SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Carmelinda and David Valencia's love story lasted nearly four decades, but the history that connected them stretches back hundreds of years.
The couple first met as students at Bishop Diego High School. After graduating, they went their separate ways, never expecting their paths would cross again.
Years later, a chance encounter at the post office changed everything.
"Then one day, I was in the post office and he was waiting on me, and we sort of just connected right there," Carmelinda Valencia recalled.
As they spent more time together, conversations about their families uncovered something unexpected... a shared connection to Santa Barbara's earliest history.
"As we started seeing each other more, we started talking about our families and the history of them, and it seemed to fascinate us both with each other's history," Carmelinda Valencia said.
David's family traces its ancestry to the Barbareño Chumash, while Carmelinda's family descends from some of the region's earliest Spanish settlers.
"He goes back centuries and centuries," Carmelinda said. "His grandmother, Mary, was very involved in helping to preserve the Barbareño Chumash culture, where my husband was a part of that culture."
Through the work of David's grandmother, Mary Yee, and later his aunt, Ernestine Ygnacio De Soto, the Barbareño Chumash language, traditions and history were preserved for future generations.
Carmelinda's family history is equally intertwined with Santa Barbara's beginnings.
"Captain Jose Francisco Ortega helped establish the Presidio in Santa Barbara. He was my grandmother's ancestor. My grandfather was related to Corporal Jose Ignacio Rodriguez, who served during that same time," she said.
Together, their family histories tell the story of Santa Barbara's earliest communities, dating back to the establishment of the Presidio in the late 1700s.
"My grandmother was related to Ortega, and my grandfather was related to Corporal Rodriguez. Later, our families came together. So yes, we go back that far to the 1700s, when the Presidio was established in Santa Barbara."
Today, the influence of both families can still be found throughout Santa Barbara, from historic landmarks and street names to cultural traditions that continue to shape the community.
"Celebrating any culture or history is positive because you're trying to keep that history alive," Carmelinda said. "I think it all has value because it's a way of carrying forward the legacy of all that history that occurred and that we need to remember."
David died in November 2025, but Carmelinda says his presence remains with her every day.
"I feel like he's with me all the time. When I'm home, he's everywhere. He's in every room, every bookshelf he built, every room that he painted," she said.
Reflecting on their 37-year marriage, Carmelinda says the secret was simple.
"My husband always used to say we've been married 37 years, and it felt like yesterday. We just enjoyed each other's company. If we had differences, we worked through them. It was good."
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