Diego Martinez is a quiet, faithful, student youth group leader who will be missed as he graduates from West High School. Pastoral Associates are not supposed to have favorites. I can't help myself, but Diego, his brothers and sister, and parents have a special place in my heart. Here's an interview that I did with him.
When I asked Diego about the basketball game, he said, "John, let's not bring up the past." During my first year here, I identified Diego as a potential student leader. How to get him to commit to taking on that role? At the end of that first year, I walked the students down to Tommy's Cafe for breakfast. Tommy gave us a large box of free donuts for the road. As we walked by Lafayette Park on our way back, there was a guy on the basketball court. In exchange for the donuts, he let us use his basketball. I said, "Diego, if I beat you at a game of basketball, will you be a student leader next year?" Knowing that Diego could outlast me in a longer game, I said, "First one to score wins." With all the students watching, I scored first and the rest is history. OK, Diego, this is the last time I will tell that story. Well, maybe not.
Diego had no idea what kind of ride was in store for him as a student leader. See him in the picture above sticking his hand in apple sauce at the 8th grade confirmation retreat. He participated in a game where he ended up with shaving cream on his face while fishing out a toy dinosaur from a container full of cheese curls using only his mouth. The end result was an orange colored face. None of the 8th grade boys on the retreat would do it, so in typical Diego fashion, he stepped up to show these 8th graders that making yourself vulnerable is part of living out of one's faith.
Diego said, "Speaking to 8th graders was a little nerve racking, but speaking in front of the whole church was really nerve racking!" Public speaking is not something that Diego felt comfortable with doing, but he never told me no. When we asked him to be part of a 10-member St. Anthony team at last summers Vision 20/20 Convocation at St. Ambrose University, Diego hung right in there over 4 days with all of us "older people" talking about how to make the faith come alive for generations like Diego's.
