My mother’s name is Maria Josie Gonzalez Guajardo Uvalle. She was born on April 21, 1946, in Poteet, Texas, the strawberry capital of the world. My mom was raised in McAllen, Texas and attended Sacred Heart Catholic school for eight years. She graduated from McAllen High School in 1965. My Mom was fascinated by all the stories they read in class. She soon realized that ELA was the ins and out of the English language and knew in her heart that she wanted nothing else but to become a teacher. She would play school with her little brother, Adolfo, every day. After she graduated from McHi, she attended and graduated in 1970 from my alma mater, Pan American College, with a double major in English and Spanish.

As a married woman in college, my mother was raising my two oldest brothers, Samuel and Santos, and upon graduation was 6 months pregnant with my other brother, Salvador. My mother was dedicated to her family and believed that ambition and hard work are a powerful driving force. Her first teaching job was in Zapata, Texas where she taught English for 5 years.

By the time we moved to Houston for my dad to complete his chiropractic degree, my family was complete with 4 older brothers and 2 younger sisters. My mom taught at Port Houston elementary for another 5 years, she often said "the daily 1 and ½ hour commute was not easy, but had to be done." After obtaining his Doctor of Chiropractic license, we moved to McAllen where my dad started his practice. My mother taught at Deleon Middle School for 4 years and then at Travis Middle School for the rest of her teaching career. She taught for 30 years and loved it.

It was during her Travis years that my mother became gravely ill and retired. After fighting 9 years of End-Stage Renal Disease, she was called home on November 21st, 2024. She is survived by 6 children, over 25 grandchildren, and 10 great grandchildren. She buried 2 husbands and 1 son.