I was born in 1942, the second of four children, to parents who were fruit pickers. I was denied an education because I was made to stay home and babysit my siblings, only attending school some of the time until I reached the ninth grade.

I was the victim of molestation and abuse from a young age. When I reached the age of 16, my Aunt Margaret and my friend, Linda Acuna, helped me to break free and stand up to my abusers by calling them child molesters and threatening to report them to the police.

After that, I was free to educate myself through reading, and to move on with my life.