From meeting by chance in Mexico, dancing at Spanish rock clubs in Huntington Park and running together at Mariachi Plaza, love can emerge in the most unexpected places and change our lives forever.
While it may end for some, others nurture it, allowing it to develop into a family, powerful friendship or lifelong lesson.
Residents from across the Eastside shared their stories of romance, self-love and the moments that sparked a lifetime of magic with their special someone.
The following stories were compiled from reader submissions and interviews.
Jose Landa and Ana Zamora
Photos courtesy of the couple.
Ana Zamora and her husband, Jose Landa, grew up on the Eastside. Their story, Zamora said, began at Francisco Bravo Medical Magnet High School.
“We met as freshmen… when a scheduling mistake landed me in his class. I walked in late, pass in hand, and felt someone staring—I made eye contact with him. My husband swears it was love at first sight,” Zamora said. “At the time, I was all about Tumblr’s alternative style, rocking thick black eyeliner and combat boots, while he looked like his mom shopped for him at Ross. That ‘love at first sight’ was definitely one-sided.”
Zamora said the two eventually became friends and after pressure from Landa’s friends, she eventually “caved and agreed to a three-month trial period.”
In 2017, Zamora painfully chose to end things due to the stress she was going through with her family and school. After a few months, Zamora realized she missed her best friend.
“Slowly, we reconnected. I always admired how he never pressured me and respected my pace. We’ve been together ever since,” Zamora said. “He proposed in 2023, exactly ten years after we met.”
Now, the lovebirds are planning their wedding ceremony in a few months at their church in Boyle Heights. Zamora, an educator at Hollenbeck Middle School, has a parting message for any student reading her story.
“If any of my students see this story, I hope they know that true love exists and to keep high standards — good love will find you. Also, stay in school because they might find their soulmate,” Zamora said.
Adriana Carranza and Alfonso Aceves
Photos courtesy of the couple.
When Alfonso Aceves first met his wife, Adriana Carranza, at Roosevelt High School, he knew he had to learn more about her.
“I just saw her passing in the hall. I thought she was a beautiful girl and I had to meet her,” Aceves said.
With the help of a friend, he managed to get her phone number. When he got home from school, he picked up the phone and called, hoping to introduce himself to his crush. But Carranza wasn’t home. He tried again the next day, and once more, Carranza wasn’t there. But on Valentine’s Day of his senior year, with his hope waning, he called one last time. Carranza’s sister answered and put her on the line.
“We just clicked, instantly,” Aceves said, reminiscing of their first date, where the two ditched class to hang out at Ramon Garcia Park in Boyle Heights. “It was fate, it was meant to be that we met each other and formed this relationship.”
The pair are now full-time artists through the Kalli Arte Collective and have four children. Aceves said the love he and his wife have felt around this Valentine’s Day is different as they recently welcomed their first grandchild to the family, bringing love and happiness to their home during a challenging time in the U.S.
“I always say I didn’t get to be rich, I didn’t get to be this famous person or whatever, but what I found was true love. 30 years later, I know that she’s the one for me for the rest of my life,” Aceves said.
Armando Velez and Jo Anna Mixpe Ley
Photos courtesy of the couple.
Running and being active is what brought Jo Anna Mixpe Ley and Armando Velez together.
The couple met almost 11 years ago at the local running club Boyle Heights Bridge Runners.
Their first date? At local bar Eastside Luv for their Morrissey karaoke nights.
“We were just talking as friends for a long time, and then finally, a few months later, I was like, ‘I’m going to be here if you want to, you know, come on down.’ And he did. We had a great time singing to The Smiths’ songs,” Ley said.
The couple regularly runs 5K races and marathons around Los Angeles. At times Velez can be seen photographing his partner during her runs with Running Mamis, the running group she co-founded.
In 2016, as Ley approached the end of an L.A. Valentine’s Day marathon, there was more than a medal waiting for her at the finish line. Velez proposed to her there, still dressed in his running gear.
“It just caught me off guard. Here I was, like, you know, finishing [the race] and trying to muster my emotions and my body and everything else,” Ley laughed. “It was really amazing.”
Now, Mia, their 7-year-old daughter, occasionally joins the couple on their races across L.A. The pair, known by their friends as “Los Chulos,” even calls to their daughter “Chulita.” Ley says her husband’s connection to his home of Boyle Heights and East L.A. is something she’ll always appreciate.
“We both were born and raised here, and so it was really special to meet somebody that is rooted in community, that is honest, and is about supporting community and family.”
Alton E. Nakama and Guillermina Urias Nakama as told by Doreen Nakama
Photos courtesy of Doreen Nakama.
Doreen Nakama, owner of East Los Musubi, a Japanese-Mexican pop-up, shares the love story of her late grandparents whose cross-cultural love story became a defining chapter in her family’s history after they met and later married in Boyle Heights.
Her grandfather, Alton E. Nakama, an Okinawan from Oahu, Hawaii, fought in World War II as a part of a Japanese-American combat squad. He met her Mexican grandmother, Guillermina Urias, in Tijuana in 1950 while stationed in San Diego before the Korean War.
