A San Juan native and high school football coach turned his childhood memories of growing up in the Rio Grande Valley into a new book.

Local author and coach Jose Ponce spent his early years in the Lopezville neighborhood of San Juan and is now sharing those experiences on paper.

"My book started as a simple fiction story about my grandfather, which was about 80% non-fiction and 20% fiction," Ponce said.

Ponce says a friend encouraged him to expand his story.

"I just sat down, and it all just came out: the stories of growing up, blessed with great family and friends and those experiences," Ponce said.

That's how his book "I Thought We Were Poor, Pero Estaba Equivocado" came to be. The title translates in English to "I Thought We Were Poor, But I Was Wrong." It was published this summer.

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"When you're that age, you see kids who have a little bit more and stuff, you know, but I look back now and I realize how blessed we were. I had both my mom and my dad, and we always had food on the table and a roof over our head and clothes on our back," Ponce said.

Ponce is a graduate of PSJA High School. He says as people get older, they tend to realize the blessings they had in life as children.

"There was always love in our homes, that's for sure; there was always love, and I'm very blessed for that," Ponce said.

Ponce is the current offensive coordinator for the Juarez-Lincoln Huskies in La Joya. He has spent decades teaching and coaching across the Valley.

"The lessons I took from my coaches are the lessons I try to instill in my kids now," Ponce said. "I've always told my athletes if the only thing I've taught you is football, then I've failed you as a coach because I learned so much more."

Ponce has always had a passion for writing and is happy people will now be able to read his work.

"I think so many people can relate to it," Ponce said. "There are stories that we all share, I love our culture; I think we have a beautiful culture, you know, those traditions we have, and that's what I tried to put into my book."

The book is available now on Amazon. Jose Ponce is Made in the 956.

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