Raising the boys
Young Chang
Max Russell is trying to stop saying ‘yeah.’
“Do you have a lot of friends?”
“Yeah. I mean yes.”
“Did your grandpa tell you to say yes and not yeah?”
“Yeah. I mean yes.”
The 7-year-old laughs.
And when Max laughs, his whole face delights. His strawberry freckles
get all up in a bunch, the eyes squint, the teeth and gaps show.
He’s an outgoing boy, Luis Guerra said. Loves talking to people, very
curious, very funny.
His brother Joseph -- he’s 13, which pretty much speaks for itself. He
has his interests, skateboarding being one of them, and is trying out
that angst-ridden, murky phase we all once knew as being a teenager.
He’s not as talkative as Max and laughs less, but the three watch
basketball games at night -- Guerra’s a 76-er fan, Joseph’s all about the
Lakers -- go out for breakfast, talk when time permits and start each day
off together.
The Russells call Guerra “grandpa” because that’s what they’ve always
called him. But the 60-year-old Newport Beach electrician is legally
their month-old dad.
Guerra adopted them in May, to make it official that the boys are his
number-one priority. Their grandmother and Guerra’s sweetheart Patricia
Flynn passed away six years ago. She and Guerra had raised the boys since
Joseph was three and Max was one-and-a-half.
Before Flynn passed away, she had asked her boyfriend of 20 years to
look after her grandsons.
The boys’ parents are, simply put, not around. Their father isn’t
alive. Guerra would rather not share about their mother. The children
have a grandfather in Huntington Beach, an aunt in Westminster and yet
another aunt in Inglewood. Nobody wants to get involved, Guerra said.
But, he’s doing it -- for the second time -- on top of a
seven-to-seven job and with no partner with whom to share the joys and
pains.
He’s also enjoying it.
“It’s a challenge. It’s not easy,” said Guerra, who has a grown
daughter and son. “But I love the boys.”
At first, Guerra didn’t want to tell his story. His attitude was one
of “what’s there to be told?” Why flaunt the fact that he took in two
little boys not related to him? Why risk hurting them?
But he decided to open up his home. And showed such treasures as
pictures hung in frames hand-crafted by Max at Newport Elementary School.
In the kitchen is a cheese cutter, carved, rounded and slicked with
Danish oil by Joseph during a wood shop class at Ensign Intermediate
School. The semi-hexagonal napkin holder -- comparable to the light-wood
designs put out by furniture haven IKEA -- is his creation too.
Skateboards, flung around action figures and the occasional miniature
vehicle, decorate the living room. Black-and-white pictures from
yesteryear -- of Guerra’s parents, of a very pretty Flynn -- wallpaper
the apartment walls.
The breakfast table is clothed in a red-and-pink pattern, Max’s little
plate, which once held waffles, is empty and so is his glass of juice.
Joseph’s home-made bagel sandwich -- egg and cheese -- sits there, but
he’d rather pack it and eat it at school.
This is daily life for Guerra and his boys.
Cheryl Kaufman, a friend of Guerra’s and former client of his electric
services, calls the father a hero.
“At his age, he could just be kicking back and stuff,” she said. “But
he’s got his hands full.”
Kaufman said Guerra once explained it like this: “I’m the only one
standing between them and the system.”
And while he’s at it, he wants to make life fun. The trio go shopping,
swim at the beach and hang out at the park.
Earlier this week, Max and Guerra went to a spaghetti dinner at Christ
Church Day Care, where Max hangs out after school. Joseph didn’t want to
go -- the whole being a teen thing, his dad explains -- but Max loved the
ice cream and magic show. So did Guerra.
“The boys -- they’re like my sons,” he said.
He thinks a second.
“Well, they always have been.”
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