“Probably from the time I entered high school, I started feeling this wave of … You know how when you have a bottle full of water and it’s narrowing down into a very small canal? I kind of felt like that’s...
“I was born in Mexico. First, I came to California. I went to school a little bit, and then I found a job. I cooked, working in the kitchens. I stayed there for 22 years. “Many people come here looking for...
“My husband and I are heavy industrial carpenters. We travel for work. We’re kind of like gypsies. We sold our house and got a fifth wheel. Our kids are scattered now, so we have nothing to tie us down. We just...
“I met Sammy last year, and I really hit it off with him. We spent a lot of time together. Then a few months after I got home from my first trip, he ran away from the shelter and went back...
“Back in 1999, I got really sick. I spent 10 days in the hospital with extremely excruciating stomach pain before they figured out what was wrong with me. It’s a condition called porphyria. I’m missing an enzyme in my blood. There...
“My parents have always been very generous with their time and their money, and they’ve always opened their home to people who needed it. I kind of watched them throughout my life take care of the people around them and take...
“I got married when I was 23. We stayed together for 10 years. But in the end, it just didn’t work out. Since then I’ve been in other relationships, but they haven’t worked out, either. “After a while you get tired...
“I called Kirsten’s counselor to ask if there was any way they could recognize her at graduation. She was an honor student and in the 11th grade at Robert E. Lee High School when she was murdered. I’m very honored that...
“I started traveling in my 20s. I was just fascinated with it, and I wanted to go overseas. So when an opportunity came up to work as a federal civilian with the Army Corps of Engineers in Kuwait, I jumped at...
“When I worked with the Army Corps of Engineers overseas, we had these security guards that were British. They were all former Her Majesty’s Service. We affectionately referred to them as thugs because they were just massive. But as huge and...
