Luis “Pity” Fernández prepares himself with enthusiasm every week to go to work. He thanks God for another day of life, and thinks about his children: Joaquín (13 years old) and Enzo, who was born a few months ago. He kisses his wife and leaves the house ready to give his best.

“Pity” regained his freedom more than a year ago. Today, on Father’s Day, he tells us what his new life is like:

“For 20 years I was in and out of jail, I was in all kinds of places, I took a lot of drugs and I was lost. I had my first son, Joaquín, while I was in prison. I met him when he was 7 months old and then I saw him again when he was 5 years old. The hardest thing I have had to do is to recover that bond with my son. He is with his mother and I see him very little, but when I am with him, I try to enjoy it a lot and tell him that I love him. He recently turned 13, we celebrated together and he was very happy.

I had my second baby while I was free, and both are a blessing. What I learned from the Espartanos Foundation are the values ​​that I want to teach my two children. The simple things in life, being able to enjoy family, appreciating freedom, appreciating the fact of breathing fresh air, of being able to earn a living with dignity without taking from or harming anyone. I want to teach them the importance of being responsible at school and that hard work is worth a lot in order to continue progressing.

I work in a metalworking company and in a month I will have been working for one year. I have a good relationship with my colleagues, the owners of the company are very attentive to me and I feel very good. I learned to use a computer and every day I am learning new things at work.

I want my children to love God, to finish their studies and when they have a job and start their families, to be responsible. I want them to have a good reference from their father. Although I made many mistakes because I was lost, the light came into my life and I was able to get back on track and take a new direction. I believe that my children will be a blessing to their children. I want them to be happy and not suffer everything that I suffered. Everything is achieved with effort and trust in God.

Happy Father's Day!