This weekend, Army Spc. and Hollister resident Adam Torres will
get the greatest father’s day gift of all. He’ll be reunited with
his wife and four daughters.
This weekend, Army Spc. and Hollister resident Adam Torres will get the greatest father’s day gift of all. He’ll be reunited with his wife and four daughters.
“He was suppose to come home in April, but they kept him longer,” his wife Elizabeth Torres said.
Adam Torres has been stationed in Iraq with the U.S. Military Police since May 2003, and has missed three birthdays and one father’s day since being deployed. His wife Elizabeth received a call at 7:30 a.m. last Sunday morning and as she said “hello,” Torres responded “guess where I am?” She was filled with joy and excitement to know her husband was sitting at an airport in the state of Maine. He was finally back on U.S. soil.
“It’s just such a huge relief,” she said. “Such a huge relief.”
His daughters, ranging in ages from 3 to 18, are eager to have their dad home again, providing comic relief and making everyone in the family laugh.
“He’s never serious and he still watches cartoons,” 12-year-old Mia said about her dad. “Usually when my mom is mad or yells, he makes her laugh.”
Along with his humor, the girls are also looking forward to the weekend fun they used to share with their dad.
“On Saturdays, he used to always take us to the show,” 10-year-old Celestine said.
Three-year-old Ezabella, however, has bigger plans in mind.
“I’m going to tell my dad that I want to go to Disneyland,” she said.
Having Torres gone for the past 16 months has been extremely hard for his wife. Raising four girls on her own, with one entering the teenage years and another too young for school, has made running the household stressful to say the least.
“It’s been really tough playing the role of mom and dad,” she said. “When he gets home, I’m going to tell him ‘they’re all yours.’ I need a vacation.”
The girls have been stressed as well. When one person became upset, it created a chain reaction and everyone became upset, but they were all very supportive of each other, their mother said.
“It’s been a long road,” Elizabeth Torres said. “Our lives as we knew them were put on hold for 16 months and we can’t get that time back.”
While 18-year-old Demitria has been consoling her mom and Celestine has missed her dad’s presence at her soccer and softball games, Mia has been sharing her dad’s mission with classmates at Marguerite Maze Middle School.
“I’ve been explaining to my history teacher where he’s at and what he does,” she said.
After a few more days of debriefing, Torres will return home to Hollister. His wife said he will take a month off to relax, and she repeated again “We’re just so relieved to have him back.”
