Cuquita Martinez and Roger Martinez

[00:02] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: My name is Cuquita Martinez. Age 96. Today's day, January 23, 2023. Location, El Paso, Texas. The name of my juvenile partner, Roger Martinez, my son.

[00:18] ROGER MARTINEZ: My name is Roger Martinez. I'm 61 years of age. Today's date is January 23, 2023, here in El Paso, Texas. My interview partner is Cuquita Martinez, my beloved mother. Well, mom, we have a little bit of time together so we can talk about life and the life we've had together. Of course, the most important thing is you're the one who gave me life 61 years ago. And we just celebrated my birthday and very, very different, I guess, because we had one with my chosen family, then we had one with our DNA family together, and it was just very, very special bit. So first, let me be grateful to you for giving me life. But I think it's so important for people to know where I've come from or where you've come from and all the different things that you have done to make a difference in this world and to make the difference in the lives of many, many, many people. So if you can. I'm going to go. I'm not going to. I can never call you Cuquita You're my mama. Okay. It's mom will always be addressed towards you, mom. So can you tell. Tell me just a little bit about your upbringing when you were growing up. What was it like with grandma and grandpa and your siblings here?

[01:30] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: Well, we were seven children. My dad. I had my dad and my mom. My mother was a mother who just ate home with us. We were seven kids. And my father was a businessman. He was always having different areas in business. And my mother was just a her lady, but she's a great mother. She was a teacher to us at home, beside the school. She would always teach us. And more than everything, she showed us a way to be the Lord. She took us to church and led us the right way to learn to have God as her guidance to live our life. And that has been the greatest victory in my life, because I depend on God and he's always there. He's always there. We're never by ourselves. And I thank God for that.

[02:21] ROGER MARTINEZ: So, Mommy, right now, there were seven of you. There's just you and uncle Louie left, right?

[02:27] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: Yes.

[02:28] ROGER MARTINEZ: And Uncle Louie is what, 90?

[02:29] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: 93.

[02:30] ROGER MARTINEZ: 93. And before grandma died, she asked you to take care of everyone, right?

[02:35] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: Yes.

[02:36] ROGER MARTINEZ: And so you're the last one.

[02:38] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: We were seven of us. I was number four. And before she left, she left. They ordered that I would be in charge of the family and see that everything would be taking care of. And she left me whatever she would have done and she would be fulfilled. And so I did that. I only have one brother left and I be done.

[03:01] ROGER MARTINEZ: So you're the matriarch not only of your immediate family, but you're La Mera Mera of our family.

[03:07] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: Yes.

[03:08] ROGER MARTINEZ: We all look up to you for everything. I know when there's problems in the family or some issues happening, everyone picks up the phone, says, call grandma. She prays, call grandma. She says she's got a direct line to God and things are going to be happening. Good. I think that your phone got rang a lot during COVID When everyone got sick. With COVID you were there to pray for many, many people. And Mama, how many times did you get Covid?

[03:31] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: I never got it.

[03:33] ROGER MARTINEZ: And how many people were you around.

[03:35] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: That had Covid church? Everybody had it at home. Everybody had it. My family I lived with, I would stay with my daughter and her husband. And then the granddaughters would come and spend the night there with us also. Everybody got it. And I didn't get it at all.

[03:53] ROGER MARTINEZ: Nothing? No, never had it.

[03:55] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: Never.

[03:56] ROGER MARTINEZ: That's wonderful. That shows testament to your health and to your faith. And then of course, you're vaccinated too, right Mama?

[04:02] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: Yes, I did all your vaccines? Yes.

[04:04] ROGER MARTINEZ: Your boosters? Everything.

[04:05] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: Everything.

[04:06] ROGER MARTINEZ: And you believe that that was a good thing to do?

[04:07] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: Oh, yes, definitely, yes.

[04:09] ROGER MARTINEZ: Good, good, good. I agree with you too, Mamita. Hey, I was going to ask you this too. If you can remind me about you and dad. How did you meet dad?

