I am an author as well as a daughter, wife, mother, and grandmother. I am a Yorkie mom, flamingo collector (which is why you’ll see the “Feisty Flamingo” series on our menu), summer/beach/flip flop lover, and grandmother to the two most adorable little girls you’d ever want to meet! And yes, some of their pictures can be found on my Instagram account!

I grew up in a small town on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, a town so small it only had one traffic light. And that’s still true today. But one of the best things about living in a small town is how everyone knows everyone else. And even though I moved away from that town when I went to college, and my career took me to other places, I always maintained a close connection to my hometown, since my mother still lived there in the very same house where I grew up. Holidays were always spent there with family. It was where my roots were, and still are, in my heart.

My mother was a fiercely independent woman who grew up in the depression years, and after only twenty years of marriage she suddenly became a widow with an eight year old daughter to raise. In an era where most women did not work outside of the home, Mom became a popular full-time kindergarten teacher as well as enrolled in college courses at night in order to obtain her bachelor’s degree, which she accomplished at the age of 56. Even after her retirement 16 years later, she still remained active and energetic, gardening, shopping, and especially enjoyed spending as much time as she could with her granddaughter, our daughter Ashley. Although it’s now been 15 years since we lost her, there’s not a day I don’t miss her, and think about how much she’d have enjoyed her two great-granddaughters.

Her independence and yes, stubbornness, shaped my life as it is today. I am still working a full time leasing job several years past retirement age with no plans to retire any time soon, making jewelry for myself as well as to sell on my Etsy store Not Only Bracelets, and yes, going back to writing this blog.

Please feel free to contact me with questions or comments or ideas for anything you’d like me to write about.