Reader kindness benefits brothers

WESLACO — At 19 years old, Gilbert Jimenez worries about a lot of things.

He balances a job at H.E.B. with classes at South Texas College. He cares for his 8-month-old pit bull, Bruno. And last week he needed to get football tickets for Weslaco High School’s third-round playoff game against San Antonio’s Madison High School.

But none of that compares to what he worried about last year.

At age 18, Jimenez struggled to pay for his college and reconstruct a family ravaged by domestic violence. His father shot and killed his mother 11 years ago at the family’s rural Weslaco home. His father then shot himself, leaving behind six children ages 3 to 15.

Jimenez’s older sisters married and moved in with their husbands. His oldest brother, now 26, fled to Mexico after problems with drugs. That left Jimenez and two younger brothers living with an aunt, but they said it never felt like home.

The years passed and one of the brothers moved to Houston with a relative. Gilbert and Edgar Jimenez, 16, remained in the Rio Grande Valley, living with Gilbert’s girlfriend’s family.

Then Jimenez’s story appeared in The Monitor during the 2006 “12 Days of Christmas” series. And readers responded.

Donors gave food, furniture and supplies to restore their home in Weslaco. McAllen Medical Center decided to fund Gilbert’s college career, giving him five years of school tuition and money for textbooks.

Moreover, Gilbert said, the community gave him support and encouragement — a sense that someone cared and that people are generally good.

Today, Gilbert continues to pursue his goal of becoming a nurse. But Edgar also has had much academic success — he said he ranks 46 out of 500 students at his high school. He shares his brother’s dream of going into the medical field, though he hopes to do so as a family physician rather than a nurse.

Recently, the brothers sat together discussing their futures. Gilbert picked nursing because he wants to help others and he finds anatomy fascinating. Edgar picked his career for much the same reason — and because he wants to outdo his brother, he said with a smile. Gilbert laughed.

“He wants to do better than me, and that’s good,” Gilbert said.

The brothers didn’t always joke like this. Before the donations, financial and chaotic pressure strained their relationship. Edgar said he felt like everyone in his life favored Gilbert and it made him jealous. Those feelings disappeared at the same time as the stress.

And all this goodwill comes from the generosity of those who donated, the brothers said. They’ve even kept in touch with one donor.

Rosie Cantu, a counselor at Roosevelt Elementary in Weslaco, felt moved after reading about the brothers and tracked them down.

Cantu helped them get supplies to fix up their home and gave them academic guidance.

“They are so motivated and intelligent,” she said. “They just needed some guidance.”

Years before the brothers’ story appeared in the paper, Edgar bumped into Cantu’s daughter. He was out with friends, he said, and the group was buying ice cream. Edgar said he gave Cantu’s daughter a couple of dollars because she had forgotten money.

“I guess what goes around comes around,” he said, recalling that day.

Gilbert and Edgar laughed together. It’s been a good year.

Zack Quaintance covers law enforcement and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4447.