This letter comes from the uncle of Matthew Lopez. I am writing
because I need to express my grief. I also want to challenge the
people and politicians of San Benito County.
I, like Matthew, grew up in Hollister. A town where people
between the ages of 18 to 21 have literally nothing to do. I recall
my days
– we either rode around or went to a party. I was lucky. Matthew
wasn’t. The irony of the whole thing is not much has changed in
twenty years.
This letter comes from the uncle of Matthew Lopez. I am writing because I need to express my grief. I also want to challenge the people and politicians of San Benito County.
I, like Matthew, grew up in Hollister. A town where people between the ages of 18 to 21 have literally nothing to do. I recall my days – we either rode around or went to a party. I was lucky. Matthew wasn’t. The irony of the whole thing is not much has changed in twenty years.
He told me as recent as three weeks ago that there was nothing to do in this town. With all the tragedies, past and present, I would have thought that something would have been done to insure that these teenage adults had some diversion.
Hollister has grown in the last twenty years, the mentality towards this age group has not. In other words, you’re either lucky enough to get out after high school or you do what is around here.
I don’t want my nephew’s death to be in vain. I am no longer a resident of San Benito County – I was one of the lucky ones who got out. This is a great community to raise a child in, just make sure they get out to explore the rest of what life has to offer.
I still wonder why there is no location for these kids to go to. They have no mall to hang out in. There are no arcades for them to go to see and be seen. This brings me to my challenge.
In the past, when the government had money and people were moving here in droves, why was this age group not addressed? It’s not too late. It is for my nephew and his friend PJ. They were good kids with their whole lives ahead of them. They made some mistakes and paid dearly for them. I don’t blame anyone for this.
I do believe that if they had some place to hang out or go to see who was hanging out, we might not have needed to be grieving so badly.
I call on the people, teenagers, voters, grieving families, as well as the politicians of San Benito County to do something about this situation. The ethnic diversity in this town is too great to not have a place where kids, as well as families and teens, can hang out. There must be successful businesses that could be contacted to find out what is working for them, in order to bring some more attractive activities for our teenagers to do in this town.
These teens should not have to go to Salinas, Gilroy or, worse, San Jose just to have something to do. Please, explore this situation. No parent should have to worry where their teenager is or cringe every time they hear a siren or, worse, receive a call telling them their child just died in an accident.
Paul Mesa,
Matthew’s grieving uncle,
San Jose
