I was born in a small town in western Pennsylvania but now live in Frisco, Texas, a suburb of Dallas, with my canine babies, Scout and Nikki. I am also fortunate enough to live very near both my married children and my four fabulous grandchildren, Dylan, Sally, Zachary, and Ray. All my life, I have been an avid reader with an active imagination and a passion for self-expression. I always wanted to be a teacher and recently retired after over forty years of teaching language arts from kindergarten through ninth grade. I now tutor students in writing with the hope of reducing writing phobia from every young person I teach. During the pandemic, I was inspired to write a children’s book to help young people feel more secure during times of drastic change, and An Ordinary Kid in Extraordinary Times, is the result of that effort. I sincerely hope every reader can see him or herself as the unnamed main character and gain courage and confidence from her story. In addition, I began painting, a passion I had as a child, and it became a lifeline for me during this time of partial isolation. As an outgrowth of that endeavor, I have added an ART page to this website to share my joy of watercolor with you. Both art and books are marvelous ways to ignite emotions, new ideas, and discussion and serve as the perfect gifts for those we love. Hopefully, they will bring you the joy I found in creating them.