Honoring My Mother, Jenni Rivera

Chiquis opens up like never before in this highly emotional episode. She talks about how painful it was to lose her mom twice, friction between family and she shares how she'll be honoring her mother this week, and encourages everyone to make time for loved ones while they're still with us.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
She's like, yeah, have you seen Twitter? And I'm like no,
and she says, well, I don't think you should look,
but you know, apparently your mom's plane is missing. My
family and I are not okay, my extended family should
I say my siblings? And I think goodness were good.
That's the way we can keep her alive is by

(00:27):
listening to her music. Hello, guys, and welcome to another
episode of cheek, Ease and Chill. I hope you all
had a great weekend and your week is off to
a really great start. If you're listening to me today,
well I'm sure it will be. But thank you so

(00:48):
much for tuning in. Today's episode is one that's near
and dear to my heart. This podcast is very special
to me for many reasons. I've talked about that before.
It's a space where I can share very personal and
intimate details with you, and that's exactly what I'm going
to be doing today. It's dedicated to my mom. You guys,
it's going to be nine years since my mother, Jenny Rivera,

(01:12):
left us. So grab some tequila, some coffee, probably some tequila,
and let's do it. Let's get into checks and Chill.
So this Friday marks nine years since my mom died. UM.

(01:33):
December nine, my mom and six others died in a
plane crash in northern Mexico, and that day, yes the world,
we all lost her, and it was a very difficult day.
Those of you that know me, that I have read
my book, know that I lost my mom on October two.

(01:58):
I lost her before everyone else did her and I
had a falling out, a misunderstanding. There were a lot
of toxic voices around her at the time, and we
weren't talking. This is a second time that she had
done that to me. Um, she kind of just she
was a woman that was very strong and said in
her ways, so her lessons were always very tough. UM.

(02:20):
So the first time she did that to me, and
it was honestly two months as well, I was fourteen
going into my to my fifteenth birthday. It was that
summer of when I was fourteen. Um, we were ending
school and you know during that time, you know, like
at the end ever, you're doing all the tests and stuff.
So I'm I went with my friends. Instead of telling her,

(02:44):
I got out early. I remember it was a Monday
as well, and instead of telling her, hey, Mom, I
got out early. I went with my friends to go
have a cheeseburger and fries across the street. I just thought, okay,
I'll tell her that I'm off, you know, at twelve
o'clock the rest of the week. So she thought I
had lied to her. Well I kind of did in
a way. So anyways, she kicked me out. It was
a big thing. I explained all of it in my

(03:05):
book Forgiveness or better than in Spanish. And she stopped
talking to me for two months. And I'll never forget
because for my fifteenth birthday I didn't get a call
from her. Then later on, as I explained the book
as well, how we started talking. You know, she just
grabbed my little long because I was staying in my
grandma's house, and she said, you know, I think it's
time for you to come home. You've you've you've had
a very nice time here at your grandma's house eating,

(03:26):
so it's time for you to come home. And she
put me on a diet and she fixed my hair
because she had cut it. It's just so much, you know.
So anyways, the second time that ever happened was in October.
On October two, that was basically the last time I
had heard from my mother in September, things got really weird.

(03:48):
My mom was in a very weird place in her
life um emotionally and mentally, I feel. And this is
another thing that we've never talked about publicly because it
was always just forbidden. But my mom wasn't wasn't doing
too well, and I could tell, and all of us

(04:09):
could tell, but no one could say anything because we
were afraid to upset her. But things were getting kind
of weird. And on October two, I did get the
email and the subject said lights on. I believe it
was lights on. And it was a long, long email,
which maybe one day I'll share with you guys, very
strong email, and basically what it said was that all

(04:31):
everything came together and the lights were now on, that
she could see clearly that I had been sleeping with
her husband Estevan at the time. And I remember being
at a dinner and I just dropped my phone. I
said what I was in disbelief. I drove to my
mom's house. I didn't even finished reading the entire email

(04:54):
that night, but I drove to my mom's house. I
had all the gate codes. Everything has changed, I remember,
I don't know how I did it, but I pulled
that gate open and I was knocking and on the door,
banging on it. Everything was closed, the keys were changed
on me. I was just like, what in the hell
is going on? I fell to the floor. I was crying.

