Marcela Evans and Marcus Cunningham

[00:00] MARCELA EVANS: Hi. My name is Marcela Evans. I'm 39 years old. Today is February 3, 2023. We're in El Paso, Texas, and my interview partner is Marcus Cunningham, who is my spouse.

[00:14] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Hello. My name is Marcus Cunningham. I am 35 years old. Today is February 3, 2023. We're here in El Paso, Texas. My interview partner is Marcela Evans, who is my spouse. So we're gonna jump right in. I think we wanted to first talk about our move to El Paso. Yes. Yeah. So we are from the north Texas area. I was born and raised in Dallas. Marcela was born and raised in Arlington, Texas.

[00:44] MARCELA EVANS: Not Dallas.

[00:45] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Not Dallas.

[00:46] MARCELA EVANS: A lot from Dallas.

[00:46] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah. Very same, but different for folks who know the area. And we moved here to El Paso in June of 2022. So we've been here for, what, eight months now. And we came here because of an opportunity that really just couldn't be refused, that Marcela was presented with.

[01:11] MARCELA EVANS: Mm hmm. We did. It was this really wonderful chance to work with a new organization, doing work similar to what I had done before, but also moving me in the direction that I wanted to go. So I've done work as an attorney with immigrant children, and this opportunity that I have now is to manage a team doing that same work, to build in the good habits that I found really necessary and, oddly, was able to develop during COVID During a lot of the remote work possibilities.

[01:50] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah. And I'm along for the ride because my work is fully remote. So I'm a fundraiser. I work for. I now work for an organization that's based on the west coast that does movement building work, basically. And so I'm working from home, talking with folks around the country. And so, really, I just picked up my office as we were moving, and we just moved across the state.

[02:19] MARCELA EVANS: Do you want to tell folks about your new office views?

[02:23] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Oh, yeah, absolutely. So it is. I mean, Dallas, El Paso is different in a lot of ways, but I think it's really nice because, you know, we were able to find space that really worked for us. We both needed. I mean, we both needed office space at home, and we wanted space to run around and grow and have people over and all that fun stuff. And so when I'm working at home, I have this wonderful view of the mountains. So we have mountains right. We have mountains right across the border and waters, and we have mountains right across. Right across. Almost. Almost across the street from our house here in El Paso. And so it is really just this wonderful vista to have on a day to day basis. It's not something that I've ever had. And I got very, very quickly. I got used to it.

[03:20] MARCELA EVANS: Yeah, definitely. Definitely. Same here. When I drive to and from work, I get to see mountains in all directions. And that combination of mountains and desert I in El Paso has been one of my favorite differences and favorite changes from Dallas.

[03:37] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah. Yeah. And we say this a lot, and I think it's. It. The more you do it, the more it becomes true that the distance between places in Texas is just so fast. You know, it's a ten hour drive to get from Dallas to El Paso, like, across any other part of any other part of the United States. You're crossing multiple states to get to the same. To get to the same place. And here, you know, we've. We've crossed the state, we've crossed a time zone, we've crossed an electric grid. I think almost everything is different. Yeah.

[04:14] MARCELA EVANS: Yeah. That. I'm curious how it's felt for you, the distance being away from home, because I think that that distance is a little different for me than what I anticipated it being.

[04:29] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah, it is. Um. It's the. I mean, it's the same and different in than other times when I've been away from home. Right. So I'm not as well traveled as you in terms of living, but I have lived in, you know, several places across Texas, and really in different, like, completely different points across Texas. So I lived in the Rio Grande Valley for, you know, for five years when I was in college. Also on the border. Right. So it's a lot of the same border, a lot of the same border culture, but also different because it's different, literally, again, different parts of the state and different parts of Mexico. And that felt. That felt accessible in a different way because I think at that time, I mean, at that time, this was an obviously pre pandemic. This was almost more than a decade ago. Hopping on a greyhound to get home didn't feel like much of a big deal. And I think just because of the type of travel that it requires to get to El Paso, there is a little bit. They just feel like there's a kind of a gap in distance. Right. Because it's an effort for us to get home. We have to drive or we have to fly. Like, the flights of the flights themselves are fast, but they're also not cheap. So it is a choice every single time that we go home or anywhere else, but at the same time, moving away, like I was in the valley, came back home, came back home almost a decade ago at this point, and leaving home again, a decade older, wiser. It is different in that way because I do feel like I have the skills to stay connected with a lot of my community, and I didn't necessarily have that the first time I did it.

