My Family Stories

  From a talk given by Faby on April 19, 2026 A lot of times we panic when we don't know what's going to happen. Something that I remember clearly is when I had my first child, Joshua. I was a first-time mom, experiencing the joy of having this beautiful baby, but my English still wasn't very good. I remember my husband coming with me to all the appointments because he needed to translate everything that was going on. It was hard, but the hardest part came when that baby was born. It was an emergency C-section. I don't even remember being very afraid, but when my baby arrived and everything seemed to be fine, I was the happiest woman. I remember going home with Josh, and my mom had flown in from Mexico to help me. But that night, I woke up with a really high fever. My husband said, "We have to go back to the hospital." I said, "Why? I'm okay." He said, "No, you have a fever. You probably have an infection." And it was a horrible infecti...

"Colleen, She Who Loved Fiercely" She sought escape from Chesterfield's small streets, A beauty school graduate with fire, The World's Fair called to all her heart's desire, First taste of freedom, bittersweet and fleet. She loved her daughters fiercely, tried her best, Though worn and weary, never ceased to care, She gave them life and love beyond compare, Her beautiful legacy, her truest test. The cancer stole her voice, her vibrant soul, Had danced and fought and loved with all her might, Yet still she burned with such a stubborn light, She'd played the underdog to find her whole. She lived, she loved, she suffered, and she grew, And found at last the peace she came to knew. The above sonnet was made from an interview with her sister, Connie Marshall. Here is the summary of this interview: Colleen's Early Life Connie's earliest memories of Colleen are colored by sibling friction, including a story Colleen loved to tell about Connie threa...