(05:17):
I called my sister Jackie. I was confused. I was like,
what the heck is going on? I tried my very
best to contact her, and every way, through email, through
her Twitter, she blocked me. Everywhere. She changed her email,
she changed her number. I mean, coming from having all
the access in the world to her to having none
was devastating. And then my siblings had to forcefully be

(05:39):
on her side because if not, it was an issue.
So it was very hard for me. It was a
woman that came into her life a couple of months
before that started throwing Vaneno just evilness into her ear,
and I don't know how just made up this whole store,

(06:00):
and my mom again was not in the right place
emotionally or mentally. Don't take my word for it. One
day my siblings will talk and say the truth about
what was going on during that time. I have actually
on my evidence to show that that could have not happened.
The night that she thought it happened. I had the
phone record showing that when in the cameras it said that, Okay,

(06:20):
maybe I was gone in the room with a Stevan,
That's completely false. You could see my head in another camera.
I have phone calls that I was actually on the
phone with my uncle Juan and my ex boyfriend for
thirty minutes during the time that she thought I was
gone and couldn't see me in the cameras. So it's
just I never had the opportunity. I tried to explain
this to her many times, and to my aunt and

(06:41):
everyone around tell her this, but she just wasn't She
didn't want to listen. That's why it was so important
to me to write Forgiveness and to explain this is
my truth, for my future children, from my future husband,
for the people my followers that knew me from chickens
and control from chickens, and roxy from what I was
already starting. I did not do this that I to me,

(07:02):
it's accusing me of doing something like that is killing
is like killing someone, is murdering someone. And I would
never do that to my mother, first of all, as
a woman, I just wouldn't do it, And secondly, I
would be too damn scared to do that to my mom.
I mean, I know my mother, like, there's no way,
you know what I mean. And I loved to Stepan
as a stepfather, and I loved him because he loved
my siblings, because he was so good to my mother.

(07:22):
So no, it's completely false. And I invite you guys
to read Forgiveness so that you guys can understand the
entire story in detail. That's why I wrote the book.
But that was what happened, and that's what that was,
a falling out between my mom and I. But I
always had a faith that we were going to talk,
that we were going to talk and sit down and
clear it up and everything was gonna be fine. But again,

(07:44):
there wasn't enough time, and that's when I lost my mom.
I remember going to therapy and the therapist told me,
you know what, you are going to have to start
living your life like if she was no longer here.
And I remember saying, like, what do you mean. It
was like, yeah, like if she had passed away. This
was two weeks before December nine, and I'll never forget.

(08:06):
And I looked and I looked at my therapist and
I said, what it hit me and I cried and
I cried and I said, you know what, Yes, I'm
dying slowly inside. I had suicidal thoughts. I didn't have
everything and everyone, my siblings, my mother that were so
important to me. But of course I didn't understand that then.
Now that I look back, now that I know how

(08:29):
God works and now I know everything that I went
through had a reason. But during that time it was
it was horrible. So when December nine came and the
world lost her, I was already a few steps into
the healing process, so I was able to be there
for my siblings. And like I said, everything does happen

(08:50):
for a reason. God's plans are perfect. And it hurt
me very much. Obviously I lost her twice. But who
kept me alive were my siblings, all four of them,
but more than anything, Johnny and Jensica. And my sister.
Jennica was fifteen, she's now twenty three. Johnny was eleven,
he's now about to be twenty one. So I took

(09:13):
them under my wing and I said, I let's go.
I'm going to take care of you. I'm not going
to leave your side. And I didn't and I haven't.
And that's the way that I honor my mother every
single day since she passed. And yes, I was disinherited
because of this whole fallout and this misunderstanding, and by
the way, I gathered up all of my evidence to
show my mom what is being said is not true,

(09:36):
and she just kept saying that she needed time and
time and time. And look, you know then there wasn't.
Time just took its course and God had other plans.
But anyways, I was disinherited. But I always say that
the inheritance that my mother left me were my siblings.
The most important and the biggest inheritance are my siblings.