[04:21] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: Well, it's a very different story because dad lived in New Mexico, in Colorado. At that time. He was in San Acacia, Colorado. And I was in San Antonio. And I went to Bible school. And two weeks later my husband to me came to school because he was late. Because he was working to raise money to pay his school. So in the morning, the school was out on the farm. And there was the little house outside where we had to go. So I had to get up real early in the morning. Nobody would see the boys. Door was across and I didn't want to see going to the casita. So when I was going down the side, I saw my husband there drink some ashes. He had arrived the night before. I didn't know who he was, but when he saw me, he took a look at me and he turned around real surprised and happy. I didn't know why she was like that. So I ran back to the dormouse and that was the first experience I had. I didn't know why he looked at me after, after we were married talking about it, he said that they were the first person she saw after he got married and she recognized me from that picture. And that picture was about 75 people in there and I was in the list group. He says that when his sister sent a picture, it was a long picture, she unrolled it and when she unrolled it on his right hand, Washington, my picture, when she saw, she said, she's going to be my wife. And then when he recognized me, she said, this is she. And since then he was in love already. I didn't know, but she told me that we were married.

[06:04] ROGER MARTINEZ: So how old were you when you met Dad?

[06:06] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: 15.

[06:07] ROGER MARTINEZ: And Daddy was 1616?

[06:10] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: Yes.

[06:10] ROGER MARTINEZ: So very young love. And he just met you through a picture?

[06:13] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: Yes.

[06:14] ROGER MARTINEZ: Wow.

[06:15] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: Yes.

[06:16] ROGER MARTINEZ: Wow, that's amazing.

[06:17] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: Then he came and we met in person at the Bible school. Yes.

[06:20] ROGER MARTINEZ: Yeah. And what was it like when he came to ask for your hand in marriage when you're gonna get married? He came down to ask for you?

[06:29] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: Yes. Well, he came because after we graduated he went back to Colorado and I was there in San Antonio and he would come to see me and he would see in church the nights of services from a distance because he couldn't talk to me. They didn't let us talk to the boys and he would just see me and then I said, receive a real card, I'm gone. But I never got to talk to him. So when we got married, we had never talked to each other in person, never. So when we got married, they were totally surprised. That week when we got married, two days before that, they let him call me by phone and we were able to talk a little bit. And then the night before the wedding we went to practice, then we got married. So we never did date, but you know, we were in love. We were in love. And so one thing that I don't want to lose is to let you know that before this happened, when I was praying in chapel and I said, my husband to be, I would always ask the Lord, guide me, make sure that I'm the right person. And as I was praying I felt the voice of the Lord saying, the menu will be married, will be working at the Bible school. And I was sure I heard that. I said, oh Lord, who is she? There was a young man there. I said, I don't like him, but I thought it was going to be then, you know, but I didn't like him waiting out after the time where we graduated, he went to school, we were getting married. When he asked me to get married, he said, I'm sending you the change of address because they have called me to go work at a Bible school.

[08:14] ROGER MARTINEZ: Wow.

[08:14] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: So they said, now I'm ready. Now I can say, I'll marry you. This was what I was waiting for.

[08:20] ROGER MARTINEZ: How long did you make him wait?

[08:22] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: Well, no. Well, because he saw marriage. He wasn't talking about getting married, but I just didn't answer the letter, or I would answer, not say nothing about the wedding, you know, I just said about the wedding. So this other. When he sent me the letter that he was going to work at the Bible school, and I said, now, this is what I was waiting for. Because God had showed me that two years ago that the man that would be married would be working the Bible school. So now I know this is what God wants for my life. It was a tremendous life. We had wonderful life together.

[09:00] ROGER MARTINEZ: So you were married. What, mama? 68 years.

[09:02] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: 68 years to the day.

[09:04] ROGER MARTINEZ: To the day he died on your anniversary.

[09:06] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: Right. 68 years.

[09:08] ROGER MARTINEZ: And it was also Father's day.

[09:10] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: Father's day that day.

[09:12] ROGER MARTINEZ: And then he also was able to hear the San Antonio spurs with the championship, which is his favorite team.

[09:17] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: Yes.

[09:18] ROGER MARTINEZ: And then he went to the big cheerleader sky.

[09:21] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: Yes.

[09:22] ROGER MARTINEZ: With God that night.

[09:23] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: Yes.

[09:24] ROGER MARTINEZ: I remember that. Well, I know one thing here that I have that I brought with us is your beautiful memory box. You said you had this box since you're 14 years old and it's full of letters and cards that dad sent to you.

[09:37] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: Yes.

[09:38] ROGER MARTINEZ: That you've kept, whether he kept. These are the ones that you sent to dad.