[06:24] MARCELA EVANS: That's really cool.

[06:25] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Now, what about you?

[06:29] MARCELA EVANS: So I realized when we were kind of talking about this earlier, I actually have lived near a different border. I was up in Michigan, and that was. Right I at the border with Canada. And I hadn't even thought of it because it was a completely different experience. That is really interesting for me to think about, both as an immigration attorney and just in general. So that's something I definitely am going to think more about now. But it has been. I think this is my first time having moved as a professional instead of as a student or right after school, and it has been different. It makes me realize how much of a community that I had and that we had in Dallas, not just coming from there, but having moved back after school and really having spent about a decade creating a life there before I moved again. I think that's something that I took for granted when we were home, and I'm really excited about the opportunity to build it here. But it is different not having it and not instantly knowing somebody or how something works.

[07:41] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah. I feel that. I think that you can't really. We can't really talk about the move without talking about the events that preceded it. Right. Not just which ones. All of them, basically.

[07:59] MARCELA EVANS: Yeah.

[08:00] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: I think that the journey, the really very much the journey between, you know, when the pandemic started almost two years ago to now, it is. There's a lot of ways to describe it. It's been illuminating. It's been, you know, obviously different.

[08:18] MARCELA EVANS: Three years ago.

[08:19] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Three years ago. Oh, wow. Yeah. Three years ago, yeah. Yep. No, gosh. So, yeah, so when the pandemic started. Started and we were living in Dallas, obviously we weren't working remotely yet. It was just a completely different vibe. We had just moved into this new apartment with lots of open space near White Rock Lake, if you're familiar with Dallas. And we really wanted in the nicest apartment that either one of us had ever lived in. So we were ready. We were just ready for a completely different lifestyle.

[08:55] MARCELA EVANS: And then we had to put up a bear ear. It was. That was. I think that was like a very physical symbol of change.

[09:05] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah.

[09:06] MARCELA EVANS: That we had this beautiful open space specifically selected for entertainment and community building. And then we had to put up a wall between us because remote work was really challenging. Having two people working out of a big open space.

[09:25] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah. So why did. Why do we have to put up the pair here, Marcus?

[09:31] MARCELA EVANS: Why do you ask, Marcus? Definitely because one of us, me, didn't have to actually get camera ready and one of us, you had to be on camera. And quickly I realized that I could be seen in the background of your Zoom meetings in my pajamas.

[09:50] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yep, yep, yep.

[09:52] MARCELA EVANS: That's cool.

[09:53] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah.

[09:53] MARCELA EVANS: It's always a fun way to meet your partners, co workers and colleagues.

[09:58] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah. Are you talking about 15, what? Maybe 15ft of space? Probably less than that.

[10:05] MARCELA EVANS: Less than that.

[10:06] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Less than that. Between our two desks. Yeah. And we got real cozy real quick.

[10:11] MARCELA EVANS: Real cozy. That was real fun.

[10:12] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah.

[10:13] MARCELA EVANS: We did have one good party before the pandemic hit, though.

[10:16] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: That's true.

[10:17] MARCELA EVANS: We hosted family Christmas for the first time.

[10:19] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah. We hosted family Christmas for the first time. And that was also the first time our families had celebrated Christmas together.

[10:24] MARCELA EVANS: Is that right? You know, no, I think. Well, maybe, maybe. I think that there'd been some pop ins, but not a full celebration.

[10:35] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Right. Not like a full planned celebration.

[10:38] MARCELA EVANS: It was the first time that Gabe and Liberty had been part of it, though.

