As her name suggests, Rosalina "Rosa" Guerrero is like a beautiful flower:  her personality blooms, and grows on all who meet her.  Her spirit permeates the air like the sweet fragrance of a rose.  Yet, she is not a fragile creature, but a sturdy fighter and optimist who has blossomed despite the thorns of pessimism that often grow in our society.  She is a hard worker who is unafraid to take a chance and stand up for herself, a dedicated supporter of her family, and a benevolent patron for needy people.  But most important, Rosa is a “mom” to all who know and love her.

Born in Guadalajara, Mexico, Rosa was an active, busy child who enjoyed many activities and sports, especially swimming where she excelled, as she was sprouting into a beautiful young woman.  Yet, she was quite humble, not aware of the profound effect that she had on all who perceived her elegance.  In fact, it was quite a surprise to her when the athletic club that she belonged to wanted her to try out for the Miss Mexico pageant.  It was her sister, a recording star, who was already entered in the event and apparently representing the area, but Rosa’s athletic club decided it wanted its own separate representative; thus, they prevailed upon Rosalina to enter. Her sister was a singing star and her recordings were well known.  Therefore, Rosa thought that her sister had all the right stuff. 

"If anybody had a chance of being Miss Mexico, it had to be her,” Rosa recalled, “but all of the guys at the Guadalajara Athletic Club wanted me to go in there."

Although she wondered what she was doing trying to compete, she did not back down from the challenge and took the stage undaunted, right up to the finals.  However, she still had some doubts, as Rosa explained, "When the first runner-up came, then the second runner-up came, and then the third runner-up came, there was just me and this other girl...I just looked at everybody and said to myself, 'Is it going to be me?'"

At that moment, it seemed as though the audience nodded in response as if to say, “Just you wait and see.”  Even after the judges had made their decision, Rosa was still not sure of the result.  “When I was the winner, I couldn't believe it,” Rosa declared, still somewhat surprised after all these years. 

Despite the tremendous potential that Rosa’s sister might have had, she did not make it to the finals.  "My sister was eliminated in the first round, and I ended up being Miss Mexico.  I don't know how," she said as she blushed and laughed.

After the pageant, Rosa went back to school to study English and later became a successful business administrator.

Rosa eventually succeeded in mastering the language; however, when she was young, there was no one at her school who would take time out to help her with her English, so she showed her fighting spirit by going to the administration and demanding to be transferred.  In junior high, she went to a school to study Spanish as an indirect method of learning to speak English.  Many were confused as to why someone who was fluent in Spanish would take Spanish.  Rosalina explained this remarkable concept in learning theory:  "When you take Spanish, all the other students are American students...so while they are explaining to them how to say things in Spanish, I'm learning how to speak English through them." 

According to Rosa, there is a method now that is used to teach English in that manner.  "If I had patented that, I'd be a millionaire right now....  I was the one that thought of that and I was only…fourteen or fifteen years old,” she exclaimed, shaking her head and smiling.  Everyone in her school was, no doubt, amazed by her insight as well as her beauty.  

It wasn’t only her peers and teachers that took notice of Rosa; there was also a ruggedly handsome young man who was quite impressed.  Carlos had first seen Rosa when she was a young girl, and he probably did not pay attention to her at that time.  But some five years later, when he met her again, he definitely noticed that the little budding flower of a girl he had first seen had begun to bloom considerably, and he began making inquiries about the raven-haired beauty.  By that time, he was quite smitten and began a friendship with Rosa.  However, despite being friends with her for nearly 10 years, Carlos could not get up the nerve to ask her to be his girl.

Although he had almost asked her on a few occasions, he never got around to popping the question.  One time, when he was supposed to conjure up the nerve, he was asked by a friend if he had made his move.  Carlos could only answer, "almost."  Thus, he earned the nickname "Yamero," which in Spanish means "almost."

Whether he was struck by her beauty or he was just shy then is difficult to determine, even though now, he readily admits that being “forward” was not one of his stronger attributes when it came to approaching women, especially beautiful ones like Rosa.  However, when it came to warding off potential suitors for the ravishing Rosalina, Carlos was anything but shy; in fact, he was not only emphatic but also quite demonstrative.

Even though Carlos’ affection began to grow, he still found it difficult to express his feelings.  However, his protective nature had no inhibitions.  "And then I start to like her,” Carlos explained with a slight twinkle in his eyes, “and then, you know, for years I never told her...or asked her, ‘You want to be my girlfriend.’  But you know something?  Nobody gets near her.  If somebody gets near her, I come looking for him.”  Carlos made it clear to any would-be suitors that to get to Rosalina, they would have to get through him first.  They were told in no uncertain terms, "That's mine."  Any transgressors soon found that Carlos was willing to fight to protect his romantic territorial imperative.  "And then," Carlos reminisced with a laugh, "nobody got near her."  Because Carlos lived only a few blocks away from Rosalina's family, he could maintain surveillance by nocturnal reconnaissance missions:  "I came driving by to see if somebody was around.  But nobody was near her.  No way, " he gleefully recalled.  

