Emma Torres and her husband Rogelio both grew up in migrant farmworker families. Emma’s family worked picking strawberries and cutting lettuce, while Rogelio’s family focused on citrus fruits, such as oranges and limes.
They met in the 1980s near Yuma, Arizona, after a mutual friend introduced them. But love was the last thing on their minds. Emma reached out to Rogelio because she was moving and needed a pickup truck, and he had access to one.
More than 40 years after that event, they came to StoryCorps to talk about their unlikely love for each other, and how they found their purpose in life helping fellow farmworkers at the U.S.-Mexico border.
This broadcast is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Originally aired September 20, 2024 on NPR’s Morning Edition.