Before she married Ignacio Suarez, Betty and Hilda's mother Rosa had been married to a man named Ramiro Vasquez. Ignacio worked on the Vasquez hacienda as the family's cook and he witnessed many instances of the spousal abuse that Ramiro inflicted upon Rosa. One night after another night of her husband's abuse, she went down into the kitchen and saw Ignacio. And a spark lit between them and they became involved in a secret affair. One day, while defending Rosa from her husband's abuse, Ignacio accidentally killed Ramiro, or so he thought for over thirty years. Rosa and Ignacio, who had fallen in love by this time, decided to marry and move to the United States to start their new lives and a new family together. Rosa died in 2004 at around age 50.