Manuel is easy to talk to. He’s humble, interested in learning, and has one of the kindest faces you’ll ever see.  His smile is quick and genuine, and it always reaches his eyes.  Within five minutes of getting to know him you’ll understand how proud he is of his family. And he has good reason to be.  Both he and his wife grew up in the same small village in Jalisco, Mexico. Before they married, Manuel ventured to the Santa Ynez Valley with two humble goals: 1) to buy a pair of blue jeans, and 2) to buy his father a truck.  Two decades later, Manuel has accomplished every goal he’s dared to dream for his family.  

In the next couple of years, he will have raised two college graduates.  Empty nesters, Manual and his wife Martha live in the caretakers’ house on 250 acres of beautiful Los Alamos land.  He lovingly tends to the landscaping and the horses and is at present pondering what the next 20 years of his life looks like.

In our conversation, we discuss leaving his ancestral village to venture to the SYV, the challenges he faced when he arrived, his path to citizenship, and how he’s raised two happy and successful (almost) college graduates.

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