[09:42] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: That one sent to. No, the box is sent all the letters right after we finished. Bible, souls.

[09:48] ROGER MARTINEZ: Okay.

[09:48] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: They were.

[09:49] ROGER MARTINEZ: So you're allowed to talk then and write letters to each other?

[09:53] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: We could write letters when she was back home.

[09:55] ROGER MARTINEZ: So you never even kissed that until you were married.

[09:58] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: We didn't even talk together.

[10:02] ROGER MARTINEZ: That's amazing. I can see what the kids think of now when they're on the Internet and instagram and everything else, and you just didn't have. But you know what? You had the. The love is truly there that you had that love, that. That you all had together, which is amazing. But I've always asked when dad passed if I could keep this box, because it just reminded me of the love you had. And so it has a very special place in the dining room.

[10:26] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: Yes.

[10:26] ROGER MARTINEZ: So you made me get emotional, but it's got that very special place. But this has a lot of really good, positive memories of where we come from. And where I come from, because of the memories that you kept from that point forward, mom. And I remember. So you're at the Bible school for quite a number of years, but you also did a lot of piano, and you, and I think, correct me if I'm wrong, you taught dad how to drive a car because he didn't know how to drive.

[10:52] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: Yes.

[10:52] ROGER MARTINEZ: And he taught you how to play the piano, right? That's right. And then when you came to El Paso, when you're in El Paso, you went to Juarez, to the academy, the academia. The musika.

[11:03] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: Yeah.

[11:03] ROGER MARTINEZ: What was it called again?

[11:04] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: Academia. Normal. The music.

[11:08] ROGER MARTINEZ: How many years did you study there?

[11:09] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: Mom, I went four years there.

[11:11] ROGER MARTINEZ: Studied for four years?

[11:12] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: Yes.

[11:12] ROGER MARTINEZ: And then what did you do with all that talent that you received?

[11:15] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: Well, I taught at the Bible school. I taught music at the Bible school and the individuals also, my job was at the Bible school teaching music.

[11:24] ROGER MARTINEZ: So you taught music and did you teach both to the men and the women?

[11:27] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: Yes. Yes.

[11:28] ROGER MARTINEZ: And what was the.

[11:30] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: They were going into ministry, so they wanted to learn, so I gave my time. I didn't give my time only for students going into the ministry because there were a lot of them.

[11:39] ROGER MARTINEZ: So when you say go to the ministry, were these going to be missionaries that go different parts of the world?

[11:44] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: Yes, different parts.

[11:47] ROGER MARTINEZ: So they went all over the world. So you taught people to play the piano that then took it in their ministry to different parts of the world?

[11:53] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: Right.

[11:54] ROGER MARTINEZ: Not just the United States.

[11:56] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: They go into some missionaries? Yes, we have some missionaries.

[11:59] ROGER MARTINEZ: Wow.

[12:00] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: Wow.

[12:01] ROGER MARTINEZ: So then later on, after you've been. You've been playing piano. I remember I heard you play the piano the other day, and it was beautiful. I know that your hands, rheumatoid arthritis has taken over your hands, but you're still able to play some music. Is it something you still enjoy?

[12:15] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: Oh, I love it. I love it. But I can't do it as much as I used to. But I still try because I enjoy.

[12:22] ROGER MARTINEZ: It, mama, I know that. I'm going to fast forward to five years ago when you had the inspiration to write your book and get it published. The. Wow. And I can play music by earth. And all the things you did in your. Everything, every penny of this is not going to your pocket, correct?

[12:40] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: No, no.

[12:41] ROGER MARTINEZ: It's all going where?

[12:42] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: To the Bible school where we worked to pay tuition for those students that cannot go because they cannot pay.

[12:49] ROGER MARTINEZ: So it's a scholarship?

[12:50] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: It's a scholarship for the Bible school.

[12:52] ROGER MARTINEZ: Hey, mama, tell me, how did this book come around? Because you played everything by note. You learned at the academia by note?