Of course, Rosa knew nothing of her jealous protector and wondered why the “rose” had somehow turned into a wallflower at community dances, where very few of the young men would venture to dance with her.  That is, when Carlos was there.  But when Carlos was away, the bees would play and swarm around the rare flower.  On one occasion, one daring and brash young man ventured to ask if she was going steady with Carlos.

"I said, ‘What Carlos?’”  Rosa recalled while Carlos gave a hardy laugh in the background.  After finding out who the Carlos in question was, she responded to her would-be suitor,  "I don't think so."  However, before the ambush on Rosa could continue, just like the cavalry, Carlos arrived in the nick of time to save the day.  With lightning speed, he moved in and confronted his competitor for Rosa’s affection, and told this pretender that Rosa’s romantic interests were none of his business.  Yet, when it got down to the real business of making his move on Rosa, Carlos was still dragging his feet.

Well, if Carlos was not going to act, then it would have to be up to the fates.  And so, it took a fortunate accidental happening to, not almost, but definitely force the betrothal to become a done deal.

It seems that Carlos had a friend who wanted him to try to sell some rings.  Now, it just so happened that when Carlos had met up with Rosalina one day and they went to their special tree, where they would sit and talk, Kismet worked its mysterious magic.  When they were sharing a quiet moment, the box of rings happened to fall out.  Carlos explained the confusion that ensued:  

"Well, then she sees the rings; and then she thinks the rings were for her.  And then I don't know what to do," Carlos recalled, laughing loudly.  "Then she was mad with me.  And she thinks I don't want to marry with her.  We have a big fight, and she was crying.  So I said, 'Do you want to be my girlfriend.'"

If they ever make a movie called My Big Hot Mexican Wedding, Carlos would be typecast as the father in the role and would be a shoe-in for an Oscar nomination.

During the recounting of the impromptu romance by Carlos, Rosalina chimed in to point out that the rings were fake, but Carlos was not sure so sure of that.  Whether the rings were genuine or not is still a moot point in the Guerrero household.  But one thing that would be clear to even the most casual of observers is that—even if the rings were not genuine—the affection between the couple--a bond that still exists—was as real as it gets.

Because her family upheld many of the traditional ways, the amorous couple was never left alone, as Rosa explained: "As a matter of fact, it was three days before I got married, I was still chaperoned.  I could never go to the movies by myself.  You know, we were a very strict family."  While Rosalina acknowledges that things are different nowadays, she takes pride in the fact that she has taught her children right from wrong in those areas that really matter.

Rosalina is a mother in the true and universal sense of the word.  No one in need of her help has ever been turned away, and she has earned the name, “Mama Rosa.”

The inscription on the Statue of Liberty begins with these words, "Give me your tired, your poor….” Now just add this: "Give me your hungry," and you could engrave that on the doorway of the Guerreros' house, for it has indeed become known far and wide as a haven and a second home.  Even a member of the Raiders’ team showed up at the Guerrero doorstep one Christmas without a family to share the holiday with.  He soon found one.

Another time, the family hosted some twenty-odd members of the Ice Capades, when son Joachin was a member of the prestigious professional troupe.  Now, the team had strict rules about maintaining a certain weight, and the skaters would be checked when returning from a holiday.  Rosa explained the problem that she caused:  "Everybody got fined because they gained weight....  For every pound they gained, they got fined.  'What have you guys been doing,’ he [team manager] asked.”  Rosa recalled their simple confession:  “Well, we've been eating at Mama Rosa's house.”

Despite the extenuating circumstances, the team manager still imposed a fine on the skaters.  It would come as no surprise if the manager had taken a scouting trip to the Guerrero' s home just to see for himself.  And although it cannot be verified, rumor has it that Mama Rosa's house was declared off-limits.

The scent of good food emanating from the kitchen often permeates the neighborhood, causing quite a few friends to stop by and inquire as to the source of the mouth-watering aroma:   “’What are you cooking?  The whole neighborhood smells.  Let me have some.’  They actually knock on my door!" exclaimed Rosa.

"You know, I get a big pleasure out of helping people out," she said with genuine feeling.  "I do for others so that some time my children will pick up some good deeds that I did.  One of these days, I might not be around, and they might need help from someone.  In addition, they might remember: 'Oh, you know, that lady was nice to me.’  And maybe they will return the deed,” she concluded.

