005: Maggie

Stan (004) may not have been my real uncle, but Maggie is my real aunt. Well, I guess that’s not really true either. Maggie is my wife’s aunt, but a different aunt than the one that is married to Stan. Going along with the updated direction for this project, she was asked to bring something that she loved, and she brought her dog Nino. They are quite attached to each other, and have been ever since Maggie and her husband Marty got Nino a few years ago, when Nino was already an adult dog.

Maggie was born in Mexico and moved to the United States as a young adult, spending most of that time in North County. She and Marty had a short stint of living in Midland, TX, but found that they were missing their lives in CA. Once back in CA, they lived in San Marcos for many years until Marty’s mother passed away. Marty’s mom owned her home in Vista for decades, and spent much time painting. My wife remembers visiting that house many times in her youth and being so impressed with the artwork that she saw there, and she was coached and encouraged to make her own art as well.

Unfortunately, one of Marty’s family members had taken advantage of his mom in her later years, and left the house in shambles. Once they inherited the lot, they razed the house and built a new home from the ground up. What started as a sad and unfortunate story has ended well, with a wonderful new home, and a place for Maggie to develop a green thumb. Now the property is full of mature trees and plants, a testament to Maggie’s passion and skill.