The first image shows a collage of old family photos put together by my children for my wife and I for our 53rd wedding anniversary. The second image shows my wife, Argentina, at age 18. My wife and I were both born and raised in Honduras. I was born to an American father and Guatemalan mother who moved to the coast of Honduras shortly before having their first of ten children. Argentina Muñoz comes from a long family lineage native to the mountainous region of Copal, Honduras. In 1956, after enlisting in the United States Navy, I immigrated to New Orleans, Louisiana, with some family members. Argentina immigrated to New Orleans in 1960 through a foreign exchange student program with Loyola University. In 1960, I left the Navy and met Argentina in New Orleans through an introduction from my sister. Argentina and I were married three years later. After our wedding, we lived near St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans for a short time. We relocated to Avondale, Louisiana some years later and lived there for 40 years because of my job at the local shipyard. Upon my retirement from the shipyard, we settled in Hahnville, Louisiana. We try to take frequent trips to Honduras and Guatemala with our children and grandchildren in order to visit family members that remain in those countries. 

– José and Argentina Cochran

Relationship:  Im/migrant Im/migrant