Janet Martinez
My dear family and dear friends of my Aunt Stella, when I read the words on these pages to Aunt Stella’s big sister, my mother, Corinne, she nodded her head in agreement with everything that was written. She laughed when I read the part about her sister loving to dance and she licked her lips and smiled when I read her about Aunt Stella’s tamales. “They sure were good!” To prove the point about loving to dance, I’m sharing a photo memory of Aunt Stella teaching Cindy, me, our late cousin, Reggie, and Claudia how to line dance to a country music tune. We were celebrating my parent’s 50th wedding anniversary in Tullahoma, Tennessee. You can count on a Texan like Aunt Stella to teach us Tennesseans country line dancing! Another photo memory I’m sharing is my own family’s pose with Aunt Stella. Surrounding her beaming face are my husband, Gene Huskey, our daughters, Sarah and Charlotte, and me. In my mind’s memories, I find it very difficult to bring one up where Aunt Stella is not smiling. Her sixteen year old self was certainly smiling in the 1943 photo I’ve posted here. She is with my mother and their own mother, Beatriz Perales, at their apartment in Dallas. And finally, in the last photo I’ve posted, Aunt Stella, about age 1, is timidly holding her father, Juan’s, hand while her mother and my mother look on. May you rest in peace, Aunt Stella. With my love, your niece, Janet