[12:58] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: Oh, my note. Yes. There was a little girl, her parents were students at the school and they were going to open a new mission and they didn't know how to play. The little girl was about, I think was about ten years old. And she came one night and asked me, Sister Martinez, would you teach me how to play the piano? Because my parents are going to take a new church and they don't have nobody to help if I want to learn. It was two months away from the graduating. Cuquita says, let me see what I can do. My mind just went black. What can I teach in two months? You know, I said, but let me think about it. I'll work something to help you out, to help you. He please, because I want to help the minister. Okay. So I told my husband, what has happened, honey, what can I teach? Because he knew missing too. What can I teach him? So I said, well, I don't know. Such a short time. So that night I went for his lord. This girl wants to know. She went to work, work for you, Lord? The church to help out. I don't know which way to go. Please show me how to go. And I finally went to sleep thinking about it, thinking, trying to think what I would do. I fell asleep in the morning when I woke up, and I looked up to the ceiling, in big letters, I saw, wow, now I can play by ear, which was the title of my book. And when I saw the title of the book, I saw everything. Like a picture, how to put it in order. What I have taught, wow. I didn't have to write anything down. It was a vision that God gave me. So I wrote that book in my vision. That's what I used to work with. That's what I used to teach with. But the Lord showed me how to put it in place.

[14:40] ROGER MARTINEZ: So everything here that you have is like, almost like YouTube generated pictures, hand gestures, keys, keyboards. And you were 90 years old when you wrote this?

[14:54] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: Yes. Now, the girl learned to play some, some songs. She got to play a few songs from there, got the idea, and I gave him. When I got the book, I saw her later and I gave her a book to work with. But that's the way I got the book.

[15:08] ROGER MARTINEZ: Well, I'm reading here. I opened up your book and I saw here you have this dedicated and lovering memory of my husband, which is my dad.

[15:16] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: Yes.

[15:17] ROGER MARTINEZ: He said, this book is dedicated to my beloved husband of 68 years, Arsenio O. Martinez, president emeritus of Latin American Bible Institute and father of our three children, Evangeline, Raoul and Roger. In 1944, he graduated valedictorian of our class in Labi. My first piano teacher was my husband. In 1979, the mayor of El Paso bestowed on Pastor ao Martinez Aquita, the city, in recognition of his dedication and service to the people of El Paso. All proceeds of this book go into a trust fund to benefit the Latin American Bible Institute.

[15:51] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: Yes.

[15:51] ROGER MARTINEZ: So it's here in writing. So it's gone that direction.

[15:55] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: Yeah.

[15:55] ROGER MARTINEZ: Hi, Mamita. Congratulations. I'm so proud of you with this. This is amazing. I can barely write policy and procedure from when I was working, much less write a book and get it published. Did you say that? It's, like, on. It's on, like, different places, like Amazon and.

[16:11] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: Oh, yeah, it's so. You could say they sold all over.

[16:14] ROGER MARTINEZ: Walmart and Barnes and Noble.

[16:15] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: They'll sell these. The entitled the book. Wow. Now I can play by ear.

[16:21] ROGER MARTINEZ: That's amazing. That's totally amazing. Mama, one thing that you did for me, that I can never be ever so grateful, because you, of course, gave me life. Like, I started off this conversation, but you afforded me the opportunity to go to school and move on to the university level. I know my brother and my sister, you know, they went to seminary. My brother did. He went to seminary, and he's a successful pastor, has this church, and. And my sister as well, she has her church, and I know that she was given a full scholarship to. To Texas Tech. Yes, but dad was old school and preferred that she get married, I think, at the time. I know you tried to get her to go to school before she got married, but she got married. It was a good thing because she's been in that marriage forever and a day. And her husband's retired from NASA now, and it's been a good thing for all the family. Been really good. But, mama, you went and struggled a little bit with dad to. For him to let me go to UT Austin. I remember we were living in San Antonio at the time.

[17:19] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: Yes.

[17:20] ROGER MARTINEZ: And I told you my desire was to go to Ut Austin, or. And I had also applied for Notre Dame, and I've been accepted to Notre Dame, but I was afraid to go. Was too far. Austin was right there by San Antonio. But what did you do to get me to go?

[17:36] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: How.

[17:36] ROGER MARTINEZ: How were you able to help afford her?

[17:38] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: I.

[17:38] ROGER MARTINEZ: You got me to go to school at UT.