[10:40] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: That's true. Yeah.

[10:41] MARCELA EVANS: So we had our full set of sibling accompaniments with us. That was real fun.

[10:47] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah. Tell you, we did get to do that. That was great.

[10:50] MARCELA EVANS: That was great.

[10:51] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah.

[10:51] MARCELA EVANS: It occurs to me, as you say this, that more than half of our relationship has been spent during pandemic times.

[11:00] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah.

[11:01] MARCELA EVANS: So we're going into year five.

[11:03] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah, that's right.

[11:04] MARCELA EVANS: About to be. We're not quite at five yet.

[11:06] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Close. Couple months.

[11:08] MARCELA EVANS: We have three months of pandemic time, or three years, rather.

[11:11] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah.

[11:13] MARCELA EVANS: How did that. How have you seen that affect our relationship?

[11:17] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Oh, goodness. So I think about the before times. So, I mean, we met. We met, obviously we were. And we were. You were working at the time that we met. You were working full time. I had just gotten laid off, so I was still looking for a job and so we obviously spent less time with each other because you were away at work and I was either at home or off doing some of the consulting work that I was doing at the time. And so I think at the beginning, we obviously didn't have as much time together and, you know, we were like. We were meshing. We were meshing, but obviously, like, not to the degree that the pandemic created. Right. And so once the pandemic hit, we had lots of time with each other.

[12:19] MARCELA EVANS: Lots of time.

[12:20] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Lots of time. Like we needed to. We. I mean, we. We had to do things to. We had to. I mean, we had to do things to not go stir crazy. Right. Like a lot of people. But that meant, you know, lots of, lots of time hanging out together at home. That meant lots of time, you know, going on walks. It meant, you know, finding, like, really finding and cherishing those times where we did get to see our families, both of them. And so there's just a lot of, there's a lot of closeness that we, I think we definitely wouldn't have got but for the pandemic.

[12:58] MARCELA EVANS: No, I definitely think you're right.

[13:00] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah. Yeah. I think that. I mean, in a way. I mean, in a lot of ways, I think that that helped. Right. Because we got to know each other faster than we would have otherwise. And so in that sense, I think it was beneficial now.

[13:21] MARCELA EVANS: I think so, too.

[13:22] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah. I mean, not to mention the fact that we got married during the pandemic. Do you want to start that story?

[13:29] MARCELA EVANS: No, I was going to ask you to start that story.

[13:32] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah. Gosh. Yeah. So by the time, so again, by the time the pandemic hit, we're already, we're already a couple years into our relationship, and we had kind of, I mean, we had talked about future plans, right? Like, we had talked about a number of different things and different ways that our future could manifest. And I know I had been a little bit slow on, like, actually, you know, moving things forward.

[14:04] MARCELA EVANS: I have a question. How did our engagement manifest?

[14:09] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Probably gonna tell this properly. So one day we woke up and we had been talking, I'm sure we had been talking, kinda talking about it before, like a couple days before. And you turn to me and you asked me, you know, well, basically, like, are we doing this?

[14:32] MARCELA EVANS: Right?

[14:32] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Like, do you want to get married? And I was like, yes, yes, I do. In LSD engagement.

[14:40] MARCELA EVANS: I'm really happy that you recall it as a request, because I'm pretty sure that I recall it as me telling you that I thought we should get married. And I'm really happy that you felt that you had agency in that, other than me stating that it was time. Yeah, that's, that's good.

[15:04] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: You know, the, the thought of saying no never actually crossed my mind, so.

[15:08] MARCELA EVANS: Well, good. I'm really pleased that that's the case, because we're here.

[15:13] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah.

[15:13] MARCELA EVANS: Two years later.

[15:14] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah. So we got fantastic. Yeah. I mean, we got engaged and we got engaged in the fall.

[15:23] MARCELA EVANS: We got engaged in October. Like, end of October.