(10:01):
And that's how I honor her legacy every single day
because I know how important her children. We're an art
to her till this day. Because I feel her around,
I feel her. I can't say because acio and that
i've seen her. No, I've seen her twice in these
past nine years. I've seen her twice in my dreams,
and I get so sad the next day and for

(10:21):
a few days that I feel she's like, I don't
want to do that to her, so she doesn't come
around in my dreams. As much anymore, because I'm pretty
sure knowing her, she's busy in heaven doing her thing.
I always talk to her though I took her Mom,
I don't know where you're at, but I need you.
So I just know that that's how I'm honoring her.
And I know that her children. And she said in
any interview, any Jenny Rivera fans out there know how

(10:42):
important her children were to her. She said it any
time and every time that she could, she said it,
she said in her book. So to me, that's what
I've done is I've done my best in every single
way to be a good older sister, to be a
good exam pulled to my siblings, to have their back,

(11:03):
to keep us united. It's been tough sometimes because of
outside noises, other toxic voices. It's made it a little
difficult to have a peaceful relationship. But I've always said, hey,
wait a second, let's come together. This is what Mom wants.
She's always wanted this. She always told me, no matter what,
you are the oldest, and I'm sorry that God made
you the oldest, but you are the oldest for a reason,

(11:25):
and you are too. Always keep your siblings united. Do
not allow you and your siblings to be what my
siblings and I are. She told me that countless times countless,
and that's what I try to do. I do want

(11:48):
to say that the day that I found out December
that my mom was missing, because that's what it was
at first, her plane was missing. It just disappeared out
of the sky. I was in Las Vegas. We were
celebrating my cousin Karina's wedding. She had gotten married on
the eighth, so that was during the day and we

(12:08):
all went to go eat, and then after we all
went to go party, and I remember being at this
roof top uh nightclub. I think it was called Voodoo,
and I was fine. I had already kind of said okay,
I took my therapists advice and said, okay, I'm gonna
start living like my mom is no longer here. And
I was feeling a little bit better emotionally and mentally.

(12:31):
And I had just seen Johnny for the first time
in months, in a few weeks, should I say, they're
at my cousin's wedding. And it was so hard because
it was just a weird energy. So it was kind
of eating me up inside. So that night we went
out and my friends and I were dancing on the
dance floor. I was looking up at the sky and
I felt this sadness come upon me that I can't

(12:53):
explain that. I just felt like, oh, like I just
I wanted to fall to the floor and I just
started crying in the middle of the dance floor. I'm
telling you, I was. We were on a rooftop, so
I just said, you guys, I sat down and I
was just bawling and bawling, like the sadness came over
me and I didn't know why. So I remember just
telling my friends, Hey, it was Gerald at the time

(13:16):
in Brianna, and um. I said, let's just go back
to the room, and we did, and we got McDonald's
because food just you know, I've had an issue with
food my whole life, so when I'm sad, I just
want fatty stuff, you know, so um or should I
say starchy foods. So I we had McDonald's. We sat
on the floor, we ate it, and I fell asleep

(13:37):
and at ten am in the morning, I was woken
up by a phone call from my cousin Karina, who was,
like I said, always also in Vegas with me, and
she said, hey, cousin, we gotta go. I said, wait, well,
we have plans to do. What do you mean we
gotta go to They know we gotta go. My dad
just called me and said it's an emergency. We have
to drive down to Grandma's house like now. And I'm
like what. She's like, yeah, have you seen Twitter? And

(14:00):
I'm like no, And she says, well, I don't think
you should look, but you know, apparently your mom's plane
is missing. I'm like, what do you mean, Yeah, it's missing.
They can't find it. So when I started, of course,
I packed my stuff. I was driving a Prius at
the time. I don't know how I did, and I

(14:20):
don't recommend anyone to do this, but I got from
Vegas to Lakewood, California in less than three hours. I
was going so fast. After I read on Twitter Jenny,
the late Jenny Rivera, like just so many things, like
she had already she was gone, like she had already disappeared,
like she was you know, I was like, wait a second,
we don't even know what's going on. It was horrible.
It was all over the radio. I couldn't listen to music.