Not only at home does Rosa help others, but she, Carlos, and the family aid others on an international level as well.  Through the Catholic Charities, Rosa and her family strive to help those people who have been stricken in disaster areas throughout the world.  They either get items such as wheelchairs, or they solicit the funds to purchase them and send them to hospitals or persons in need.  What distinguishes their program from many others is that the items are delivered in person, taken directly to the families to be sure that the commodities are received, not stored in a warehouse somewhere waiting for distribution that might not occur, and thus the needy do not get what they need.

"We do the collections ourselves; and we get the funds and we send them to the right people.  And those people, in turn, will go themselves and deliver in person all these goods to make sure that those people in need get the stuff,” Rosa explained.  In this way, the warehouse doors are sure to be opened and the donations are delivered.

It seems that opening doors for others is a family trait.  A World and Olympic skater, son Joachin opened the doors for Latin skaters to compete in the Olympics. 

"It was kind of a fluke," says Rosalina, "that he went to skate for Mexico.  We were looking for ice time since he was going to the Nationals in the US, and they found out that he had dual citizenship...so they offered him a place four years earlier to go to the Olympics and to the Worlds."

So Joachin had the opportunity to compete in the '88 Winter Games rather than in the '92 games he had been planning on; thus, "By '92, he was already a professional with the Ice Capades," Rosalina explained.

Joachin continued his career doing ice shows at such popular family attractions as Sea World, Disney, and Great America.  He has skated alongside the best:  Brian Boitano and Kristy Yamaguchi are two notables he has appeared with in Stars on Ice.

Joachin started skating at age 12, after being inspired by Brian Boitano and Scott Hamilton.  "Who would know that eight years later he was gonna compete against Brian Boitano at the Worlds," said Rosalina.

Before the '84 Olympics, Rosa had the opportunity to talk to Boitano, who was preparing to compete.  She asked the gold medalist whether he thought Joachin could ever compete at the National and Olympic levels, and she joked about whether Boitano would give her son a chance should the two ever meet in the '88 Olympics.  Four years later, after Boitano won a gold medal at the ’88 games, Rosa met up with him again and jokingly said, "Brian, you lied to me.  You told me you were going to give him a chance, and you didn't give him a chance"

Boitano responded, "If I give him a foot, he'll take a mile," Rosa recalled.

One of the greatest challenges for any parent is trying to divide themselves in two in order to meet the demands of equally talented siblings.  So was the case with Rosa, when two years after Joachin was born, another little flower was budding.  Unfortunately for daughter Rebeca, and which is usually the case with youngest, she may have gotten somewhat lost in the shuffle when the time schedule had been dealt out, for big brother Joachim already had the winning hand. 

When Rebecca’s athletic and artistic talents began to flourish and her opportunity to sprout came along, Mama Rosa was heavily obligated to helping Joachin with his skating career, which had already demonstrated National potential and possibly World and Olympic possibilities.  And oftentimes, his skating practice schedule conflicted with Rebeca's ballet or gymnastics practice, with the priority going in favor of Joachim. 

The ironical thing is that this early experience might very well have benefited Rebeca by making her more resilient.  This fact is demonstrated by her coming back to the Raiderette tryouts three years in a row, fighting until she earned her spot on the squad, a position she has yet to relinquish.  Symbolically, her outstanding achievements

in track may have been an unconscious desire to catch up to Joachin, an achievement she has already accomplished on her own terms and in her own unique way. 

Like her brother, Rebeca made Who's Who in high school and was an outstanding student.  She had received a scholarship to help her in her own quest for an Olympic bid as a track athlete, but unfortunately her development of scoliosis curtailed her hopes.  "So, that really hurt her... that her brother could go to the '88 [winter] Olympics, and she couldn't go to the summer Olympics,” Rosa explained. 

Not only was Rebeca able to succeed as a Raiderette, she also opened the door for her cousin Lupita, who made the squad, and, like Rebeca, has graced the cover of a Raiderette calendar, along with many other outstanding accomplishments.

So, like Joachin, Rebeca certainly inherited her mom’s athletic ability and also her spirit not to quit.  "In my vocabulary, there is no such thing as 'I can't do,' or 'I don't know.’  If you don't know, you find out.  If you can't do it, you try.  And you try, and you try again,” Rosa said with firm conviction.  The mirrors in her home, which she installed herself, are perhaps a symbol of her incredible self-reliance—and a reflection of her inspiring philosophy, something that you might want to sample.

So, if you are ever stranded somewhere near Oakland, drop by Mama Rosa's house.  You will find it easily—just

 follow your nose.  The aroma will not be from flowers, but will be emanating from the kitchen.  Not only will you be in for the culinary treat of your life, but if you are lucky, you will also be treated to her “chicken soup for the soul.”  You will also be treated as one of her own, and you will come to know why she is known as Mama Rosa.  And by the way, you may want to bring her a rose, for this lovely lady is worthy of such a fitting tribute.