Matias Ruiz: It's Who I Am

Chapter 1 - A Hope full Childhood

I come from a Mexican background but I was raised in about six or seven different cities in the state of Missouri. My family had the mindset to have a successful life for our family since day one. My mom started out as a chef in a fast food restaurants and my father began as a construction worker. Not the best jobs but they were jobs and that's what we needed to keep the food on the table. Soon after they enrolled me in head start. I was one of those kids that you would eventually get frustrated with because he never managed to close his mouth, yep that was me. I was very and I mean very talkative as a small child. I always came home and had something new to tell. Although most the time it was the same concept as the day before. I loved to come home and talk about the cute little girls in my class that I would make smile and laugh. One night before going to bed I told my father something that I will always remember."I love to make people smile and laugh. I wish I can do that all my life daddy." I said to my father. He replied, "Well that's something we have to work for Matias. That's a nice desire but you better get some sleep now." Ever since that day I started to focus more and stealing a smile from anybody I came across with. Stranger or relative, It didn't make a difference to me. All I cared about was getting them to spark a smile. Time went by and I guess people started to notice me and my smile. I was very happy during the early years. I always got called "Smile boy" at school not only by fellow classmates but also by parents and teachers. I eventually got used to it and it became like a part of me and to this day it still is. I guess that's why most people always say I'm always happy and smiling. During my early middle school years my family became distant. My father became an alcoholic and never really paid much attention to the family. He would always be screaming at my mother and blaming her for the problems in the household. I suddenly became a scared kid who sat and watched his family fall apart without ever knowing what to do to help out. That's one of my biggest regrets to this day. My childhood went from a rainbow to a tornado in the blink of an eye or in other words a hit of reality.