Colaw was taken from her alcholic mother at age 10 and moved through six foster homes, attending 14 different schools, and at age 19 was faced with pregnancy out of wedlock and had to give up her baby. She married at age 21, and her husband spent a year overseas, returned and was almost killed in a car crash. After the birth of her second child, she was soon divorced. All of this adding to her beaten down sense of self-worth.