Joan Norris

I live in the beautiful rural village of San Cristobal, at the foot of the Sangre de Cristo mountains, with my husband Barry.

As a child, our family moved frequently because my father was in the Army; we enjoyed the travel and lived all over the world.

In 1977, when Barry and I were in our mid-20s, we moved to Chiapas, Mexico to work in a small private museum in San Cristobal de Las Casas, Na Bolom. We eventually adopted two sons and loved our work so much that we stayed for 15 years. It will always be a place we return to, as our grandchildren are there, and many friends.

In 1992 we moved to San Cristobal, New Mexico. I trained and worked as a licensed midwife at the Northern New Mexico Birth Center, a career I had long wanted to pursue, and delivered hundreds of babies in Taos and surrounding counties before retirement in 2014. I’m grateful I had the opportunity to serve northern New Mexican families in this way.