(14:42):
I was just in silence. The entire time crying and
I'm like the whole time, Oh my god, you can't
do this to me. No, you can't do this to me.
Like that's what I kept just repeating. It felt like
forever to get to my grandma's house, but I got
there in less than three hours, which is crazy. I
don't know how I did that. Again, I don't recommend
anyone to do that. I was just so like in
the need of getting to my siblings because during that time, again,

(15:05):
I hadn't gotten a phone call from Jenica or Johnny.
And they called me and they said, Jennica, call SI sister,
where are you. I need you here. And when she
said that, I was like, oh my god, Yes, they
need me. And I felt so uncomfortable because I hadn't
talked to none of my family and I was like,
hardly going to receive me. And at that moment when
I got that phone call, I didn't care. Everything you

(15:26):
raced and I said, I have to be there for
these kids. I don't care. I walked in there with
my head held high and I got those kids and
I'm like, these are my kids. I don't know what's
going on with my mom. I still had a faith
that my mom was going to come back. That was
on a Sunday. I had faith Monday Tuesday until Wednesday.
I got to my grandma's house. Like I said, I

(15:46):
was like there for Johnny. We were sleeping on the floor.
I mean, it was. It was chaotic at my grandma's house. UM.
But on Wednesday, I told my uncle's you guys need
to go find my mom. You need to find my mom.
You guys, sorry, I don't trust the authorities in Mexico.
I need someone from us, from our side to go
and look for my mom physically, go on that mountain,

(16:07):
find my mom. I had faith that maybe, yes, the
plane had fallen, maybe she survived. I was thinking all
kinds of things. But then when I saw some pictures
on the internet that showed some of her remains, and
I had asked Jenica, I said, Jenica, what now, polished?
What color was Mom wearing? She says, oh, red? And

(16:27):
I started looking at pictures and sure enough, yes, in
her last concert at Monterey UM, because she was coming
from Monterrey back to Mexico City to record lavos, she
wanted to leave. And I knew my mom, so that's
why she left at three thirty in the morning, so
that when I was feeling that on the rooftop at
one thirty, it was I think when everything was happening,

(16:49):
when my mom had left, and I think she came
to visit all of us. That's what I personally believe,
so it all made sense afterwards, you know. So at
three thirty am is when her her plane disappeared. I
think that we all felt her that night. So anyways,

(17:09):
I told my uncle's go find my mom. And that's
when I asked Jessica about her nail polish and it
was red and in her remains, I saw, like it's
so tough to say this, but her toes and they
were red, and I knew, like we lost her. And

(17:34):
I know those feet because so many times when she
was tired, I would put on her shoes, I would
take them off. I would missage her feet and I said,
these are my mom's feet, her toes, and um, that's
when I knew, and I remember, I felt something in
my heart. I'll never forget my safe place at my

(17:58):
grandma's house because every corner of my grandma's house was
full of just people. They're trying to comfort us, and
outside everywhere. There was just so many people, her fans,
which I'm so grateful for. But my only safe place
was the restroom. And I remember grabbing a picture that
my grandma had in the living room. I grabbed it
and I knew I hadn't told the kids yet. I

(18:19):
hadn't told anybody that I saw those pictures. I don't
even know how I found them or who sent them
to me, some evil person. I have no idea. But
I went into the restroom and I held the picture tight,
and I swear to you that I heard my mom's
voice tell me you have to be strong for these kids.

(18:46):
And from that moment, I was like okay, and I
cried by myself, and I was like, okay, I'm gonna
be strong, and I gotta tell them. I can't let
them think anymore that she's here, because she's not. And
I knew it, and I told them. I said, Johnny,
I sat down, Johnny, and I said, Mommy is not
coming back. So I just knew I had to tell them.
And that's when I something came upon me and said

(19:10):
I have to be resilient. I have to be strong.
That's when it all started like making sense, like this
is why everything happened. Because my mom and I were
so close. We were sisters, we were husband and wife,
we were so many things that if this hadn't happened,
this interruption in our relationship, I wouldn't have been strong
enough to sustain this pain. And I knew it was

(19:34):
going to be hard because I would have to go
out and defend and clean up my name in some way.
But the most important thing for me at that time
or my siblings, and I think the best way and
right now that we're talking about her, because yes, the
anniversary's coming up, is the best way that I can
honor her is to continue being here from my siblings
and and doing my best to be successful. For me,

