AN INSPIRATION TO ALL LEGLESS MAN STANDS TALL IN KIDS' EYES.

Byline: DENNIS McCARTHY 

Ask third-graders in Sister Rosario Curiel's classroom what's so special about the man who lives across the street, and every hand in the class shoots up.

``Ramon doesn't need his legs,'' 7-year-old Leo Puentes excitedly says.

``He has other gifts,'' says classmate Jessica Gallo.

``Many other gifts,'' Victor Mercado adds.

Gifts that have moved and inspired the people who live in this quiet, working-class neighborhood in the city of San Fernando, where the man you go looking for when you need something fixed is the man with no legs, who lives across the street from Santa Rosa Catholic School.

The man who for the last 15 years has drawn hundreds of children to the windows of this classroom to learn a lesson about courage and determination that no schoolbook could ever teach them.

Watching daily with their own eyes as 64-year-old Ramon Gonzalez lifts himself out of his wheelchair with strong arms to fix a neighbor's car, upholster a neighbor's chair or display the strength of Samson, throwing heavy bolts of cloth around like they weigh a feather.

But their favorite scene by far, the kids tell you, is looking out these windows and seeing him looking back at them, smiling.

Seeing Ramon turn his wheelchair in their direction to cross Griffith Street to pay them a visit. To teach the children in Sister Rosario's classroom that they have been blessed with many gifts in life, and it's important to use them well.

And if one or two of those gifts happens to be taken from you, well, you move on and do the best you can with the gifts you have left.

And Ramon Gonzalez, who never made it beyond elementary school himself in Mexico, has many gifts left.

It's almost like God himself had a hand in putting this special man across the street to teach her children a lesson no school book could ever teach them, says Sister Socorro Cuevas, principal of the school.

``Ramon is a daily inspiration to all our children, and the entire community,'' she says. ``He's our gift.''

When diabetes took his legs in 1987, Ramon Gonzalez didn't cry and didn't quit, says his stepson, Louie Medina. He just took his skills as a construction worker and redirected them into a new career as an upholsterer.

And when a series of heart attacks put him in the hospital for months on end, he didn't complain or curse the fates. He spent the time thinking of how he could work the old sewing machine in his garage without legs to reach the pedals.

How he could wriggle his way under a car to fix a broken muffler, or climb into his old van to reupholster the seats so the nuns across the street could make the monthly drive to Tijuana, delivering clothing to the poor in a little more comfort.

``There isn't anything important I can't do without my legs,'' Ramon says. ``My life is helping people fix whatever it is that's broken, and God has blessed me with the gifts to do it.

``People want to help me all the time, but it really isn't necessary,'' he says. ``I know they are only trying to be nice, but I need to do it myself.''

Sister Socorro laughs. She doesn't even bother asking Ramon anymore if he needs some help moving the chairs or couches he has come across the street to reupholster for the school.

``We stopped offering years ago,'' she says. ``Ramon is a strong, proud man with a spirit that touches every one of us.

``He fixes our van when it breaks down, and fixes our furniture when it's worn out or broken. I don't know what we would do without him.''

Ramon knows that over the years, hundreds of schoolchildren have been watching him from that classroom window across the street.

He enjoys showing off for them a little, especially lifting heavy cans above his head, and tossing large bolts of cloth around to show them that a man can be strong - with or without legs.

But it's their hearts and minds he really wants to touch.

The nuns have told him he's an inspiration to these children. And while it humbles him, it also makes him very proud.

It's important to him that when he looks across the street at those children watching him he sees smiles on their faces, not pity.

Because he's been blessed with many gifts in life, Ramon says, and even though he's lost a few along the way, he wants those kids to see that you can move on and do the best you can with the gifts you have left.

CAPTION(S):

8 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) San Fernando resident Ramon Gonzalez lost both his legs to diabetes in 1987 but hasn't let that slow him down. Gonzalez, who lives across the street from Santa Rosa Catholic School, is an inspiration to all who know him.

(2 -- color) Ramon Gonzalez, who lost his legs to diabetes in 1987, works beneath the van he is restoring for the nuns at Santa Rosa Catholic School across the street.

(3 -- color) Gonzalez stays in shape by using old cans filled with cement to work out in the garage of his San Fernando home.

(4 -- color) Gonzalez lets some of the students from Santa Rosa Catholic School touch the stumps of his legs - which he lost to diabetes - to show them there is nothing to be afraid of.

(5 -- color) Gonzalez uses a wooden device he designed to operate the foot pedal of the sewing machine in his San Fernando workshop. When diabetes took his legs in 1987, Gonzalez just took his skills as a construction worker and redirected them into a new career as an upholsterer.

(6 -- color) Gonzalez makes his way from his backyard workshop to a van he is rebuilding for the nuns at Santa Rosa Catholic School, across the street from his San Fernando home.

(7 -- color) Gonzalez spent his time in the hospital thinking of how he could work the old sewing machine in his garage without legs to reach the pedals.

(8 -- color) - Ramon Gonzalez

Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer