“I am now older and stronger but if I were to meet younger me, I would just give that girl a big hug and tell her that everything will be ok,” Margarita Daisy Martínez said.

By DEBBIE MARTÍNEZ
EL NUEVO SOL

My mother, Daisy Margarita Martinez, 47, was born in Santa Ana, El Salvador in 1974. She lived in very poor conditions with her mother and her two younger siblings in El Salvador, so at the age of 13 she left her country to follow the American dream so she can help her family get out of poverty. At the age of 13 she crossed the border to the United States with many strangers and no family by her side.

Daisy Margarita Martínez in her first apartment. Photo courtesy of Martínez.

It took Martínez a month to get to California but it wasn’t an easy journey to get there. She would sometimes go days without eating and when she was getting closer to Mexico to cross to California two men tried to rape her.

“There’re stories that only me and god know, I don’t think no one will ever really know what I truly went through to get here because I want this behind me and it is. I am now older and stronger but if I were to meet younger me, I would just give that girl a big hug and tell her that everything will be ok,” Martinez said.

Once she got to California she thought her awful journey was over but things for her got even harder.

Martinez thought her family would now look out for her, but she was wrong. Once she got to meet her family, her family didn’t want Martinez to attend school nor get an education; instead they used her as a babysitter for almost four years. Martinez then ran away at the age of 17 to live the life she came for.

“I thought right when I came to California that my family would enroll me for school but instead they said no because I didn’t speak any english so they wouldn’t accept me anyways and I was little I didn’t know any better,” Martínez said. “So yes I started taking care of my aunt’s kids at the age of 13 while they were two and four. They also brainwashed my mom that was in El Salvador, they told her the same thing they told me and again my mom didn’t know any better as well. Things started to get bad, they started to accuse me of things such as me stealing their jewelry and if I was in love with their husbands when they were the ones who always made me feel uncomfortable. I had to escape, it was a very toxic household and it hurt me so much at the time because they were supposedly my family.”

Martínez then found a random woman who was willing to help her get on her feet and start her own life. At first she was very hesitant towards her but felt that her intentions were pure. This was the first person in years that made her feel finally safe and comfortable.

“Remember I came here at the age of 13 and went through a lot those years, crossing the border and living with my family and after five years of living here in California I finally felt safe with someone, I felt at home again, she was like a mom to me,” Martinez said.

Martínez at her home. Photo by Debbie Martínez | El Nuevo Sol.

The woman that Martinez met was named Daisy as well, Daisy provided food and shelter for her but made sure there were rules as well such as to clean after herself, do her own laundry and to make sure she was working.

“If it wasn’t for Daisy, I honestly don’t know how my life would be right now,” Martinez said. “Daisy really helped me be independent in this world without my parents and family. She said she saw me as her daughter and I thank god everyday for bringing that girl in my life especially when I needed someone like her in my life the most, god really brought me an angel when I was struggling the most in my entire life.”

Martínez then got her first job at a 99-cent store but since she didn’t have any legal documents they didn’t pay her as much and were paying her “under the table.” She didn’t mind it at the time, she just took extra hours and tried to work graveyard shifts as well.

Three years later, Martínez found a very good paying job where she then got hired and started to provide for herself. She rented out her first apartment at the age of 22 and that’s where things started to get better in her life.

Martínez started to save up money so she can bring her mother and two siblings to California from El Salvador. She slowly first paid for her sister to cross the border then her mother and brother to come to California.

Martínez at her home. Photo by Debbie Martínez | El Nuevo Sol.

“When I left El Salvador my mother wanted me to go first and live with my family but she told me once I make good money I can bring them as well and I did that exactly, I made sure to save up as much as I can to bring them to the United States.” Martínez said.

Martínez and her family in El Salvador used to live in a house made out of adobe bricks and to them eating meat was only for the luxury people. Now she is a homeowner, owns two luxury cars and has multiple sources of income.

“My life has definitely been a long hard journey but I thank god everyday for believing in me and gifting me with my beautiful family that I have now, everything I do is for my two daughters,” she said. They never had to struggle the way I did nor did my mother and siblings and I’m glad I was here to give them a good life and once I am gone I know they will be ok in this life because of me and I am grateful because of that.”