(19:55):
it's everything I do. Everything that I do, I think
about siblings. I think about, Yes, they're okay, maybe financially
they're okay right now, but what if they're not one day.
I want them to know that their sister has their back,
that they have a home that they can come to,
that the doors will always be open. And it makes
me just work harder, you know, which is why it

(20:18):
makes me so sad. And this is the first time
I talked about it. You guys, I'm going to talk
about it with you. I haven't said in an interview,
I haven't written it thoroughly. In my book that's coming
on in February, I mentioned it, but I want to
say it here with you, guys, because another way of
honoring my mother is by being honest, because that's how

(20:42):
she was. My family and I are not okay my
extended family. Should I say my siblings and I think
goodness were good. We have our disagreement into we have
our discussions or arguments, but we always come back to

(21:05):
each other. But there has always been issues in my family, unfortunately,
because there are so many of us in the industry.
Fortunately and unfortunately, I feel that we could have been
a very successful dynasty together. But I feel like jealousy

(21:25):
and ego and greed has ruined our family for years.
And I'm now ready to say that, Yeah, I'm not okay,
and I know some of my siblings, and I don't
want to speak for them, are also not okay with
most of our family members. Today I'll speak about myself
and what I feel and how I feel and why

(21:47):
it makes me so sad because my mom was really
the glue to our family. And although for many years.
She was also disappointed, and we have emails and conversations,
and everyone knows this. My mom was also very vocal
about things that she disagreed with with certain family members.

(22:07):
So a lot of people have wondered why I haven't
followed my grandmother. I did. Maybe it's a little silly,
maybe it's childish. I didn't follow her on Instagram. I
love my grandmother. I still honor her. I still thank
her very much for everything she did for me, for
helping raise me. I love her so much and I

(22:29):
miss her. But it goes back to me honoring my
mother and her legacy. And my siblings are the most
important thing in my life, and when you hurt them,
you hurt me. And unfortunately, my grandma has said a

(22:49):
few things publicly that I don't agree with that I'm
very hurt by about my siblings, Johnny and Jessica, mainly
some things about me that I just feel are unfair
to say without first telling us, so I don't agree
with it being said publicly. So now I'm publicly stating that, yes,

(23:12):
I have unfollowed her, and I'm okay with my decision,
and I love her, and I still check up on her,
but there are certain things on social media that I
just don't want to see and I don't want them
to hurt me. I could have muted her, yes, but
I I decided to unfollow her because I'm also tired
of pretending. I'm I'm ready for the world to know
that we're not okay. I also don't follow my uncle Juan,

(23:33):
and I don't follow my aunt Rosie, and I'm sure
to them it doesn't doesn't matter, but to me, it's
just I'm ready to show the world that there are
bigger issues. You know, we have always had some type
of issue or tension in our family for years, because again,
we're all in the same industry. What really I think
broke the camel's back, Como Lison, is when my brother Johnny,

(23:58):
he had been asking me to do this since was
sixteen years old, when he was still under my custody.
Johnny asked me to look into the finances. He said,
you know what, I'm just a little worried. There's some
certain things that worry me, and I just think that
we should know I never did it, because I'm like,
oh my god, I just I already know they're going
to think that it's me, And of course I had

(24:18):
my doubts. Don't get me wrong, I had my doubts
about it, but I just didn't want to open up
a kind of worms. I had a feeling it was
going to start an issue. So when Johnny turned twenty,
he said, you need to help me. Actually, this January,
he said, I need you to help me get an attorney.
I really want to do this. And I said, okay, fine.
I told him. He asked me in in November and

(24:40):
I said, wait, give me a few months, let me
pray about it. And when he came back in January,
he said, okay, I want to do it and I'm sure,
and I said, okay, I have your back. So I
hooked him up with an attorney. He spoke to them.
He's been dealing with it himself. I can't even talk
to the attorney without his permission. So it's all been
him wanting to just know what's up with the estate,

(25:04):
with the finances, with our trust, with the businesses, and
it has caused chaos. It's caused so much, even more
tension in our family, and I still don't know why.
But that's the truth of the matter, and I want
to clear that up because it's not an audit. An
audit comes from it comes legally. We didn't audit anybody.