[17:40] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: What happens first? I had Evangeline, my daughter, Raul, my son, and they were already in starting high school. They were in high school. And when I decided my husband working so many hours, and I didn't want to bother them. I went through my time on my own. So I told dad, you know what, honey? I want another baby. I want the baby to stay with me. It has time to. And that bothers you and your work and the kids in school. So he was afraid because of our age. He said, mama, you're gonna be 33. The baby's born. He said, well, how about sending him to school? I'll send him to school, mother, you don't know if we can. I will, I will. I see that he goes to school. I take care of him. I see that he won't need anything. And he said he was very possible. Anyway, we decided, and we had our baby that was 14 years apart. And God bless me with my beautiful baby who's always been by my side, and we've been together so many times, and I don't want to forget that right now. I'm staying with him. He's taking care of me now that I'm home. And he calls me. He called me, he dresses me, sends me like a little girl to school. She don't know what else to do with me. And she fixes my breakfast and came ready to take the bus. I took to the bus to take me to because I wanted to go to the bus with the rest of the elderly. So I go by the bus and he takes care of me. Anyway, the thing is that we got the baby. And then when the time came, Roger wanted to go to college. We were in San Antonio, and my husband says, why go to San Antonio? This is a college student in San Antonio. I said, well, he wants to go there. It's a nice school. I would like for him to go there. He said, okay, if he goes there, I'm not going to see for his expenses. That's too expensive when we don't have to. I said, but I think I like the school better, too. And he likes it, too. Is it all right if I send him? You send him? He said, yes, I'll send him. Well, it's up to you, but I'm not going to spend money like that because it's not a need. Okay, but it's higher. Something will help him. So he said, okay. So I said, okay, I don't have money. It's time for him to go. So I was telling my sister about it, and she said, you know what? I have a friend that has money in the bank, and maybe she let you borrow it and you pay her the interest that the bank is paying her, and they end. You pay her in full. She might lend you the money. Oh, because there's some apartments here by my house that is selling. They're selling. The lady want to sell fast, and I think you would have a good chance. Oh, let's go see. So with the lady. She said, sure, I will.

[20:37] ROGER MARTINEZ: Which lady was this? The one that was going to lend you the money?

[20:42] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: Yeah, the lady. Yeah, the lady was going to let me know we wanted to see her, and we told her what I wanted to do. And we are no problem. We can do that. You pay the interest, I pay you the interest.

[20:53] ROGER MARTINEZ: Did you pay more interest than the bank did?

[20:55] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: It was $116 a month in interest. When I was paying for those 10,000 and those 10,000, I was able to buy the apartments, and the old lady took the note, and I was paying her directly.

[21:12] ROGER MARTINEZ: So you didn't go through the bank. You made your own banking, your own finances.

[21:18] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: With the lady, and I got the apartment.

[21:21] ROGER MARTINEZ: What did dad say?

[21:22] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: Well, that's when I got home and I went home. Look, daddy, I want you to see these papers. So I took the papers, and she started reading. She says, 1318 and 1320s, St. Mary's downtown. Did you buy this? Yes, daddy, I bought this. She doesn't like to owe anything. She said, no, I bought it. With what money? He said, remember? He said we were not going to discuss. We wouldn't want to be upset. He said, you don't have to worry about it. I pay. I'm going to pay for it. I want to pay for it. There was a deal we had. I told him I was sent to the school and had to find my way. I did. And then when I told him the way I did, he said, you mean to say you're not going to pay nothing in the balance just to pay interest? Yes, honey. The lady's gonna make $116 a month with interest. I'm making $1,800 a month with the apartments I'm far from. I could rent that forever to keep them. Daddy was never a businessman and that. A businessman. And he said, oh, please, I don't want to share money anymore. Please don't even show me anything. So there was a deal that we would not talk about your apartment so he wouldn't worry. But does a partner shall be sent him to school.

[22:41] ROGER MARTINEZ: Well, mama, I remember you working on those little. There were little houses that were like. More like for the weekday labor that.

[22:50] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: Would come in to work in San.

[22:51] ROGER MARTINEZ: Antonio, and you'd rent them rooms see.

[22:54] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: I rented the rooms.

[22:55] ROGER MARTINEZ: If you kept them nice and clean. There was not.

[22:59] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: I would work at the bible school that I drive when I was off. I would go over there and work in the apartments to cleveland and whatever I had to do to be able to save my money.

