Different Place, Same Cultural Identity
The Texas Story Project.
“Am I making the right decision for my family?” Thoughts like these were on the mind of Martha Rios Torres when it was time to leave her home to live in a foreign land. Martha’s husband, Juan Torres, was a U.S citizen and this made the immigration process much easier. She was not making this journey to the state of Texas alone; she was accompanied by her daughter, Adriana. Martha was one of the first members of her family to decide to take the risk of emigrating to the United States in order to seek a better life. She didn’t know what to expect from the experience of living in a city called San Antonio, Texas.
Martha Rios Torres was born in Monterrey, Mexico on the 30th of June in the year of 1936. She was the 8th child out of twelve children. Her dad, Jose Rios, worked at a foundry to support his family. Her mother, Inez Rios, was a housewife like most women at that time. My grandma grew up in a humble home near downtown Monterrey. She did not finish school and she helped a lot at home. She did this for many years until she met her future husband, Juan Torres. They got married on June 3, 1962 and had only one child, Adriana Torres.
There were multiple reasons why Martha thought it was finally time to move to San Antonio, TX. Her husband was working in the U.S and he was sending money every month to Mexico to support her. The family wasn’t always together, so Martha wanted to change that.
When her daughter was five, Martha decided that she would be leaving soon. She stressed the idea that the future generation should be better or equal to the last. The main factor of her decision, was her daughter, Adriana, whom she wanted to succeed in life.
Martha was prepared to adapt to her new environment, but she soon realized that life in San Antonio, Texas was not too much different from living in Monterey, Mexico. She enrolled in an English class for women like her who just knew how to speak Spanish. After a few classes, Martha decided to quit going to class since she was able to effectively communicate with most people in her community. She was able to pick up the basic English words that most people use when talking to strangers during her short stint in school. Martha saw that her community on the southside of San Antonio was a tight-knit group that was willing to help each other out. She made lifelong friends in her neighborhood and these connections were maintained even after she left her neighborhood. Martha was happy to be in a wonderful community that shared her values.
One of Martha’s proudest moments while in Texas, was when she decided to sell her house in order to fund the building of her daughter’s new home. She had lived in the same house for about twenty years. Her daughter had married a man whom she met in college. Both of them bought a house, but they didn’t feel that it was going to be the house in which they would raise a family. Martha wanted to give her daughter something that her parents never gave her, a head start in life. When the house was finished being built, her daughter asked her to move in.
Martha took advantage of the opportunities that were presented to her in the United States and she gave her daughter a chance at a better life. Immigrants serve an important role in our society. She serves as an example of what a true hardworking immigrant looks like.
Steven Ray Blancas is a freshman at St. Mary’s University. His major is in Accounting and Data Analytics. He plans on pursuing a CPA license when he graduates. He believes that everyone in the world today needs to be able to effectively communicate with others. He hopes to improve his writing skills by doing this project.
Posted September 17, 2019
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