A Woman's Challenge/BGarcia

A Mexican woman whose life as a child was as any other kid. She is the fourth of nine siblings and she always had the love of her parents. Mother of two boys and one girl, talks about an experience that she had when she got married with a Mexican man who was murdered 10 years after their marriage. Leaving her with three children to maintain on her own.

What does woman mean?

Well, for me woman means responsibility of many things, of taking care of their family. I think is hard work. I think is weak and strong at the same time. Something that I can’t explain with words.

What story can you tell that challenged you as a woman?

I was 19 years old when I decided to get marry with Leonel my first husband. The first two years of marriage were full of happiness. I give birth to two beautiful boys. I still remember those years like if they were yesterday. After a while things were changing slowly my husband’s attitude wasn’t the same. He started to treat me with bad behavior and he actually started to beat me and I didn’t understand why he changed. I remember a terrible day when he went to a party and he didn‘t wanted me to go with him because I guess he wanted to be around with other girls, so he left to the party. Then one of his sisters wanted to go to the party and convinced me to go with her. At the time that Leonel saw me he got very angry and took me back to his car. He was driving very fast and took a different road, I knew he wasn’t going to take me home. He might was thinking on kill me or to beat me, I don’t know, but I was very scared. I decided to opened the car door and jumped to the field and I run through the fields until I got home. That night I took my kids and I went to my parents house, but the next day I come back with him.

Why did you go back with him?

I couldn’t leave him because he threaten me with killing my family and I was scared in that moment. I didn’t knew what to do, so I come back with him. There were eight years of mistreat that I had to pass through with him.

At 10 years of marriage with him, when I gave birth to my daughter I decided to leave him because I was tired of his bad behavior. I took my three children and I went to live with my parents, but I had the hope that one day he would change and I would be with him. Even all the suffrage I passed through I loved him and I didn’t want my children to grow without a father.

What makes you change your mind when you decided to leave him?

I got tired of his bad behavior and the birth of my daughter makes me feel strong, so without thinking on his threats I took my three children and leave him.

Three days later in a cold morning I received the bad news that my husband was murdered at a fair.

How did you feel about that news?

In that moment I didn’t know what to do. I was crying and feeling guilty. Sometimes I felt that it was my fault, but my mother said that things for some reason happened and that we have to accept them.

I live years of my life remembering the death of my first husband. It wasn’t easy for me, but I raise my children by my own. Now my children are adolescents and they are studying. I got marry with my second husband and we still live together as a happy family.

My aunt is very close to me and I admire her because even all the suffrage she passed through. She had the strength to raise her children by her own and as a mother she always tried to give the bets to her children.