1. Describe yourself as a child. What were you like, what were you interested in?I was a precocious child. I am the first-born and quite unique. I grew up in a neighborhood where most kids were either blond and blue eyed or brunette and brown eyed, I was neither. I had red hair, blue eyes, freckles, and glasses and sucked my thumb until I was thirteen. I stood out in the crowd. I was the teacher’s pet, the smartest girl in the class, the tattletale and the victim in most of the pranks.
I was a Girl Scout and received the highest award in Girl Scouting, The Gold Award. I started dancing school at age 3 and continued until I was 22, then started again when I was 34. I made decisions about my own education at an early age, I was given the choice of middle schools and I chose the more difficult of the two. I bucked the trend again when it came to high school, instead of attending the local public school; I chose a private catholic school an hour away from home. I knew what I wanted to be when I grew up at a very early age.
My parents were always encouraging me to do what was right for me and not what everyone else was doing. I was always volunteering to help out at school or volunteering my mom to do something. Once, I volunteered my mom to make a costume for the school play the next day. I had to be Raggedy Anne, but I only told her the morning of the show and my sister was having tonsil surgery that morning. I went to school as Raggedy Anne and my sister had her surgery.
2. What is the most unique thing about your family?My family is unique because my husband and I not only have family values, but we encourage them. My husband owns his business, he is not home a lot, but family time is important. We eat dinner together at least once a week and all meals are together on the weekends. We spend time together as a family, going to the kid’s games, scout functions and other things.
Communication between the four of us is important. We are generous to our children without spoiling them. They know the word “NO” and understand the reasons for our answers. As a family we have made the commitment to education, religion and morals and we have shaped our lives around that. That is why, Chip will be going to the private catholic boy’s high school in September, Rocky attends religious education classes near our mountain home and all four members of our family are “Charter Members” of the Boy Scouts of America.
We feel a kid should be a kid, but a kid needs responsibilities and should be accountable for his/her actions. You get the best out of life, if you give it your best.
3. If there were one thing that you would like to improve in your life, what would it be?I can’t say that I would improve anything. Money, we would all want more, but it would not make me any happier. A bigger house, just more to clean. More time; yes, I would like more time to myself, but I can create the time I want by giving up one or more of my volunteer jobs. My volunteer jobs are what make me happy. I enjoy doing for others.
4. What is your favorite place in the world?My 3 favorite places in the world are: my home in the suburbs, my home in the mountains and Hawaii. Both homes are warm and inviting, I love to have friends and family over and relax to get away from it all. Hawaii is a place of romance, beauty and relaxation. It is where Fred and I spent our Honeymoon, Tenth Anniversary and Twentieth Anniversary.
My favorite place in my suburban home is the backyard. In the spring, I like to go out into the backyard, lie in the chaise lounge with a blanket, a hot cup of tea and a good book and read for hours. The warm sun shining down, a crisp breeze, a warm tea in my belly and words to think about bring the world to a slow spin.
My favorite place at my mountain home is a large flat rock at the edge of the lake. There you can see the whole lake, listen to the mountain stream tumble into the lake, greet the white-tailed deer, hear the scampering of the chipmunks and fish from sun up to sun down.
My favorite place away from home is Hawaii. Each of the islands are different; from Oahu which is like a city and its suburbs, to Maui, where it is lush and green, to the Big Island, that looks like something from another planet, to Kauai, where time has not caught up. Everything about Hawaii is beautiful and I would love to live there, but I would miss the change of seasons.
5. What do you believe about the meaning of life and what happens after death?I believe we are all put here on Earth to do something. We have not been given the reason or the rulebook. We will find the answer when we meet God at our death. I truly believe that all people are good and I try to find that good in all. I believe we all have guardian angels that watch over us and that some people are more in tune with their angels than others. I believe that one of my angels is my Great Grandmother Anna and the other is my Grandmother Elsie.
Anna was a wonderful woman; a strong minded, red headed matriarch of the family that no one messed with. At times, I feel as though she is pushing me to do right for my family.
Elsie, my maternal grandmother, was also a strong spirited woman than ran the home with an iron fist, but realized later in life that she
didn’t need to be iron
fisted, but open and loving. She tends to remind me that sometimes a hug and a kiss will go much further than a spanking. After death, we will meet our Creator and he will welcome all of us into Heaven. Sometimes, just sometimes, I feel as though, I might have already been admitted into Heaven.
