SAN ANTONIO – Compassion and care are etched into Kym and Marlene Espinosa’s DNA.
“I mean, our whole family (are) nurses,” Kym Espinosa said. “So I’ve seen it everywhere.”
Kym Espinoza basically grew up at Northeast Methodist in Live Oak. Her mom, Marlene, started working there over 30 years ago while pregnant with Kym.
“Sometimes we’d have to meet with my husband in the parking lot to change caregivers,” Marlene Espinosa said.
Marlene, who is from the Philippines, said she came to San Antonio after a local hospital courted her.
“That was not my plan to be here,” she said.
“And because she’s here, she was able to bring over our extended family,” Kym said.
Like her mom’s journey to the U.S., becoming a nurse wasn’t Kym’s dream. It was her destiny.
“I learned really quickly,” Kym said. “Now I’m meant to be a nurse, and I watch all (that) my mom does. I have heard all of her stories, and it just made me want to give compassionate care back to others. And so that really inspired me to come and join her.”
The two worked the night shift together at Northeast Methodist for nearly a decade.
“It was such a great support to have her here as a mentor, not only as a mom, but a mentor,” Kym said.
Kym said she’s now one of the hospital’s two Asian leaders on its nursing team.
“It’s nice to see fellow colleagues of the same nationality and race be represented,” Kym said.
It is a milestone that makes her mom proud.
“As I’m seeing her grow, I feel like I made a big difference in her life,” Marlene said.
Although their careers are now on different paths, the Espinosas are glad to walk the halls that raised them together.
“It means a lot,” Marlene said.