[23:08] ROGER MARTINEZ: I remember. I remember you doing plumbing. One time I walked in, you, and you had some pipes with a purple glue, and you're putting glue together, and I go, mama, what are you doing? She goes, I got to fix the pipe. It leaked. And if I don't fix it, I got to pay someone to do it. And I'm learning. I'm learning how to do it. I said, well, more power to you, mama. But those little houses in your work got me through ut austin. Yes, I was able to get my degrees there in austin. And I'll never forget the graduation day that dad came up to me, and he gave me an aetna's ring. She was the first person, his sister, to graduate from university there in el paso, utep. And he asked if I could wear her ring on my pinky. Cause she had just passed that year. She passed away, I think, like, in february or march, and I graduated that may. And so he told me that I always believed that you could finish school here, and I'm very proud of you. Please wear my sister's ring as you march across that stage. So I forget that. But that graduation day was. Was beautiful.

[24:07] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: Yes, yes, I remember.

[24:08] ROGER MARTINEZ: The whole family came down.

[24:10] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: Yes. For that.

[24:10] ROGER MARTINEZ: From El Salvador and San Antonio. And. And you had a wonderful meal for me at one of the real nice restaurants.

[24:17] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: Yes.

[24:18] ROGER MARTINEZ: And had a piano player, and I would have far away from working in little houses and putting things together to make ends meet for me to be able to go to school. I mean, I don't forget that. I never will.

[24:32] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: It was my joy and answer to the Lord, to my prayers, that lord need to help me to supply that need that I wanted to do. So.

[24:40] ROGER MARTINEZ: Yeah. Well, I tell you, Mavita, you know, there's a lot of things that, you know, as I retired as a. As a chief juvenile probation officer for the county, there was a lot of things that I learned from you along the way and how to treat people and how we were able to reform a lot of the juvenile justice system here in El Paso. That was also picked up to change statewide in Texas and other parts of the states, in the United States and even some countries outside of here. But watching you as my example and seeing what you did as I grew up, only fed the faith and the hope in me to be able to do what we did here in El Paso when it came to that. And I attribute all that to you. People ask me, I would meet with the county judge or the county commissioner. Where did you learn your leadership? Your leadership style is amazing. How do you do this? I go, you know what? It's mama 101. My mama taught me everything I know, taught me how to treat people, how to treat situations, how to get things done, things of that nature. When you thought that there was no way or looking to what had to be done or how could it be done, you always told me to trust in Goddesse and that God will lead the way and he'll get it done. And I remember there was one story I told you that when we had to ask for $10 million to build a facility here in El Paso, and I was so scared to go before the commissioners and the judge to ask for $10 million. And I'll never forget, we were on a march from the church, the St. Patrick's Cathedral, with a lot of mentally ill people to show support that we needed funding for mental illness. And there was this man who got lost from his mother. And he was like, I would say maybe in his forties, but obviously had some mental health issues. And he'd gotten lost from his mother and his aunt. And he was crying with his hands over his face. And I took a run. I looked twice. I looked a third time, I looked a fourth time. He wouldn't move. And I went to him and asked him, are you all right? He said no. And he asked if I was a nice man, and I told him I was. And it reminded me, what you would say is, you would not leave people alone. You were there to always help them. And I remember telling the man, well, you lost your mama. She said, yes, I'm afraid. And I told him to hold onto my arm, and we're going to walk amongst all the masses of people. There's about maybe over 100, maybe 200, 300 people marching. And we saw the mother and the aunt coming backward like salmon going upstream. And they found the boy with a man in my arm, and I gave them to him. They want to make sure he was all right. No one had heard him, and he was good. And they left. And I had this thought that hit my mind, says, you're his voice. He can't go before a commissioner and ask for the money that. That he needs in order to get the services he needs now. I just thought, wow, that was just so profound. So, so profound. That's not your money. That's not your check. It's money that is available that the community can put towards working for people with mental illness. So I remember that day when I went before the court, you know, we asked for that money. I went with the whole confidence that you instilled in me from seeing all the things you've done in your life and watched and went before him, and a unanimous vote came back, and they gave us $10 million to build a facility for kids, which is just amazing, so that I have to give you credit for, because it was some of the teachings you gave me, the little things that maybe you thought maybe we're going to plant a seed of, but eventually planted that seed and sprouted into something much larger to be able to make some decisions and determinations when it came to things like that. You know, the other thing that I was so blessed with, that I totally blessed, is that you were able to see people acknowledge my career as I retired and be at some of the ceremonies, which a lot of parents don't get that opportunity to do.

[28:31] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: I pray to God for that.

