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Unfortunate Ending: New Beginning |Vanessa Abenojar |Copy Editor The school day after her mother’s funeral and not long after deciding to divorce her husband, choir director Lizabeth Diaz smiles. Diaz and her ex-husband fought a lot. Maybe not more than any other couple, but Diaz regrets how they fought. “I would let it go,” Diaz said. “I could have done better with standing my ground. Our arguments were never physical. He just lost his temper and that was not okay.” They would fight over stuff like wanting Diaz to be home at 3:00 [p.m.] each day. “Like that was going to happen,” Diaz said. “He’d be overly angry about batteries in the weed eater that didn’t work. And I’d let it go but didn’t say anything and that developed habits.” There was a backbone in there from time to time though. “I said stuff to him, talked down to him with my teacher voice,” Diaz said. “You know when you have a teacher voice
and some teachers actually take that home and talk to their spouses as if they were their students?” She understood it wasn’t necessary but found it easy to bring work habits home. “He did a good job at catching that,” Diaz said. “He would tell me, ‘Stop, that’s your teacher voice, I’m not your student.’ So I know I messed up.” Tony is very familiar with teachers at RHS. “Tony was a custodian here. I’ve known Ms. Diaz since she was Ms. Perkins,” Video Production teacher Susan Johnson said. “He would help me bring chairs out to the building by the tennis courts.” That building was used for different classes. That’s how Johnson met him. When they started dating, Johnson was not surprised. “He was into music so it made sense,” Johnson said. “Sometimes people grow apart and have differences. They grew as different people and that’s just the way it is. I think they’ll always be friends.” Johnson got close to Diaz from being heads of their departments. Johnson doubts that the couple will ever get back together.
DIAZ
“This taught us a lot,” Diaz said. “I learned that I’m really good at standing up for others but not for myself, and I’m learning to do that. He’s learning to be more comfortable in his own skin.” Although they are no longer together, they still remain friends. “He’s changed a lot. I forgive him,” Diaz said. “I have no hate for him. I think life is complicated enough. Why complicate it even more [with hatred]?” There is mutal respect within the split couple and an understanding that the relationship wasn’t meant to have an eternal life. “We were meant to be together for a time but not forever,” Diaz said, taking a bite of an apple. In the end, she doesn’t blame him or herself for the divorce. “I don’t blame anyone,” Diaz said. “Sometimes blaming just doesn’t work. He blames himself to a certain extent. My mom was blame oriented and I’m done with that.” Tony sat with Diaz during her mother’s funeral. That kind of support shows the two will be friends regardless of whatever happens. Eli De Los Santos and Ksenia Ivanova art
Father-Daughter Bond: Closer than Ever |Queneshia Lee |Portraits Staff Police officer Jeff Reynolds regrets not spending enough time with his daughter. “I could have taken time to play tea party,” Reynolds said. Despite this, he was determined to be there for his child. Before becoming a father, Reynolds was your typical teenager trying to find his way through life. From school to the Coast Guard, Reynolds was just beggining his life at eighteen. “I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do with my life,” Reynolds said. After a year of dating his girlfriend - while still in the Coast Guard - Reynolds got married in May, 1975. He does admit he got married at the young age of twenty years old but is happy some good came of the marriage. “When she told me she was pregnant, I was like ‘Really?’” he said. Returning home at the age of twenty, Reynolds welcomed his first child in Nov. of 1976. The birth of Jennifer Reynolds meant a new responsibility. Knowing they had a child, he and Jennifer’s mother worked to provide a living for their child. “A child should be with their parents at all times,” he said. Reynolds explained that when he spent a lot of time with just the two of them, he had a lot of fun, especially when he got to tell her stories. “You remember the good times you have with your children and try to keep that vibe,” he said. A mother and a grandmother, Reynold’s fellow colleague Counseling Secretary Linda Pappa-Stallman knows exactly what he means. “With your children you set the foundation. At the same time you love the memories,” Pappas-Stallman said.
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Math teacher Cheryl Benjamin also understands. “You can’t redo the past. You can only go forward,” Benjamin said. “Just call, text and email them. Continue to be an active presence in their lives.” Fast forward to today. Reynolds is happily married to the woman he married twenty seven years ago, and all together has four children (three stepchildren from his wife) and eight grandchildren. He and Jennifer are now closer than ever. “I love my children and grandchildren to death,” he said. With all of his children and grandchildren in Nevada, Reynolds is considering a move. “I may retire next summer,” Reynolds said. “My wife
and I have this big house and no one to share it with, so we are just going to move to Nevada with our kids.” Even though his daughter is in another state, he still communicates with her. “We talk once a week and she and the others visit when they can,” he said. Reynolds says that out of this entire experience he has gotten two major messages. “Spend time with your kids because you can’t buy that time back once they’re grown up and gone. Tell a person how you feel about them before it is too late.”
Ksenia Ivanova art