(25:29):
We just asked for an accounting. Johnny asked for an accounting,
as as a beneficiary, he has the right to ask
for an accounting and my aunt was supposed to give
that to him annually and hasn't for the past nine years.
So he asked for that, and it became this big ruckus.
And I don't understand why this accounting was asked for

(25:52):
in what month, Johnny. This accounting was asked for in
April of this year, and everything has gone to ship
since then, worse than it it has been. I feel
that we have the right to know how much money

(26:13):
was in the account when my mom left, how much
money has been made um how much money they have
made for the enterprises, for my January River enterprises. We
have a right, We have a right to ask how
much people are getting paid. And I include myself in
this because yes, I was disinherited, but I'm still a daughter,
I'm still the oldest, I'm still the one that helped
my mom build this empire, and I still have the

(26:35):
right as a sister to ask what's going on with
my siblings, with their with their finances. So let me
tell you the businesses. My mom's businesses are completely separate
from the trust that's where my mom left for my siblings.
The accounting was delivered months later, literally Johnny's right here.

(26:58):
So a hundred and ninety two days later they asked
for extensions. For a while, we hadn't heard from them.
I was like, wait, if we have everything in order,
we have a good c p A for the company,
we have a good financial advisor, why aren't we getting
these things in a time we matter. I just don't understand,
and there's so many things that I can say, but
I just I want to be respectful to my siblings

(27:22):
and to still my family, because even though I love
them and I love them from Afar, I wish them well.
I'm better off without them, and I'm sure they are
as well without us or without me. Should I say?
And my heart is sad, my heart is hurt. But

(27:44):
sometimes it's better to love people from Afar and not
be angry at them. Because I'm not angry, I'm disappointed.
I'm disappointed because this didn't have to turn out this way.
And I just felt that today talking about my mom.
The best way I can honor her is by being honest. Again,

(28:07):
I thought about this over and over about talking about this,
but you know what, because I thought about my cousins,
their children. I don't want to affect anybody in any way. Ever.
God knows my intentions. God knows that I wish with
all my heart that we were okay with my family
and that we could all just be united and be
a strong force together. But that is not our case,

(28:30):
that is not our truth. Sadly, and you know what,
everyone kind of has to just own up two certain things.
And it's sad because ever since my mom left the
way Johnny says it, we've been living in hell. I

(28:51):
see it a little different. It has been very difficult.
I have tried my very best to be okay with
my family, to gain their approval, to show them, hey,
I'm working, I'm doing my thing, like are you proud?
You know, it's been very difficult to get that. And
it's just sad when you lose such a strong pillar
in your family, how things just start crumbling down. And

(29:16):
now that I look back to these nine years, it's
just we were in so much pain. We just trusted blindly.
We were too hurt and dealing with our pain and
with life and how to live life without my mom,
without parents In reality that we didn't really care much

(29:39):
or not care, but we just didn't have the energy
or the mental space to deal with all these things.
And I feel like we finally woke up and we're like, oh,
wait a second, what's going on? I feel like that them,
so what's the problem. You know? I wish with all
my heart that we could spend this anniversary together as
a family and Grandma's house, with my uncle's, with my aunt,

(30:02):
with my cousins. It makes me sad, but I've accepted
that this is my reality, my new reality, and I've
come to peace with it and moving forward. It's just
really coming together as siblings is what we want to
do once my sister Jackie becomes CEO, to just continue

(30:27):
my mother's legacy, us having the control and as a
team making decisions from my mom's brand, from my mother's music.
We want a movie. We have so many ideas that
I think that the best now that we're a little
more healed, we're a little more mature, I think we

(30:50):
all can just come together and make it happen, and
that's what I'm hopeful for, and I'm hopeful that this
doesn't get any nastier and that we could just come
together and coming to an agreement, maybe agree to disagree,
for the sake of my mother and her legacy and
all that she worked hard for, because she did for
her children mainly and mostly, and everyone that knows her,

(31:16):
especially her family, knows that. So that's why I'm so
confused today. I want to honor my mother and ask
you all, if you haven't heard her music, if you
have heard it, to just please listen to it every
single day. Go to any app that you guys use

