Tía Josefa was a midwife who had delivered several babies. She was also a faith healer, or curandera, who used herbs and prayers to heal⁹. She treated folk diseases such as the stomach illness known as empacho, or indigestion. Her specialty, though, was treating baby illnesses such as colic, fever, and mollera caída. Mollera caída occurred in babies not yet one year old. Signs of the illness were listlessness, fever, diarrhea, and sunken eyes that resulted from infection. It was believed that their mollera, or the soft spot where the cranium comes together above the forehead, had fallen in. The illness was diagnosed as mollera caída and cured with herbs, teas, and pastes.

Tía Josefa cured other types of illnesses such as ojo, a folk disease sometimes called the "evil eye"; susto, a folk disease related to fright; and espanto, another folk disease related to fear. Tía Josefa also had knowledge of herbs that affected other body organs. Her knowledge had been passed on from previous generations to her. In fact, many professors in colleges, especially in South Texas, are writing now about these folk diseases and the folk remedies used by curanderas like Tía Josefa.

Tía Josefa knew many beautiful prayers by heart, and she helped many people with her prayers, giving them comfort in times of need. Her husband, José Barrera, died in 1922, leaving her with seven children.

The oldest, Santiago, was only sixteen years old when his father died. Although she had her share of hard times, she continued to help others. Tía Josefa had a big heart and was a caring person of profound faith. She greeted everyone with a big hug and a warm smile. She left a legacy of love for her family, her grandchildren, and the whole community who remembered her and her kind deeds.

9. For additional information about curanderas, see Robert T. Trotter, Curanderismo: Mexican American Folk Healing, 2nd ed. (Athens, Ga.: University of Georgia Press, 1997), and Eliseo Torres, The Folk Healer: The Mexican-American Tradition of Curanderismo (Kingsville, Tex.: Nieves Press, 1983).