[28:33] ROGER MARTINEZ: Yeah, I remember. Had a heart attack when I saw you come out of a side room when they were presenting me with a lifetime achievement award. And I just didn't know what to say when I saw you. I don't know if I was more scared because I saw you come. I see my mom coming out in the middle of all my colleagues there, or just to be so excited and happy. I think it was a mixture of both. But all those things that I have, of course, I honor, give honor and praise to my maker, but the one that facilitated all that was you. You're the one who was able to give me all the backing and the guidelines and the things that I needed to do to get to better places. And now in retirement, how the time has changed us. So, mama, when you were in Houston, you came down over here. What was the. You came down in July, right? Of this past year. July of 22.

[29:22] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: Yes.

[29:22] ROGER MARTINEZ: You came down for a vacation, right?

[29:24] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: Yes.

[29:24] ROGER MARTINEZ: So what happened that made you decide to stay?

[29:27] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: Well, I came, and I enjoyed myself very much, and I was staying with Roger, and then they told me about this place, and I enjoyed it very much. Loved and said, you know what? I don't want to stay. Roger had always asked me, come and stay with me. Come and stay with me. So I said, you know what? I will take you up on this. I will stay with you, and I'm gonna go to Vietnam. And, I mean, that's a wonderful place, a beautiful place, and I really enjoy myself there.

[30:00] ROGER MARTINEZ: So when you came down, though, you came with about a week's worth of clothes, right?

[30:04] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: Yes.

[30:04] ROGER MARTINEZ: You came to stay a week, and then you didn't go back?

[30:07] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: I did go back. I stayed. I stayed here.

[30:10] ROGER MARTINEZ: And you know what? That's been the biggest blessing, not just for me, but all the Martinez family here in El Paso. Everyone has been so excited that you here with us, that we have the. The matriarch of the family here that everyone can come see you, can visit with you. They call you. I know they check on you. Very traditional values that y'all instilled in us that we've been able to keep. So I know that that's been very, very. We've been very blessed as a family for that. It's been. It's been really, really amazing to have you here. So what is it that you have found out you've been here in El Paso. Now that you return to El Paso, what is it that you. That you love about this place from when you were here back in the 1940s to now, in 2023?

[30:52] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: Oh, my. Everything has changed.

[30:54] ROGER MARTINEZ: Like, what? What is changing?

[30:55] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: The freeways. The freeways. Oh, so beautiful. And the new neighborhoods. I think I just loved it very much. Just. It has really advanced. Really advanced. And towards you. Love to stay here. I enjoy.

[31:13] ROGER MARTINEZ: Do you love being here, Mamita?

[31:14] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: Oh, I love it here. Yes, I'm very happy. I'm very happy here.

[31:17] ROGER MARTINEZ: And BMB people have been really good to you.

[31:19] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: They're very nice. Everyone is so nice. Very nice.

[31:24] ROGER MARTINEZ: And didn't, at that time, when we applied for you to go, we didn't even know about this place. I just thought it was going to be a senior citizen center where you're going to go play cards or something. And I didn't realize I had all this medical.

[31:35] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: Oh, they have medical things, yeah. To see. And they care about you. They love you. They treat you like person to person. They give you all the attention. Very beautiful people.

[31:47] ROGER MARTINEZ: And I think one of the most amazing things was the school, after dad died, were giving you a pension from dad.

[31:54] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: Oh, yes.

[31:55] ROGER MARTINEZ: And it was about four years ago to the date that you gave that money back up because they were struggling a little bit.

[32:00] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: Right. I used to get a daily check after he passed away because. Because he had been there so many years, and they gave me a check. And so the school was struggling. And I would ask the folks at the church, let's pray for the school. They're strongly financially. We have to pray for them that God would supply their needs. And then I said, well, lord, that money they're sending me, I won't tell them to keep it because they need the money, and I can make it without getting. I don't need that much money. So I called the president and I told him not to send me the check anymore because I decided I wanted money to stay for the school and help him out financially. And he says, no, it's money. Did your husband earn? He said, no, but I feel in my heart to give it to her, and so please accept that, and I appreciate your help. So. Okay. That's what you want. Well, whenever I came here and applied at VMV, when I signed, did you receive your last check from your husband? It was exactly that day I was entering there. It was four years since I received the last check.

[33:11] ROGER MARTINEZ: So if you would have had that check, you wouldn't have been approved for the program.

[33:14] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: It was on the date.