(31:40):
to listen to music. That's the way we can keep
her alive is by listening to her music and just
honor her in that way. For me, it's the favor
that I ask you guys. And I'm little really looking
forward to the future and doing this kind of being
under the umbrella again of just helping, you know, because

(32:00):
I can't be added to the will or anything, and
nor do I want to. I want my siblings to
be Okay. I'm working hard and I'm doing my thing,
so I just want to be able to be a
part of it again and really have a real say,
you know, in my mom's stuff. And I know my
siblings feel the same way. We want a movie. Imagine

(32:22):
a movie of Jenny Rivera's life in English with a
little bit of Spanish or vice versa. I don't know.
I just wanted to be like the real Jenny, you
know what I mean, what she was all about. A
movie just telling the story of a woman that worked
her ass off to leave the imprint that she has
left forever, and what she did for her kids as

(32:46):
a single mother, everything that she went through, things that
you guys may not even know, things that we've never
talked about that we're ready to talk about now. We
want movies. We want just huge We have huge plans.
So I think it's to be beautiful to be together
at a table with my siblings and discussing everything that
we want to do for my mom and how we

(33:07):
want her music to sound. I think we're ready. We're ready,
and I'm excited for my sister Jackie, who is stepping
up like no other. I admire her so much. I
don't know how she juggles being a mother of four,
a wife, a business owner, and now dealing with all
of this with Jenny Rivera Enterprises, and I'm excited to
see her in this new position. And she does everything

(33:30):
with such with such grace and so peacefully, and she
has the best intentions and the best interests at heart
for everyone. So I think she's gonna be an amazing CEO,
and I can't wait to see that. It's nice to
know that Mom and I started all of this, because
it was really Mom and I we um. We started

(33:53):
from the ground up. I was at home with the kids, cleaning, cooking,
making sure everything was good, pay in the bills, and
then later on I helped her with the businesses and
helped her build her empire, and every idea that she had,
I did my best to execute it. And to know
that it's become this and to know that now my
sister is going to take over is awesome. And I

(34:16):
also want to take this time in the space to
thank my uncle and my aunt for everything they did.
I know that they tried their best, and I know
that this was thrown on my aunt from one day
to another, and she really didn't know and never wanted
anything to do with the music industry. So I've always

(34:41):
been very compassionate about that and understanding and for so long.
She expressed that she wasn't happy in her position and
that it has ruined her her her relationship with her kids,
with her with her husband. My uncle Juan felt the
same way, and again, my uncle Juan wasn't left in charge.
She just took that responsibility I and wanted to help.
And I am grateful for that. Believe me, I appreciate

(35:03):
everything that they did, but there are certain things that
I just feel I don't agree with, but I am
grateful and I do want them to be happy, and
I want them to be okay with their family and
live their best life. And I'm sorry if you know
all of this has caused pain, you know, the way

(35:29):
that we think about their feelings and their life. I
would love for them to take a moment and do
the same for us, you know, And I know they have.
I just don't know what happened throughout these nine years,
and things have just gotten worse and worse, and it's
just what happened, you know, we just asked questions. I

(35:49):
want you guys to remember her for yes, her music,
because she definitely broke barriers. She has paved the path
for all women, I think in general, especially in you know,
the regional Mexican genre, but also for the woman for

(36:12):
that lucona courageous, fearless woman that she was. She always said,
if they close the door in my face, it's okay,
I'm going to find a window and I'm going to
crawl through it and I'm gonna make sure I get
what I want. So she was just tenacious and so
strong and strong willed. I want you guys to remember

(36:35):
her for that, for the single mother of five that
didn't let anyone get in her way of feeding those children.
For me, even if I wasn't her daughter, I would
still be a fan of her music. I would still
be a fan of the woman because she's definitely a

(36:57):
woman that represents us so well, especially latinas that when
there is a will, there is a way, easy said boy.
Then she's definitely that woman. And it really was who
she was, really like the person that you saw on stage,
the person that you saw on interviews, That was my

(37:17):
mother off stage in her core, she was a very
passionate woman and anything and everything that she did passionate. Loving. Um,
she was moody, you know, but and when she was wrong,
she would eventually come around and say, I apologize, I'm

