A Forever Cycle

A small and sleepy town nestled in the heart of a bigger, yet still small, town in far west Texas. The people here were... crazy, to say the least. It wasn't the tight knit community that you might hope to become a part of someday. It wasn't always a community that embraced and accepted those from the other side of the border, even though a large portion of the population was made up of them. However, a new day would continue to come no matter how difficult the town was to live in for people like Xavier Rodriguez. Six in the morning. Wake up, get ready for school, then get ready for eight hours of complete and utter hell. For Xavier, they were basically the same thing. It didn't matter anyways. Xavier Rodriguez was the average seventeen year old kid trying to make it by each day and just survive however he could. However, things proved to be a bit difficult for him sometimes. If it wasn't for his accent, or his skin tone, or if it wasn't for something as small as the car his parents drove, his life would've been okay. He might've even enjoyed it. Xavier Rodriguez would've been content with the life he had in a small town in Texas. But he had to have his accent, he had to have his skin tone, and he had to have parents who drove the car that they did. And of course, he had to have countless kids at school tease him for all of it. He couldn't go one day without his own classmates whispering behind his back. Why did his family only have one car? Why does he talk like that? Was he even born here? He was. He was born twenty minutes away from the school he went to. At 5:47 PM on October 15, 2002. It was raining that day. His whole family was scrambling that day because he was supposed to be born three weeks later. But no one seemed to know or care. The one person who did know and the one person who did care was his first period algebra teacher. Ms. Thompson, although she'd never understand his struggles, did understand that he was just a boy who was hurting. Not a single teacher, not a single staff member or even counselor at Los Amos High School cared about the pain held in the heart of Xavier Rodriguez. But Ms. Thompson, who always placed smiley face stickers on quizzes, who always started each day with a cheery smile... she cared. Every moment that Xavier struggled in her class was quickly replaced with a moment of understanding and education so that her favorite student could succeed. If he scored low on anything, she'd take the time to listen to his concerns and guide him. When he struggled in another class, she wouldn't hesitate to meet up with his teachers to discuss a plan of action so that Xavier could be triumphant. Amongst all the bad people and all the bad days spent in the life of Xavier, he was grateful to his teacher for that. Above every second spent getting bullied and cornered into the walls next to the bathrooms, he was grateful for the actions of his teacher. She, above anyone else, was someone who kept him going. The kindness of her actions led Xavier Rodriguez to want to keep going one more day. He would continue one more day to repay her for her kind spirit, and he vowed to continue the kindness she showed him to someone who needed it. Just like he needed it all those years ago. He rose above every terrible moment spent in his adolescent life. Xavier Rodriguez, now a thirty four year old businessman, grew up to become the successful man he wasn't planning on becoming. He was the CEO at one of the biggest management firms in the country. Every day he had the chance to open doors for people and be a better person that the ones he'd encountered in his teenage years. He could've never imagined that. He didn't know he'd end up in the position he was in. How could he have known that? He never thought the boy who got bullied for the color of his skin could prevail. But he did prevail, and now he had two young sons to continue prevailing for. These sons, Luis and Juan, were in the same boat as seventeen year old Xavier. They too dealt with the same things he once did. Just like he had continued the cycle of being kind to others like Ms. Thompson was when she was on this earth, the people around him had continued the cycle of hatred that his classmates all those years ago had perpetuated. He tried so hard to be there for his children and to fight for them the way his teacher did for him, he truly tried. He took every chance he could to be a voice for his children and his efforts paid off well. Time went on, and thanks to the actions of their father, Luis and Juan grew up to overcome their struggles and defeat them. As kids, their father was a hero to them. Captain America, Batman, they were no match for their dad. And on the day that Xavier Rodriguez would pass away, he asked of his children one thing. "Please continue to be good men. Be the heroes you wished you had as children." Little did he know, his children didn't have to wish. Their hero had been beside them their whole lives, and like he had asked of them, they'd be a hero to someone else the way he had always and will forever be to them. Because that's who Xavier Rodriguez was, and it's how he raised his precious sons to be as well. And like a cycle that continues forever, the world would know what a hero is thanks to people like him.