his family that he would be fine, nothing bad would happen while he was in the Marines. Then, 

"In January of 2003 I found out my unit would be deployed to Kuwait in preparation for a possible invasion of Iraq, the first of my three deployments. By February we were shipped off to Kuwait.  My unit was a part of the spearhead that lead the “boots on the ground” all the way to Baghdad."

Victor is not in this picture, but he is a hundred yards behind the cameraman.

He returned home boasting only a paper cut and no real mental scars. However, his time back in the US was relatively short.

Don't worry, that mustache isn't allowed in our home.

"My second deployment to Iraq was my hardest and it began in February 2004 and ended in July of the same year. I experience[d] the first true extreme sense of loss.  I have never felt anything like it since.  April 11, 2004 my squad leader, Corporal Daniel R. Amaya, 22, of Odessa, Texas was killed in action leading my squad.  It was not only hard dealing with the loss, but also dealing with the fact that I had to take over as a squad leader.  Every April 11, I remember him by sharing his story of his heroism.  The way I dealt with it was carrying on with my life as best as I could because Corporal Amaya gave his for us all."

Left to right: Cpls Garcia, Zmudzinski, Amaya, and Osborn

"After my third deployment to Iraq, which for the most part was mild compared to the first two, I decided to leave the USMC."

So there you have some snippets of the story Victor told in his autobiography. While this part of his story is certainly an intense one, I would like to show that he is one of the most ridiculously silly people I know - always pulling little pranks on people (particularly me). 

Tomorrow we have our meeting with the social worker to talk about these autobiographies, cultural awareness, and adoption and I will let you all know how that goes!