Francisco
The brothers are certainly all very individual. They all have their little quirks that make them unique. However, Francisco stands out. He is very different from his brothers. He has a logic and reasoning to him that is far beyond his 11 years. He thinks things through all the way before he acts. He rationalizes his different actions and reactions like no other child I have ever seen. Really all this is to say I'm impressed every single day by this guy. He is so much more than that cute face we see at first.
I guess the best word I can use to describe Francisco is honest. It's a hard thing to prove to people. Especially when you are in third grade. I'm gonna tell you a little story that amazes me to this day. A story that brought Francisco and I together and helped seal the bond that we have. A few months back the boys were doing their exams at school. Francisco needed to learn the multiplication tables but was having trouble with the 7's and 8's. We would practice for hours after school but still he struggled. I mean come on those are the toughest ones! Well the day of the exam came and went. His teacher told me he got 30/30 a perfect score! I was so proud! All that hard work had paid off. When we got home we started studying for the next days exams but there was something wrong with Francisco. He just wasn't his normal upbeat self. I had it in my head I was gonna talk with him after we finished studying but he had the same idea brewing in his head I guess because before we even finished he stopped me and asked to talk. He looked me square in my eyes and said "I cheated on my exam today, Corey...." I wasn't sure what to say at first. No one had caught him cheating, no one asked him if he did, and no one suspected he did. However, here he was admitting to something. It took me a second to gather my thoughts and I said, "Well buddy, why are you telling me?" Without skipping a beat he spouted off how horrible he felt for cheating, how he knew it was wrong, and how he desperately wanted to fix it. I told him the only way to fix it was to be honest. The next day he headed in to school and admitted to the teacher what he had done. She was just as confused as I was to hear this child, yea a kid, telling the truth so openly. Feeling so bad about what he had done.
When we got home from school that day we had a long talk including some big old tears. I told him how proud I was of him for doing the right thing. I am always proud of our boys. Always. I love the relationship Francis and I have. I love that he is able to come to me with anything. Knowing he will even tell me when he cheats on a test shows me that. Francisco has improved academically a lot this year. The honest way. Hard work and determination. This little speed bump did't stop him. He recently was selected for the school's soccer team and played in his first game. I am so happy to be helping coach the boys because seeing them on the field using all that energy is pretty awesome. In his first game he played every second and did a great job. The coach on the other team even came up to me after the game to say how impressed he was with Francisco's enthusiasm on the field.
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