Connie was born in Walnut Creek, California in May of She is now reunited with her grandmother, Maria Rosario Talavera and her great grandparents, Hector and Odilia Talavera.
Standing 4'9", Connie was anything but short on personality. She was ambitious, outgoing and bullheaded like her father. Her petite stature, sweet voice and shy nature led many to believe she was a frail flower. Yet under that thin facade she had the heart of a lioness. Her father's "ride or die", she was quick with a jab in the ribs any time he got out of line.
She lived her life on her own terms and played by her own rules without fear of what anyone else may have thought.
She loved hiking, fishing and hunting with her husband. She felt most alive out in nature in Queen and Cloudcroft. She was a fierce friend to have and a great defender of those whom she saw as having been wronged. Life turned upside down in June of when a long bout of illness was finally diagnosed with no time left to waste. After months of misdiagnoses, Connie found herself airlifted into the care of Dr. He was finally able to give the answers none of us wanted to hear.
A hole in her heart had gone undiagnosed since infancy and had caused a condition known as Primary Arterial Pulmonary Hypertension. Long story short, the blood vessels in her lungs had been ravaged by two decades of unnaturally high pressure from her heart. Prognosis: Connie would require a central line installed in her chest that led directly to her heart.