[15:27] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah. Yeah. And we wanted to, I mean, obviously, we couldn't do a huge wedding. Didn't, didn't really want to, like, go through the process of, like, setting up an outside wedding, even though I think. I mean, in hindsight, we would have been fine with that.

[15:44] MARCELA EVANS: No, we tried to remember.

[15:45] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Oh, did we try to?

[15:47] MARCELA EVANS: We did.

[15:47] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah.

[15:48] MARCELA EVANS: We kept watching Covid numbers, and we tried to set up an outside wedding.

[15:53] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah.

[15:53] MARCELA EVANS: And then it just kept getting too high.

[15:56] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: That's right. That's right.

[15:58] MARCELA EVANS: So we ended up with our small.

[16:00] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Cause we had a much larger guest list. I remember now.

[16:03] MARCELA EVANS: We did. It was just family, and it was huge.

[16:06] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah.

[16:06] MARCELA EVANS: A lot of family.

[16:07] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah.

[16:08] MARCELA EVANS: Which was really fun.

[16:09] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah. So we pivoted.

[16:12] MARCELA EVANS: We pivoted. And we had seven people.

[16:15] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah.

[16:16] MARCELA EVANS: Including us.

[16:17] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah.

[16:18] MARCELA EVANS: Which was really great.

[16:19] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Seven people in person, to be clear.

[16:21] MARCELA EVANS: Oh, that's right. We did the great big Internet wedding.

[16:23] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yes.

[16:24] MARCELA EVANS: Really fun.

[16:24] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah. So we. I mean, we did a zoom wedding. So we had. We had seven people there, mostly our parents, and we did the rest on Zoom. We set up a camera.

[16:41] MARCELA EVANS: Set up a zoom link.

[16:42] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Set up a zoom link. Invited folks. We did it at your parents, like on your parents patio.

[16:49] MARCELA EVANS: Oh, do you remember? It was supposed to be out by the lake.

[16:51] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah.

[16:52] MARCELA EVANS: And it sleeted.

[16:52] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: And then it sleeted.

[16:54] MARCELA EVANS: That's what a patio it was.

[16:55] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah. It was real cold that day.

[16:57] MARCELA EVANS: Oh, it was so cold.

[16:58] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah.

[17:00] MARCELA EVANS: You know, I haven't thought a whole bunch about how fantastic it was actually to have the zoom wedding, because we were able to invite all the people we loved to join us on that day without any of the consideration of cost, which is not something that I'm used to in life.

[17:20] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah, that's. That's real.

[17:22] MARCELA EVANS: That was really cool.

[17:24] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah. And the response was great.

[17:26] MARCELA EVANS: Oh, yeah.

[17:27] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah. That's. So many people like feet. We had, folks. It was. I mean, it was. It was New Year's Eve, so we had folks calling in from work. We had, you know, we had folks in their family, like, crowded around a crowd around a webcam, just like the. The entire assortment of our community gathered. And that was really humbling to see.

[17:56] MARCELA EVANS: Yeah, it really was. It was a really fantastic show of community support and something that we have preserved because we recorded it, which was really lovely.

[18:09] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah. We got married on New Year's Eve. New Year's Eve, 2020.

[18:19] MARCELA EVANS: Going strong.

[18:19] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Going strong. Yeah.

[18:21] MARCELA EVANS: One day we'll have a true in person gathering. Hasn't happened just yet, though.

[18:27] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah, we'll get there. It'll be great whenever it does happen.

[18:31] MARCELA EVANS: I agree.

[18:31] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah. No.

[18:39] MARCELA EVANS: So what do you want to talk about between then and now and how we got here?

[18:48] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: So between then and now. I mean, so many other things happened. We had multiple moves because we were trying to find the right space for us. And obviously, the sitting back to back from each other didn't really.

[19:08] MARCELA EVANS: Didn't last long.

[19:08] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Didn't last long. So we found space, we found new jobs, found new pets. Found new pets. Oh, yeah. No, that's definitely what we should talk about.

[19:25] MARCELA EVANS: Pets.

