I would really love to thank the police officer who may have altered the course of my husband's life a couple of decades ago

Danilo's mom told me this story a few Sundays ago. It's a little gem. Just when I thought I knew all there was to know about Danilo Collado. 

I'll do my best, a few things always get lost in translation, but as I understood it, when Danilo was 13 and living in Miami, he decided he was going to join a gang. The boys who were going to let him join told him he had to steal something from the store. 

Petrified, Danilo went in and grabbed the easiest thing he could find, a little Hot Wheels car. He'd caught a clerk's eye who followed him out the door and apprehended him. I'm not sure when the officer arrived on the scene, but this was the critical part. The officer had the opportunity to give Danilo a mild talking to and send him on his way. What difference would it make to haul this kid to the police station? Would it be worth the time and effort?

It made a huge difference.

The officer measured an appropriate amount of justice on my husband. He did take him to the police station. He probably received a good talking to. He instructed Danilo to call his mom and ask her to come get him.

Danilo started to cry. His mom was pregnant. She worked hard, and they didn't have a lot of money. This was going to make her sad. The thought was painful to Danilo.

My mother-in-law said she didn't stay long at the station once she arrived to pick up her son. She said there was an understanding between her and the officer that her having to come down and pick him up and knowing it would disappoint her was punishment enough. 

He didn't get into the gang. And he never tried again. It's a cute story, but I shudder to think where Danilo could be today if the officer had let him get away with it with no more than a slap on the hand.  If the 13-year-old son of a soon to be single mom living in Miami had ended up joining the gang, or even just learned that illegal activity only equals a slap on the hand.

Would his future have turned out the same? I can't say for sure. I decided awhile ago not to worry about what-ifs. Because this is what we have, and I'm so thankful.

Subject: Update on a Former Student

Dear Mr. Costa,

While I know you weren't the principal of Coral Gables High School when my husband graduated in 1996, I hoped you wouldn't mind reading the following.

I was a 5th grade teacher until my daughter was born. I had a Spanish minor to go along with my teaching major, and as a result had all of the ESL students (we call it English Second Language here, I don't know if it is the same there) in my classroom. I remember feeling especially for the students who were placed in my classroom knowing absolutely no English. As we would move ahead with long division or write a persuasive essay or illustrate a section of literature we had just read, I remember wondering how those cute kids would ever catch up with their peers. I did my best to incorporate the teaching strategies I had learned for teaching students who are learning English and just hoped for a bright future for each of them.

It wasn't until I had left the classroom that one day it occurred to me that when my husband came to the United States as a 13-year-old in 1990, his age gave him a little more of a disadvantage than even my 5th grade ESL students. So I asked him about it. He remembers arriving in Miami and being thrown into classes where he had no idea what was going on. Someone picked up on it eventually and placed him in a class at his middle school especially for English language learners. Little by little because of his placement in this class and his interaction with other students, he learned English. 

This Friday my husband will graduate from Weber State University in Utah for the second time. He graduated a year and a half ago as an x-ray technician and went on to specialize as an MRI technician for which he will receive a bachelor's degree. He works in departments at two different hospitals. He is a loyal, responsible, and hard-working husband and father and I just thought it would be significant to let someone from his high school know that he did indeed catch up and has made something wonderful of himself.

Thanks for your time and have a good day.

Sincerely,

Brittney Collado

P.S. The picture is of us and our daughter and my brother's recent Eagle Court of Honor.

I have a husband named Danilo

In case you haven't met my husband, I'd like to a minute to introduce you! For some reason, I really fell in love with Spanish while I was in college. I jumped into a beginner's Spanish class and advanced each semester until I had a minor. I met my sweet friend Marlene from Chile during this time. We had a lot of fun together and she knew as much English as I knew Spanish. I know spending time with her helped me a lot. When all was said and done, I was fairly fluent in Spanish and didn't really know why I'd done it!! I began attending a Spanish branch in the area to keep up the language and after several invitations, I finally began attending their young single adult activities. It was at a fireside where Danilo approached me and asked me where I'd learned Spanish. Had I served a mission? he asked. I was flattered and after a few phone conversations and a Saturday night latin dancing date, I was pretty well whooped. Danilo was born in Italy. His parents were Chilean and returned to Chile when he was eight months old. He lived there until he was 13 and then his family moved to Miami. He spent his jr. high and high school years there and moved to Salt Lake at 19. He worked and played and decided something was missing, and that's how he ended up on a mission to Orlando at age 26. I came into the picture five months after he got home and I've been grateful we bumped into each other ever since. He speaks fluent English with a darn cute accent.