Raising four children successfully while incarcerated is almost unheard of, but that is exactly what Nick Garcia has done with the help of his wife of 24 years, Monica.
Nick acknowledges that a lot of the success they have had as parents is because of Monica.
Their four children Monica, 23, Adam, 22, and twins Nick and Sabrina, 17, have all have grown up while Nick has been in prison.
Thirty-five years ago Garcia was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to seven years to life. He met Monica soon after in the visiting room at California Men’s Colony, San Luis Obispo.
It took Nick eight years to propose marriage. “He is the key to my heart and I am the keeper of his,” says Monica.
All of the Garcia children where conceived at family visiting before the state began to disallow life term prisoners the privilege of overnight stays in trailers on prison grounds with family.
Being incarcerated for his children’s whole lives has not stopped Nick from being present for them.
“I treat my children as individuals, and show each one the attention they deserve,” Nick says.
“Although poppy has not been physically present, he still holds a stake in the decision process that comes with raising kids,” says daughter Monica.
Daughter Sabrina calls him the “Peace Maker.”
Nick said he has learned insight into what brought him to prison, thanks to self-help groups such as the Victims Offender Education Group, a program he has attended for the last four years.
With this knowledge, Nick imparts the lessons he has learned in life to his children, so they will not make the same mistakes he did.
“One life lesson that he has taught me is you have to have your own back, because your friends won’t pay your rent,” says daughter Sabrina.
“He has taught me how to hold myself as a woman, and how a man should treat me,” says daughter Monica.
Monica is a recent graduate from the University of California at Berkeley with a bachelor’s degree in social welfare and minor in Spanish. She is using this degree to give back as a director at Camp Avery, a San Francisco program that serves children of incarcerated parents.
All of the Garcia children have been involved with Camp Avery since they were young.
“Even though the children and Nick live apart, they are well connected,” says Nick’s wife.
“I listen to my children, and they listen to me,” says Nick.
Nick can often be seen doing math problems in the visiting room with his son, Nick, but this is not the only thing that he has taught him.
“When thinking of what my dad has taught me, the only thing that comes to mind is learning from my mistakes and to be the best person I am physically capable of and that God has planned,” says son Nick.
Nick and his twin sister Sabrina both graduated from Napa High School on June 5. Nick will be attending Concordia University in Irvine, Calif. as a pre-med student this fall.
His son Adam recalled a story from when he was a child. Around the age of 9, he ate his lunch early one day at visiting. When his dad began to eat his lunch later, Adam complained he was “starving” even though he had already eaten. Monica would not give in to Adam, because she knew he had already eaten, and if he was still hungry, he could get more to eat at home in a few hours. But the father slid his burrito to Adam, sacrificing his food in order to satisfy his son.
“A fully grown man, who already ate less than me, and does not have the opportunity to go home to a home-cooked meal; it may not seem like much, but it is acts like these that show me my dad will do absolutely anything he can to make me happy,” says Adam.
Nick’s children tell how it has not always been easy growing up separated from their father, but they all acknowledge how much their father loves them.
“I feel I have learned from my dad’s generosity and love, and by mirroring his personality, I feel I have become a better person because of it,” says Adam.
