Mina Amesquita had an appointment with a client in Brownsville, a common occurrence for a busy massage therapist.
This home visit, however, would be unlike any other for the South Padre Island-based therapist. It was the home of a former state district judge. This was the same judge who many years before had ruled against Amesquita in a custody case. The judge had given primary custody to her ex-spouse in a case involving their daughter.
"As a mother, it killed me," said Amesquita, who felt the judge viewed her as a high school dropout with her ex-husband having better financial means. "As a woman, it built me up to not be seen like that again."
The former judge did not recognize Amesquita from the custody case. The massage therapist, with a growing practice and gaining successes in her field, saw a client going through a difficult time. The ex-judge’s mother had recently passed. Her husband was suffering in the aftermath of a stroke.
"She was in tears," Amesquita recalled. "I had planned to ask her why as a woman she had ruled against me as a mother, but God told me, she’s suffering, help her. It was a moment of forgiveness. Time heals."
Starting Over
"My book is always full."
Amesquita is at her place of business – Massage By Mina – on the 5200 block of Padre Boulevard. Her lengthy list of appointments is quite a distance from her situation in late 2007 when she got to the Island "with $60 in my pocket." Amesquita was at the time a newly licensed massage therapist.
She had previously worked as a certified nursing assistant and chiropractic technician. Amesquita had also gone back to her native Zapata by then to earn her high school diploma, an important step in her journey after the court case. It was late December 2007 when an acquaintance urged Amesquita to take up temporary residence in a Port Isabel travel trailer her friend owned. There was also a nugget of advice from her friend.
"Go start your new life."
Amesquita did just that, working at established massage therapist offices in Port Isabel and South Padre Island. She also made home visits throughout Cameron County, building her name and reputation in the therapy field. In 2017, Amesquita went out on her own, establishing her own business. She steadily built her clientele and a full appointment book with referrals from chiropractors and physicians.
"This is what I was born to do," Amesquita said. "The people here are amazing. This is where I came to find my way (forward)."