[19:26] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah. So. But I think we have to. We have to start with. We have to start with Doji because he was. He was here before me.

[19:35] MARCELA EVANS: That's true. Yeah, judge. Sweet judge.

[19:38] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah, judge.

[19:40] MARCELA EVANS: The perpetual, energizing ball of love and sass, apparently with you.

[19:48] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah.

[19:48] MARCELA EVANS: He was my buddy, but y'all had some moments.

[19:54] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: You know, we had a. We had a relationship.

[20:00] MARCELA EVANS: I mean, it wasn't. To be fair, it wasn't just you. Judge was 65 pounds of my protector and just me.

[20:09] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah.

[20:10] MARCELA EVANS: And if he was amenable, somebody else got to come into my life. He liked you better than anybody else, to be clear. He just didn't listen to you at all. That's fine.

[20:27] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: That's fine. Judge was actually the. I mean, judge was the pre pandemic. We actually did spend a whole lot of time with each other.

[20:39] MARCELA EVANS: That's true.

[20:39] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: And so, actually, like, even before the pandemic, we got a lot of time to hang out. And so, you know, we, you know, judge. Judge. We went on adventures. You know, we did the walks he would. He would request and almost need, you know, a couple miles a day in terms of walking. Six.

[21:04] MARCELA EVANS: 6 miles a day.

[21:06] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: 6 miles a day is a lot.

[21:08] MARCELA EVANS: I was like a ten year old dog.

[21:09] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah. Yeah. Done, like, 6 miles of walking, like, twice in my life before. Before I met you.

[21:18] MARCELA EVANS: So I really appreciate that you've joined me in being a walker.

[21:22] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah.

[21:23] MARCELA EVANS: That is. That was a necessity for this to work, I think.

[21:28] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah.

[21:28] MARCELA EVANS: Not just because of judge.

[21:30] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: I see that. I see that now.

[21:33] MARCELA EVANS: Realistic walking wasn't just a dog. The walking was for me as well.

[21:37] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Absolutely. That's.

[21:38] MARCELA EVANS: That's good. Good to know you've realized that.

[21:40] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah, that was real.

[21:41] MARCELA EVANS: Yeah.

[21:41] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah.

[21:43] MARCELA EVANS: So who is with us now, pet wise?

[21:45] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: So now we have three pets. Let's go in chronological order because all the stories are fun. So we first. So the first one we met is this large orange cat that is named purse because.

[22:06] MARCELA EVANS: Because Puris crawled inside of a prius and got stuck, or maybe didn't, but screamed because this is apparently what he does.

[22:17] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah.

[22:17] MARCELA EVANS: And our friend's dad. In the middle of the pandemic. In the middle of bad weather. Had to disassemble the front end of a cardinal to pull out a tiny kitten. And he was tiny at that point, and he was sleek, and he looked like he was just gonna be this itty bitty little orange thing.

[22:39] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Nah.

[22:40] MARCELA EVANS: 15 pounds and a lot of fur later.

[22:43] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah.

[22:43] MARCELA EVANS: He's a giant orange barn cat who screams.

[22:46] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah.

[22:47] MARCELA EVANS: He thinks he's roaring, though.

[22:49] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: No, he does.

[22:50] MARCELA EVANS: He does. It is not. It's not a roar.

[22:52] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah, no, when he catches the birds in the backyard, it's just.

[22:57] MARCELA EVANS: Do you catch birds?

[22:58] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: No, sorry. When I say catch, I mean catches his eye. When they catch his eye.

[23:02] MARCELA EVANS: I was a terrified. Well, he's a barn cat, and his instincts. His barn cat instincts are still really strong. So he catches bugs.

[23:09] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah, he catches bugs. He caught that. The one mouse.

[23:12] MARCELA EVANS: I forgot about. The mouse.

[23:14] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah, that was the mouse.

[23:15] MARCELA EVANS: That was terrifying.

[23:15] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah.

[23:17] MARCELA EVANS: He was the only one equipped for that.

[23:18] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: That is true.

