Missing his Wife and Son
I was working a lot, and not paying attention to my family and my wife decided to move on. She divorced me. One of my worst moments in my life was when my wife left me. It still hurts. She moved on, but I didn’t. If I could speak to her, I would tell her, 'I miss you and I'm sorry.'
I’ve got to go to court because I got sued for child support . My son is 12. The last time I saw him was about a month ago.
I know he loves me and I love him. I just don't know what's going to happen. He's upset with me. We used to go to Disneyland and Six Flags, and we don't do that anymore. I regret not being there for my family before, being more interested in my job than in my family.
I tell him things are going to be ok. I’m going to get better. I tell him to stay in school and do your best.
"I used to be a contractor, a tile setter and stone mason. I was making up to sixty dollars an hour but now I’m taking a break. I'm trying to get back on my feet. I got to get my head together. I want to go back to work and see my son again. I've been drinking just to forget about those good times I used to have. It's hard. Life has many turns. I don't think it's unfair but it has plenty of turns," Manuel said. Photo and Reporting by Prince Nesta for Our Town Reno
Empathy for the Homeless and for Himself
When I’m out here I see a lot of homeless, and I don’t feel good about that because it seems like people here want to get rid of the homeless, they want to push them out of Reno. They seem to want the homeless out of here, gone. But they need more help. They need more mental health services. Because some aren't right in the head and they're not being helped.
I was sober for 15 years. When I got divorced, I started drinking again, moved out of my house, and started living at my mom's house again. My mom is sad, very sad. My dad is very mad. But what can you do when stuff falls on you and you can't do anything? I went back to drinking, lost this, lost that. What do you want me to do? What can you do?