Eric G . Interview

Eric and his father, Roger, used to play football together before Roger's liver transplant. Now they play music together while Roger struggles with osteoporosis and Eric deals with their changed relationship.

Eric: My name is Eric Garcia and I take care of my father, who had a liver transplant almost about a year ago. And it’s been real tough on me because I’m still kind of young but I’ve learned a lot about the medicine-type things that go on in the world, and I try to help him out as much as I can. If not I get my mom to help. But we’re real close and I try to help him out as much as I can.
Q: You mentioned skating and rapping with friends that kinds of gets your feelings out of your system.
Eric: My friend Carlos, he’s a DJ, and so is his little brother, and he knows how to rap and he listens to rap a lot. And I just kind of picked it up and I’ve started to listen to rap now and I can pretty much, as us young kids call it “bust the floor” and started rapping free-style without any music or any notes in front of you. I don’t know why but it just helps my mind get clear it helps me when I’m real mad or I’m down or something I just start singing to myself or something. It helps me.
Q: What makes you mad and what makes you down.
Eric: That’s a hard thing to say. I ask God why he did this to my dad and why he couldn’t be normal and active (crying), excuse me. And I just get mad sometimes because he can’t play with me. Because he used to and we used to play basketball and football and this is real tough. Because I’m still a kid and I would like to have a dad who can do stuff with me. We still get along and we play music together, and we go to concerts and sports programs and Laker games, and Dodger games, and stuff like that. And it’s real tough for me. But I go on.
Q: So now you play music together?
Eric: He bought me my first guitar about a year ago and we, my dad’s friend, Rudy, he opened a music store called Strings and Things. And we started going down there and the guitar technician started to teach me how to play. And Rudy’s son, Aron, and Jonathan we formed a little band and we play together, and we sound decent. But me and my dad we play music together, like he plays the drums and I play the guitar, and I can play the drums too because he taught me something. And we just play together, just kick back in his room, watch TV, listen to some tunes kind of thing.
Q: What’s your normal routine in the morning.
Eric: Well I wake up in the morning and I wake him up, and I get his pills ready, I get his insulin shot. I make his breakfast and after that we’ll eat breakfast together and watch TV, and we’ll go outside and just kick it out there, listen to some music. And then if he’s got any doctors appointment or if anything needs to be done around the house I’ll do that. I’ll clean the house or I’ll get him ready to go on an appointment. And then my mom comes home or we’ll go for lunch or we’ll go over there to the bank where she works at, and we’ll go eat lunch, and then we’ll go home. And we’ll just kick back the rest of the day, have dinner or something.
Q: When I first had my transplant my medications made me feel a little bit different than I used to be. Did that happen with your dad?
Eric: Yeah it did. He used to be, it depends on the type of medicines he um this one medicine it made him real angry. And he used to sometimes take it out on me. And that would just get me real mad. And like I said before I’d just go sing to myself or I’d play my guitar, or I’d go outside and skate or I’d talk to my Aunt Carmen or my Uncle Albert. They’ve really helped me with my dad when I’d be angry. They’d help me and talk to me and tell me it was just the medicine.
Q: What would to tell people who are in the position you find yourself in, and they hadn’t been there yet, and you wanted to help them out, what would to tell them?
Eric: Be patient because the person who is going through this, they have no control of it, they can’t help it. You just gotta be patient and let nature go its’ way.