Argentina Lorenzo Guzmán

My name is Martina Feliz, a God fearing woman of Dominican descent who stands firm on the foundation of faith, courage, love, and strength; these values hold near and dear to my heart, and always have for as long as I can remember. I guess one could say my momma raised me right, and I couldn’t agree more! Life hasn’t always been easy for me, which may come to you as no surprise, as we all find ourselves navigating through this world faced with our own unique myriad of setbacks and seasons of hardships! Growing up in the Dominican Republic was no easy feat, I had to often take care of my family, and look after my brother’s throughout oppression and hostility!

A similar theme continued as I found myself living in New York where I would spend most of my life as a young Adult before moving to Arizona where I now currently reside with my husband and 4 kids! I learned very quickly that there is no such thing as hand-me-outs or freebies in life growing up in the Dominican Republic and that perseverance was a means to an end. There’s a Dominican saying that says “Al mal tiempo, buena cara” which in translation means “in bad times show your best face”. This has always been the mentality; no matter the adversity I always needed to remain strong while keeping a smile on my face. No one embodied this more than my mother Argentina, the most selfless, persevering, and loving woman I’ve ever known to Grace this earth!

I now find myself trying to exemplify the very essence of who she was by staying strong with a smile on my face in the midst of a storm as I mourn for her life! The pain and sorrow is immense, yet I continue to smile because I know that’s how she went about life, no matter the difficulty, and because I know she is smiling down watching over me, even as I struggle to write out these words, I know she’s proud of how far I’ve come and the woman I am today!

A little bit about My mother Argentina, full optimism and ambition, she desperately wanted to come to the United States about 10 years ago in 2013. She was looking to fulfill a dream and a void that was within her heart, the dream of being reunited with her kids, and a hope of seeking better treatment for some underlying health issues she had been dealing with for some time!

Through much help we were able to attain the necessary funds to fly her out here to the states to live with me and to seek the care she deserved, which was a tremendous victory. We knew that by her receiving proper healthcare in the states she could “Curarse en salud” which is another Dominican saying that means to cure yourself in health, a phrase that suggests a proactive approach. Little did my family know that in just one years time, a local visit to the doctors office for her underlying health issues would flip our world upside down. C-A-N-C-E-R! The dreaded word no one ever wants to hear, how could this be I thought, I don’t believe it?! We were faced with the reality that she had been diagnosed with multiple myeloma. A malignant cancer of plasma cells, that damages the bones, immune system, kidneys, and red blood cell count.

It wasn’t long before this monstrosity of a disease really started to take a toll on her life, but as you could probably guess by now, she remained strong and firm, believing that God would heal her during this trial in her life. She kept fighting the cancer while still doing the things she loved to do, and by that I mean smiling, spreading joy to anyone in her presence, and spending time with me, her daughter, along with her grandchildren. A heart full of gold and a spirit filled with love, she was eager to give to those who needed, putting others needs above her own! As the years passed the cancer kept growing and spreading, wreaking havoc over her entire body, taking a monumental toll on her ability walk and do the day to day activities in which she enjoyed.

My family and I sacrificed all at the expense to help her overcome the battle, but ultimately the cancer took control of her body and her health started to diminish rather rapidly. She felt hopeless, fear, pain, but amidst that fear she still had faith that God was with her and that he would be able to heal her if it was his will. But unfortunately, even after countless chemotherapy treatments, the cancer was too strong! She completely lost her ability to speak, walk, eat or drink water. On October 9, 2023 at approximately 7:45 the world stood still for what felt like an eternity! The silence was deafening following her last breath. With tears streaming down my face, I was met with the sudden realization that I had just lost my best friend, my mentor, my mother! Argentina will forever be loved, and I will cherish everything I learned from her and hold onto the hope she embodied, knowing that God took her away from her suffering, from her fear, her worry and is now at peace! I have absolute confidence in my faith that someday I will be reunited with her again with the Lord in heavenly places, free from sickness, death and not a single worry, I do know however, that this request is not something to hurry! With that being said, I’m aware that seeing you again may be a little while, but in the meantime I will never forget, your beautiful smile! May you rest in peace Argentina!

Dear reader, as you are aware by now, my mother Argentina is not from the United States, and in an effort to help aid in supporting her dying wish (which she shared with one of my brothers) she would like to be buried in her country, next to her mother on Dominican soil. Unfortunately at this time we are not financially able to cover all the expenses associated with the process of taking her body to the Dominican Republic and covering the airfare expenses for my family to fly there to hold a ceremony for my mother Argentina! If anyone who took the time to read this, would be so willing and is able, having the ability to help us to fulfill my mothers last wish, it would be appreciated beyond measure, helping bring closure to what has been an incredibly emotional chapter!

The target dollar amount that would needed in order for this to be feasible and for a dream to come true is $8,000! If we can raise that much, then we will have enough funds to cover the expenses associated to shipping her body to the DR, and for all other airfare, and funeral costs! I just want to say thank you again for taking the time to hear what I had to say, that alone means so much to me and my family, because Lord knows that getting this off my chest and writing this out was an emotional battle within itself, especially since asking for help is not something that comes easy for me. So I just want to give a special thanks and a shout out to the Cordero and Edwards family for pushing me to step outside my comfort zone to give this Go-fund me platform a try! Thank you in advance for all contributions received towards helping my mothers last wish come true, in doing so will bring my family so much peace and joy! May God bless you all!

Much love from,

The Feliz family