The families of both of Marilyn's parents homesteaded in northern New Mexico in the 1920s. Her parents, Minnie Gamble and Joe Graham, met there and made a home near Regina.
Marilyn was born in Albuquerque. She and her five siblings lived and went to school in Regina for a time. She liked to tell stories of riding her horse, Pet, to school and playing 3rd base on an all-boys baseball team. She loved the rural adventurous life in the mountains of northern New Mexico.
The family eventually settled in Peralta, NM. But, Marilyn would be back later in her life.