[23:19] MARCELA EVANS: You, me, the other cat.

[23:21] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: No, nobody.

[23:22] MARCELA EVANS: None of us were just him.

[23:24] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: It was 100% up to the task.

[23:26] MARCELA EVANS: Yeah.

[23:27] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: So we have purse. Second cat that we found. We were. We were walking like we were on a walk with judge. With judge. Yeah. And we hear this. We hear this screaming, and we're like, this is it. I mean, it's like 06:00 at night. The sun's going down, and we're ahead walking through our apartment complex, and we hear this screaming, and we're like, you know, what is. What is that?

[23:56] MARCELA EVANS: I think my question was, is that a bird or a cat?

[24:00] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah.

[24:01] MARCELA EVANS: And your answer was, it's a cat. And it's right there.

[24:05] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah.

[24:05] MARCELA EVANS: And then what happened?

[24:06] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: And then just on absolute instinct, I guess, you. You grab the cat to console it.

[24:15] MARCELA EVANS: Yes, I did.

[24:16] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yes. And I was immediately like, what are you doing?

[24:20] MARCELA EVANS: You told me to put her down, but she had stopped screaming.

[24:23] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: She did.

[24:24] MARCELA EVANS: So I didn't want to put her down.

[24:26] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah. And we. And it took us a second to kind of, you know, take stock of the situation. But we. What we. What we knew is that we had seen, you know, we had seen a mama cat a couple days earlier. We had. We had. We had actually seen, you know, animal.

[24:42] MARCELA EVANS: Control come through the night before.

[24:44] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: The night before.

[24:45] MARCELA EVANS: Yeah.

[24:46] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: So we very quickly realized that she had very likely gotten separated from her family.

[24:54] MARCELA EVANS: Yeah. And we stood there for a while waiting for mama cat to come.

[24:57] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yep. And hopefully not attack us.

[24:59] MARCELA EVANS: Yeah. I know. You were really afraid of that.

[25:01] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah. Yep.

[25:03] MARCELA EVANS: I had less fear about that because I was a tiny kitten in my hands.

[25:07] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah. No. And then we realized that it wasn't happening.

[25:12] MARCELA EVANS: No one was coming back.

[25:13] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: No one was coming back. So we, you know, we take her. We take her up to our. Take her up to our place and we get her set up in the bathroom because that's the only place that, you know, that's the only place that we can have her protected and from the other kitten.

[25:33] MARCELA EVANS: From the other kitten and the dog.

[25:35] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: And the dog, who are just curious.

[25:36] MARCELA EVANS: Just curious.

[25:37] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: No, they just want to hang out. No.

[25:39] MARCELA EVANS: Well, you still thought you were taking her back outside, remember?

[25:42] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah. Oh, yeah.

[25:43] MARCELA EVANS: You thought you would. What you said is we would take her up just for. Just for a couple hours, and then we'd take her back out at night. And then the temperature dropped.

[25:54] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah. I was like, oh, this is actually a terrible idea.

[25:58] MARCELA EVANS: And here we are.

[25:59] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah.

[26:00] MARCELA EVANS: Three years later.

[26:01] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Three years later. Yeah.

[26:03] MARCELA EVANS: With another cat. What's her name?

[26:05] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah. So her name is Ra the dungeon Dragon, which I'm really sad that a shockingly low percentage of my folks get the reference. Like, y'all. Y'all. Y'all know me. Like, how did you. How do y'all not know that this is a tribe called quest reference? Like, the one that the handful of folks who have gotten it, I've really appreciated over the last couple years.

[26:30] MARCELA EVANS: I know you really. That's been a disappointment for you because you really thought that this was going to be something people picked up on more.

[26:37] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah.

[26:38] MARCELA EVANS: They just didn't have it associated with a kitten.

[26:41] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah, that's true, I suppose. Yeah.

[26:43] MARCELA EVANS: We still call her the kitten.

[26:44] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah.

[26:45] MARCELA EVANS: She's a little bigger than she used to be.