He promised to return and marry her, writing daily letters during his deployment. Upon his return, they quickly wed in Southern California. Alton worked as a manager at his parents’ bathhouse in Boyle Heights.
Doreen fondly remembers how her grandparents celebrated Valentine’s Day by dressing up, dining out, and dancing to big band music. On their final Valentine’s Day in the early ’90s, Alton fell asleep on the couch, but Guillermina kept their tradition alive, playing their favorite songs as a tribute to their enduring love.
Yalitza “Yaya” Vasquez-Lopez
Photos courtesy of Yalitza “Yaya” Vasquez-Lopez.
Yalitza “Yaya” Vasquez-Lopez, a community organizer at the Boyle Heights-based Latino Equality Alliance, recalls one of her first heartbreaks as a pivotal moment that taught her to love herself.
After meeting someone on Facebook, they spent nearly every day together, and she even introduced him to her parents. As a mariachi player, he quickly bonded with her family, but by the end of summer, the relationship ended.
Though it wasn’t her fault, she says, Vasquez-Lopez couldn’t stop questioning if she was enough. Things got more awkward when she was paired with her ex in her school’s mariachi class. Over time, however, they reconciled, and Vasquez-Lopez, who had started learning violin, began to see mariachi music as a way to connect with her Latine roots.
“I just ended up becoming so passionate about mariachi music, and it kind of was this gateway to me connecting with my roots and my family,” she said. She and her ex even played a duet in class. More than a decade later, Vasquez-Lopez is grateful for the experience and her reconnected friendship with her ex.
“I’ve come a long way since that. Honestly, I don’t feel like I’m lacking anything. And I really feel like the process has just been like realizing that we are just enough as we are, and we’re always learning. We’re always making mistakes, but we really can’t compare our current selves to a past version of ourselves when it comes to new ventures,” Vasquez-Lopez said.
Norma and Guillermo Tejeda as told by Laura Tejeda
Photos courtesy of Laura Tejeda.
Laura Tejeda shares how her parents, Norma and Guillermo Tejeda, first connected in 1980. On Norma’s 17th birthday, visiting East L.A. from Mexicali for a wedding, she ended up on a double date with Guillermo at the Santa Monica Pier.
“My dad was in a relationship and had no intentions of romance, but upon getting into his friend’s back seat and laying eyes on my mom, he said his life changed forever,” Tejeda said.
After returning to Mexico, Norma had no plans to continue the relationship. But Guillermo, determined, sent her letters, growing frustrated when she never replied.
“At one point he included a dollar bill in the letter with a note stating, ‘If this is not the correct address, please write back and let me know if you know how I can reach Norma.’ ” Tejeda said.
Guillermo then turned to the Yellow Pages. Remembering the names of the couple from the wedding, he tracked down every address with the same name and knocked on countless doors. Finally, he found Norma’s aunt.
“He asked her if she could relay the message that he was trying to get a hold of her,” Tejeda said. “My aunt was shocked by this eager 17-year-old and convinced my mom to respond. The rest is history.”
Nico Avina and Myra Vasquez
Photos courtesy of the couple.
In the early 1990s at Huntington Park’s La Boom, Nico Avina asked Myra Vasquez to dance.
“She liked my dance moves,” the 50-year-old laughed. “We hit it off and had these really good conversations that night. It was a mix of serious conversations and a lot of laughs.”
Despite the chemistry, Avina made a rookie mistake in the pre-social media era: he forgot to get her number.
A week later, fate stepped in when Avina spotted Vasquez at East L.A. College (ELAC). They chatted between classes, and he got her contact information.
“It was destined for us to meet,” Vasquez said. Her friends had urged her to give Avina a chance, saying they’d get along “because he’s all into that Aztec s— like you.” Both enrolled in Chicano Studies, they became involved in activism, art making and enjoyed seeing bands like Quinto Sol on the Eastside together.
Eventually, the couple launched a silk-screening business inside Trash City Records behind ELAC.
“East L.A. College was one of the first places where we went to vend because it was a safe space for us and we felt comfortable there,” Vasquez recalled.
Their efforts eventually led to their own shop, Teocintli, and later to Espacio 1839, a Boyle Heights gift shop on 1st Street.
In May, Avina and Vasquez, who live near Hollenbeck Park, will celebrate 30 years of togetherness.
Kamren Curiel and Rolando Tringale
Photos courtesy of the couple.
Poem submitted by Kamren Curiel
Met him on a Friday in 2007
Never been set up before
He wore
Mom jeans and a Cadillac T-shirt, but drove an Infinity
Grew up in El Sereno
10 minutes from my childhood home in South San Gabriel
We sipped wine in Pasadena, danced at a restaurant/bar next door
Split a bowl of soup, unexpectedly swapping spit
Fell for his unpretentious vibe, spiritual lean
Loved his family as much as I loved mine
Mexican amber hung around his neck
A recuerdo from working at a medical clinic in Chiapas
On Zapatista land
A sacred village I visited just years before
Who is this guy?! I thought
Fast forward to 2025
Married with two daughters that
One day we’ll take to the Indigenous place that sealed our love
Armando Velez and Kamren Curiel are Boyle Heights Beat contributors.