[33:16] ROGER MARTINEZ: So by giving your check back, you came back and you get approved for a program that's. Provided.

[33:23] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: They get all my care. That's more than what I was getting. That's more than what I was getting. Well, you know, we can never forgive God.

[33:31] ROGER MARTINEZ: No.

[33:31] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: We can never forgive God.

[33:33] ROGER MARTINEZ: No. You look fantastic, Mama. You look. I wish people could see a picture of you, see what you look like. Cause you do not look 96, by no means. And you don't even act 96. You're enjoying life, what life God has given you. And what we're gonna have to be with you is. Is just. We're just so blessed. But you look really, really amazing. It's great that you can tell stories. I remember asking not to long ago, who's the first president to remember? President Roosevelt. So you can say President Roosevelt to President Biden. And, you know, all of them in between. You've been around for all that? Oh, Mama. You've been around through many wars, through presidents, the politics, everything. Oh, lord, things went.

[34:16] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: We're 1923 and we're 1927.

[34:21] ROGER MARTINEZ: Or 2023. 2023. You're born 1927. So you're scratching almost 100 years.

[34:27] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: Almost a hundred years.

[34:28] ROGER MARTINEZ: Wow.

[34:28] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: I'm four years away.

[34:30] ROGER MARTINEZ: Well, I'm blessed to have your DNA, but if I feel and look like you at that age, I hope. I hope I'm still around with that. But, Mamita, I could just tell you that you have blessed so many lives, hundreds of thousands of lives. And I'm hoping that I don't cry here because I'm getting emotional, but that people understand and realize. I don't want you to put your, the Facebook post. And by the way, she's on Facebook as well. I don't know how many Facebook accounts you have now, but, you know, she doesn't say no to people befriending her because she says that's not nice, that she should say yes to having friends and not say no. You don't want to be their friend. But, you know, you, you have been a blessing to hundreds of thousands of people. So your work is, I know at one point you were just like, why am I still here? You know, everyone's gone except me. But you still had work to do here, you know, whether it be through myself and what we do every day, you know, I bless to wake up early in the morning to make sure that we get you on your bus on time. You know what, just for everyone hearing, she wants to do that, she just said that earlier. She wants to be in the bus with all the kids, with, well, all the elderly, and she wants to be one of the first to be picked up so she can be on the ride with everyone and the last to be dropped off so she can say goodbye. And then when you get off the bus, you come inside, you want a snack and you want a nap, correct?

[35:46] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: Yes.

[35:47] ROGER MARTINEZ: Yeah. What kind of snack do you ask for? What kind of snack do you usually want to have?

[35:53] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: Ice cream.

[35:53] ROGER MARTINEZ: Ice cream. I know, an ice cream cone. So, mommy, I can't tell you enough of how much gratitude I have that you're my mother. And of course I give my nod to my dad. I wouldn't be here without dad either, but just everything that you've done for us and things that you continue to do without you even knowing it, without you even knowing it at all.

[36:15] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: And you know how grateful I am with you. All you do for me, he takes care of my feet. Full lotion and just comb me and help me do everything for me. When I go to my bed, it's already made up to just get under the covers before my machine is ready. It's ready just to go to bed. Your care, your love, your meals, everything, huto. I really appreciate that.

[36:38] ROGER MARTINEZ: Well, I tell you one thing, when, when I rub your feet before you go to bed at night and I put lotion and get to rub your feet and get to rub your legs at the same time, I just wonder, where have these feet been in 96 years? Where have they walked? Where did they blessed? And I should only be so lucky. Love you lots, mom.

[37:02] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: I love you too, mijo. Love you. Thanks for everything. And I thank God for giving me my little baby.

[37:09] ROGER MARTINEZ: It's been a great life, mama. It's been a great life.

[37:14] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: We started together, and I think we're ending together.

[37:17] ROGER MARTINEZ: Well, I hope I don't end sooner than you, but it's been. It's been. It's been a trip. It's been a ride, Mamita. It's been a ride. And who knows? Maybe we'll go together. Maybe that's what's gonna happen. But, you know, if we do, so be it. We've done so many things together. Our lives, anyway. But I love you lots, Mama. I think it's our time. And we've had our time.

[37:39] CUQUITA MARTINEZ: And he loves me. He hugs me, he gives me. Baby. He's so lovable. I thank you for loving your love.

[37:46] ROGER MARTINEZ: Love you, too, mom.