[26:46] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: It's a little bit, but still very much kitten now. So those are two cats and then the newest, even though it's been almost a year and a half at this point.

[26:59] MARCELA EVANS: No, not quite. No, I think it's right. We're right at a year, aren't we? We're right at a year.

[27:05] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: I got it.

[27:06] MARCELA EVANS: Just. I can tell this one.

[27:09] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah, go ahead.

[27:09] MARCELA EVANS: Apparently, I went up to Oklahoma to visit friends, which was a whole lot easier when we were in Dallas, and I met a puppy at the dog park, and he wasn't supposed to be at the dog park, but he was, and now he's ours.

[27:32] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah.

[27:33] MARCELA EVANS: I asked you first. I did.

[27:34] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: And I get a text message like, oh, can we. Can we keep him? I was like, what?

[27:42] MARCELA EVANS: That is accurate. And I did not get him that day, and I did not get him that weekend. Once I got home, we talked about it, we submitted the application, and it was approved instantly. And so then we drove all the way up to Oklahoma again to get a dog.

[28:03] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah.

[28:04] MARCELA EVANS: And drove him home.

[28:05] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah.

[28:07] MARCELA EVANS: And I remember that picture of that first day. His face was like, what is going on? I don't understand this.

[28:14] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: I don't even. I don't even think I want to be here.

[28:16] MARCELA EVANS: I know. No, he didn't. He wasn't certain. But now Henry. Now Henry will not leave our sides.

[28:24] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah.

[28:24] MARCELA EVANS: And he's a very good dog.

[28:26] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: He is.

[28:26] MARCELA EVANS: Although he was a terrible. I thought he was a terrible dog. He was just a giant cat because he had only had cats. And dog daycare has really helped.

[28:34] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah, absolutely. He's learned how to dog, which I really appreciate because he's almost 60 pounds himself. And it's kind of inconvenient to have a 60 pound dog laying in your lap.

[28:48] MARCELA EVANS: Like a cat.

[28:48] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Like a cat.

[28:50] MARCELA EVANS: I think I'm gonna use Henry to transition us to things that we've had the opportunity to do in El Paso that we weren't doing in Dallas. So Henry has had the opportunity to go to daycare a whole lot in El Paso because it is much more accessible for him to do that here. It's been really great because he's learned how to dog. So I'm curious what opportunities you feel like El Paso has offered you that you weren't necessarily able to access in Dallas?

[29:30] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: I mean, we have to talk about the big one. Right. Which is the ability to buy a house.

[29:35] MARCELA EVANS: Yes, definitely that. Yeah.

[29:38] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: So we had actually. We had actually tried to buy a house in Dallas during the pandemic and how Dallas housing prices just these days, like, inside. Inside the city and around the city. Right. Like, they had just gotten to the point where they were completely inaccessible to most folks. Right. Like us, it's two professionals with fairly, you know, fairly deep in our careers. It was very hard to get a house. So we actually were in the process of closing on the house, and it fell through. And we realized in hindsight, that it wasn't going to be the right fit anyway. But once we found out that we were moving to El Paso, we looked at the housing market here, and we were like, so the rental market isn't actually a whole lot better than in Dallas, but the housing market is absolutely great. And so, you know, we very quickly rallied to work on the house. Right.

[30:51] MARCELA EVANS: Yeah, that was. I mean, that was really one of the biggest things, I think, for me as well, that we were able to find not just. Not just any house, but a really lovely place for us that is probably beyond one of my wildest imaginations. And that's been. I feel like I've had opportunities like that in El Paso other than the house, but the house is. Was kind of the tone setter for that. Just moving into this smaller community, there's just less competition for certain things, but so many opportunities.

[31:34] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah. Yeah. I think that's absolutely true.

[31:39] MARCELA EVANS: Honestly, this being one of them, being here with Storycorps.

[31:42] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah.

[31:42] MARCELA EVANS: When this was presented to us, I was thinking that this was the coolest. It's a dream, and I know I've looked when it's come through Dallas before and we haven't been able to get a slaughter. I haven't been able to, but here we are.

