Small Business Today Magazine APR 2015 POSSIBLE MISSIONS | Page 9

before. He said something to her and
that was it. They danced all evening
and when Paula went home she told her
mom that she had found the guy she was
going to marry! After dating for nearly
three years, Paula and that guy, Robert
“Bobby” Mendoza, were married and
this year they will be celebrating 27 years
of marriage!!!
When Paula and Bobby married, she
had an instant family because Bobby
had been married before and had a sixteen year old son, Robert, Jr. In addition, Paula was like a second mother to
her youngest sister who was born when
Paula was 20. She was very much of a
pleasant surprise to Paula’s parents because they were in their 40s when she
was born. Paula was delighted to be
caring for her lovable baby sister who
was three when Paula married Bobby.
Her parents thought they were well past
having babies so they were very pleased
whenever Paula wanted to take care of
her sister.
Even though Paula wasn’t blessed to
personally have children, she is quick to
point out that all along she has had children and honestly feels that she couldn’t
have had better ones. Paula refers to
Robert, Jr. as her son and helped raise
him until he left to attend college. “My
son is great! We’re helping to raise our
goddaughter, Natalie, right now who’s
twelve and she has my husband’s and my
heart,” said Paula proudly.
Choosing to take the slow route, Paula wanted to work and make her own
money. She started taking classes to get
a legal secretary certification that was
supposed to take one year; it took Paula
two years. Then she decided to get an
Associate’s Degree that was supposed
to be completed in two years; it took
her three years. All the while, she continued working because her mother had
brought her up to be a very independent,
strong woman. Her mother would tell
her, “I want you to have a good, healthy,
strong marriage but I want you to be
able to take care of yourself as well.”

Paula was extremely honored to have been appointed
by Texas Governor Rick Perry to serve as a member of
the University of Houston System Board of Regents.
Photo by Gwen Juarez Photography