Sometimes in life, we are faced with situations we never thought possible. And it is how we react to those situations which defines our character. This police officer from Las Vegas had a similar decision to make.
And his decision directly affected many others’ lives… keep reading to learn more about his extraordinary story.
It was just another day on the job for Nicholas Quintana of the North Las Vegas Police Department. He got a call about shots fired and rushed to the location to check everything out.
When he got to the home where the shots were reported he was met with five children. The 5 kids ranged from the ages of 6 to 17 years old. The incident that had been reported had taken place between their parents. Their mother and father had gotten into a heated argument which ended up with a gun being fired.
Their mother had shot their father and as a result, he had died. This led to an unpleasant situation that officer Quintana was acutely aware of. The five children would be taken into custody by the state and placed in different foster homes. This would obviously alter their lives forever.
He went home that day and discussed the situation with his wife Amanda; he wanted to keep the children with them. After a lot of discussion, Amanda decided to meet the children. Once she met the kids the next day, she instantly fell in love with them.
A day after their meeting, the children had moved into the Quintana household. Where a day before had been just a couple, not lived five kids with them!
The reason Officer Quintana was perhaps more sympathetic with these children, is because he himself had a turbulent childhood. His father had died as a result of familial violence so he could relate to the siblings all too well. When it came time to tell the kids about their decision to take them in, they were in disbelief!
“I’d like to take every single one of you. I’d like to take you in our home,” the officer told them.
The oldest of the siblings was concerned about why he would undertake such a tremendous task. He simply said he wanted to help the children heal and grow. After their decision, the couple is now taking fostering classes to learn the ropes when it comes to taking care of children.
As for how fostering the five siblings has altered his life, Officer Quintana says, “I think about every single last one of them from the oldest to the youngest. Now, I’m not just thinking about these decisions with my wife in mind, I’m thinking about it for my wife and our kiddos now.”
This young couple really makes you think about how much kinder we can be to others. They are an example for everyone around us on how you should approach certain situations. We wish them all the best.
Share this piece with your friends and family to inspire them to be kind.