[31:57] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah.

[31:58] MARCELA EVANS: So that's been really fun.

[31:59] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Absolutely. Yeah. I think it's a. It's a. It's a lot of those little things. It's being able to, you know, it's having access to mountains. It's having. Right. It's having access to, you know, having actual walkability, which is really nice. Being able to. Being able to walk to, you know, we've been able to walk to a UTEP game because we're near a university and just being able to do a lot of those little things that really don't present themselves in Dallas for a number of reasons. For access, for largeness, for, you know, for expense.

[32:41] MARCELA EVANS: Right.

[32:43] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah.

[32:44] MARCELA EVANS: Yeah. All that, all that is very true.

[32:46] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah. Now, and I feel like the one thing that, like, the truly the one thing that I haven't had access to, and again, it's just because we haven't been here that long, it's like that access to community. But I know that exists here. I know that, you know, like me as a black man from inner city Dallas, like, being able to see. Being able to see the history of black people in El Paso and being able to, like, being able to fill it in a lot of places. Right. Like, you can go to the McCall center near downtown El Paso and, like, see the history that exists there and, you know, being able to see how people have shifted through a lot of people through the military, right. But have shifted through El Paso and called it home. So, like, that is the thing. Like, that is a big thing that I haven't yet done that I'm looking forward to doing.

[33:48] MARCELA EVANS: I'm looking forward to doing that with you as well. And I will be interested to see how that develops for you. I think that we have spent time getting ourselves settled and our foundations laid in this new place and we're ready to move forward and we're ready to really deepen our roots and explore for no matter how long we're here.

[34:14] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely.

[34:19] MARCELA EVANS: Go ahead.

[34:20] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: No, I was gonna ask the questions.

[34:21] MARCELA EVANS: No, ask the questions.

[34:22] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah. I think maybe the final question is, what else are you looking forward to in the near future?

[34:31] MARCELA EVANS: Oh, that's funny how we know our future. I was gonna ask you what you saw our future holding.

[34:36] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah.

[34:37] MARCELA EVANS: So, similar questions. I think I'm looking forward to continuing our adventure. This was a huge step and a huge adventure and risk taking, which is more my style and less yours. And I'm looking forward to continuing on to and making more brave choices like we have now, no matter where it takes us. What about you?

[35:01] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah, very much the same. I'm looking forward to continuing our adventure. I'm looking forward to really. You know, you've talked about how life is slower here, like, really being able to slow down and be present, um, for. For a lot of good things that are about to happen. Um, there are a lot of good things that will happen. Right. And the course of us living here, um, looking forward to. I mean, I'm just looking forward to the. The everyday things. Right. Like, we. We want to. We want to go on more walks. We want to go biking. Right. Like, we want to go hiking. Like, these are, like, these are. Again, these. These things that we know are important to us, but it's. You know, it's us, and it's this place, and we have this chance to really like. To really be comfortable in our new community and be comfortable with each other. So I'm looking forward to that. And I'm also looking forward to. I feel like we're both in a place where good things are going to happen, but good things will happen both personally and professionally.

[36:16] MARCELA EVANS: Oh, I definitely agree.

[36:17] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah. And so I'm just looking forward to see what that yields for us.

[36:22] MARCELA EVANS: I agree. I definitely agree. It'll be really wonderful. I think we've. It's been almost five years, many of them very challenging, and we've not just weathered them, but really worked together to come through for each other and for our communities, for our families. Not just making it through, but making it through. Well, yeah. And creating the now with an eye towards creating the future.

[37:01] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah.

[37:02] MARCELA EVANS: I love doing that with you.

[37:03] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah, same.

[37:07] MARCELA EVANS: Thank you so much for talking with me today.

[37:09] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Yeah. Thank you, Marcela This has been. This has been a lot of fun.

[37:14] MARCELA EVANS: It really has. Marcus, I appreciate you.

[37:16] MARCUS CUNNINGHAM: Absolutely.