And here Reuben is getting to enjoy some sweets at a local restaurant.
Hey Everyone:
I hope that this finds you all well. God is soooo good. This past weekend, Art Hori and I went down to the Grizzly Academy in San Luis Obispo. Art is the mentor for Ruben Torres. Ruben is in his eighth week at the Academy. Can you believe that??? Art is required to go to training, and he asked me to go with him. What a treat!!! At the end of the training, we were allowed not only to see Ruben, but to take him off base for a few hours!!! I just wanted to give you an update and let you know what we saw.
We were in a classroom with no low windows, and as the cadets approached the building, we could hear them----not a lot of noise and yelling, but a TEAM of recruits, obviously marching and calling cadence as the approached. That was the FIRST time I almost lost it. Ruben? Our Ruben? Marching and calling cadence as a member of a team??? Wow……..what a change!!! When they released us, we didn’t even get outside and Ruben approached us, sporting the biggest smile that I have ever seen. He hugged us, and genuinely thanked us for coming. Art and I both noticed right away that we were talking with a young MAN, not the little punk kid that Ruben could often be. Ruben has changed!!!
The leaders asked us to go outside for a ceremony. The mentors stood in a line across from the line of cadets (their line was straighter than our line!) and each cadet had to “pin” their mentor. As Ruben pinned us, he thanked us for being there for him----and he meant it. This was the SECOND time I almost lost it!! As we were walking off the base, I asked Ruben if he had learned to do “to the rear—MARCH”, which is a march step where the entire platoon makes a 180 degree turn at once and continues marching in the opposite direction. He said, “Oh yeah” and as we were walking, he executed a perfect “to the rear---MARCH” step. Even I was impressed!!
We took Ruben down the road to the Madonna Inn for lunch, as it was on the list of places that they recommended. Neither Ruben nor Art had been there before, so we had to visit the restrooms (two men’s and two women’s) before we ate. Still quite impressive after all these years!!! We talked a lot over lunch and got some insights into Grizzly Academy life. They have a Cadet Code: “I will not lie, cheat or steal, nor tolerate those who do.” We asked him how he felt about that and he said, “We have to live by that, since we are a team. If someone in the team messes up, everyone messes up.” (Ruben??? Is that really you??? He has changed!!!). As we sat there, he said, “I want to tell you guys. I really love you. Thank you for being there for me. I see now that you guys live what you believe.” He also told us that he is figuring out that he has missed out on a lot of things by not doing the things he should have been doing. Wow!!!
Part of the Grizzly Academy is school. This is one area where Ruben never excelled---by choice, I might add. He never really saw a need to participate, so he didn’t. The last GPA of his that I saw was a 0.5---that’s a high F (haha). Ruben now has a 3.8 GPA, and his goal is to finish the Academy with at least a 3.5 GPA. (Ruben??? Is that really you??? He has changed!!). Another activity that he has to do is map out goals for himself. These are SMART goals (Specific, Measurable Attainable, Realistic and Time-bound) and he knows what that means!!! I am so glad that he has had the opportunity to be part of the Grizzly Academy.
Ruben did say that he has “down days” because he misses his family and friends (“Can you say ‘Hi’ to everyone for me??” So……………”Hello, from Ruben!!”). We asked him what he did when he got to feeling down and he said, “I get out the cards and letters that people have written me and I read them over and over.” Thank you for writing to him. He has gotten letters and notes of encouragement from people he has never met!! And that means a lot to him. I mean-----we took a kid out of the hood and sent him 180 miles away by himself for almost six months. Wow!!!
Many of you have asked what you can send him. The answer is, basically, nothing. When he has visitors, he can have snacks or special drinks (vitamin water, in his case), but it has to be consumed before he gets back. When we checked him back in, Sergeant Castillo asked him, “Torres. Do you have anything on you??” “No sir, Sergeant.” (Ruben??? Is that really you???) He does get what he needs from them. There are things along the way that he will need----pictures, field trips, yearbook, stamps, etc. If you want to contribute toward those things, or hygiene items he needs, you can give a few bucks. Just get it to me, and we will start an envelope. He cannot have any money until after Family Day, which is next Saturday, March 10th. If you are interested in that, please let me know.
As far as Graduation is concerned, we did get the information, but it is not really good news. Graduation will be on Friday, June 15th, at 10:00 AM. His family can attend, his mentors will get a ticket, and everything else is up in the air. If you choose to attend, you will probably not be able to get inside to watch the graduation due to space considerations. Some of us have talked about a Graduation Celebration when he gets back. This is probably a better option.
Thank you all for your support for Ruben. I know that you will be impressed when you see him. He does have a home pass coming up in early April, and I’m sure that he will be around. If you want to write to him, here is his address again:
Cadet Ruben Torres, Platoon 2
Grizzly Youth Academy
PO Box 3209
San Luis Obispo, CA 93403-3209
God Bless you all for caring……….not only for Ruben, but all of our kids at Farm Drive.
Gary
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