The Double Life of ‘Rico Suave’ Gerardo

The year is 1990, “Rico Suave”, a song promoting sexuality, is an international hit.
To the artist, Gerardo Mejia, it wasn’t just a song, it defined who he was.

“I saw others doing drugs. I saw others drinking. I wasn't that guy. My sin that stopped me from my relationship with God was fornication,” says Gerardo.

That wasn’t the only relationship that suffered. A couple of years after his megahit, Gerardo married Kathy who’d had their first child. By then, the 26 year old, who gave his life to Christ at age 17, was steeped in to the world of pop music and stardom.
Gerardo recalls, “You're being surrounded by beautiful girls the whole time. Friends with power want you around. You know, as far as me. Too much, too soon. It messed me up.”

“We had what I thought was a perfect family,” says Kathy, “and in my eyes at that time, maybe that's what I thought it was.”

Gerardo states, “right after I got married, I went on the road again and being married never stopped me. I was cheating on her from day one. But I did value my family. Like, it was the only good thing that I had.”
Kathy states, “I feel like maybe he didn't love me so much to not cheat on me, but I felt like he loved God so much that he wouldn't do that.”

Gerardo remembers, “I would take my wife to church because I wanted her to be right, and I wanted that blessing there.” Over the next five years Gerardo's career had faded. He continued chasing fame and other women, as the deceptions continued.
He recalls, “Going to the studio, going out to the club, waking up, you know, in a hotel room.

And I knew too, like, I carried my Bible with me everywhere I went. You know, I wake up in the morning and just see the Bible next to my bed. I go, “man, I got to get it right. I got to get back.” But always with the excuse of, let me finish, God. Let me get bigger, bigger, because that one moment that I'm on top, that's when I tell the world that, who you are.”

After ten years of marriage Gerardo had become weary of the lies and hiding. Feeling like he had nothing to lose, he told Kathy everything.
Kathy reflects, “I remember my first reaction, and it's probably the complete wrong reaction, was, "What did I do wrong. Why wasn't I good enough?"
Gerardo continues, “She didn't throw anything at me. She didn't cuss me out. She was just quiet. And she walks off. And I just remember being in that room, looking up at the ceiling going, okay, Lord, let's go from here because I know you're going to restore my family.”

The couple decided to stay together, and Gerardo started sharing at churches how God had made him a new man and saved his marriage. While he was being celebrated, Kathy felt like an isolated victim. She remembers, “every time I went to hear his testimony and every time I was in a church listening to him tell his story, it was hurting me a little bit more and more. I'd just sometimes be sitting in the back, and I'd hear everyone just applauding him for coming clean, and, "Oh, you did the right thing, and look how God's restoring your marriage." I was just kind of in the shadows and just getting a little bit chipped away, little by little.” Gerardo spent more and more time away from home sharing his testimony, while Kathy’s loneliness- led her to adultery.

Gerardo states, “I heard ding, ding on my wife's phone. I started reading the messages.

I can't tell you how betrayed I felt. She said, "What are you doing?" I just remembered showing her the phone. I said, "I know,"
“My whole world just crumbled at that point, because Gerardo – he didn’t have the same 
reaction I had, he was gone he was done,” says Kathy.

The couple separated. Kathy went home to Kentucky, while Gerardo went home to Ecuador.
“I was at the all-time lowest point of my life,” says Kathy.  “I remember sitting on rooftops and thinking, "I'd just be better off if I just jumped off." I'd physically hurt myself.

I don't even know if it's even possible to give yourself a black eye, but I would beat up myself with my own hands because I was just in such a dark place.” A few months later at a men's retreat, Gerardo had a changed heart and went to see Kathy.
He says, “I'm really sorry. I said, "I understand. I'm the culprit. I'm to blame for a lot of it."

Kathy adds, “Gerardo had had a come-to-Jesus moment with our marriage. I think he finally took responsibility for the state that I was in. It wasn't all brought about by myself. I didn't get there alone.”

Gerardo brings his hands together, “It was little by little by little, and she met me. And now we're both in that path that God wanted us to be. If you knew us from back then, all bets were against us. All our friends said, "Oh, this is never going to last." This year, we've been married 30 years, and I give him all the credit.”
Kathy smiles and says, “We spent so many years of our lives just chasing after God, but until we finally just surrendered to God, could we really see what he could do. I mean, only God could take a marriage that was so messed up like our marriage and turn it into this, I won't say perfect, but I can't imagine. Sometimes I look around at people and I'm like, "Could they love each other as much as we do?" We have to love each other more than anybody else loves each other, and that's only God.”