(37:40):
sorry I was wrong. It would take her a little
bit of time, but she would. She would always come
around and and apologize. She was a woman that did
her best to read the Bible every single day, at
least averse to make sure she was honoring God and
putting him first, something that to me is super important
now because I saw it so much growing up, that

(38:03):
woman that you guys know, it's really it wasn't It
wasn't a facade. It was really her and the good
and the bad. Like she would say, you know, flaws
and all either fect those. She really did own it
in every aspect. And I am so proud and honored

(38:26):
and it's such a privilege and a blessing to be
her daughter, to be her firstborn. It's like, Wow, that's
my mama. You know, she's a badass in every sense
of the word. And it's crazy because I know this,
but I think I'm so engulfed in doing what I

(38:48):
gotta do and being the best example that I can
to my siblings of doing working and that sometimes not
that I forget, it's just now that I'm talking about her,
I'm just like Damn, that's my mom. It's so tight,
you know, And I'm so grateful and I thank God,
and I hope that one day, when I have a daughter,

(39:12):
she could be half the woman my mother was. I'm
gonna name her Jenny. It might be her middle name,
but it has to be Jenny. And just the way
I asked you guys to listen to her music, to
my mother's music and honor her and you know, keep

(39:34):
her alive, keep her legacy alive. I also do the same.
I listen to her music a lot, especially when I
need that motivation or I'm gonna go I'm gonna walk
into a meeting, or when I was going through a heartbreak,
I would listen too, like all those songs. Usually, what

(39:55):
we like to do on December nine is eat your
favorite foods. She liked the cookies, Nutter butters, she loved
Diet coke, she loved pork rinds, and just sit there
and watch her favorite movies, one of them being Life.
The movie Life, if you guys haven't watched today, highly recommended.
It's super funny. Um So that's what we're gonna do.

(40:16):
Hopefully we can be together. It's gone to a point
where now. I respect my siblings are a lot older,
so if they feel like they need to be alone,
especially Mikey, he's the one that's always like, you know what,
I want to take my time. I want to do
this by myself. I respect that I would love for
all of us to be together in my new home hopefully,
but if not, then I'm going to do my best

(40:37):
to do what I do and listen to her music
loud and proud, and and just remember her because I
do miss her very much. It doesn't matter how old
I get, I still need my mom's hugs. I still
need her kisses. I still she had the best hugs ever.

(41:00):
She was the best hugger. She always smells so good.
She had this certain cent that I'm never going to forget,
and her advice. I just I need her, you know,
I still need her to me. It's yeah, it's been
nine years, it's gonna be ten, but it still feels

(41:20):
like it was yesterday. And if I can give you
guys a piece of advice before um we go and
we close up, is honor your parents. Don't wait for
a special holiday for their birthday, for Christmas, for Mother's Day,
for Father's Day, to say hi, I love you, to
send them flowers randomly. You just never know what will happen.

(41:44):
You never know when you won't see them again. So
that's my advice to you guys, to appreciate and value
your loved ones, to take the time to spend time
with them, to call them now and then. I still
do with my grandma, even though I'm hurt. If she's sick,
I call her, I send her text messages. I want

(42:07):
to make sure she knows that I'm there because I'm
still grateful for everything she did for me. Things have
just changed. But that's my advice to you guys. Take
care of those that you love and keep their legacy
alive once they're gone. So, guys, sorry for it's a

(42:31):
very touchy subject. It's something that I thought I was
not going to talk about everything that we talked about here,
but this is a safe place and a way for
me to express myself and share with you guys on
a deeper level, like my thoughts, my heart and my mind,
my soul, everything that I go through. I hope you
guys enjoyed this episode and again December nine, let's not

(42:54):
be sad. Yes, we miss her, but all the Jenny
Rivera fans out there. Let's celebrate her life and what
she taught us. Thank you guys so much. I will
talk to you next week and have a beautiful, wonderful,

(43:16):
productive week. This is a production of I Heart Radio
and Michael podcast Network. Follow us on Instagram at Michael
da Podcasts and follow me checks that's c h i
q u i s. For more podcasts from my heart,

(43:40):
visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever
you listen to your favorite shows.