about me

FIVE THINGS ABOUT ME

1. I've been married 17 years to my househubby. Together we're raising four magnificent creative life forces, ages 8 to 14, whose entertainment value rivals any Broadway show or television sitcoms, for that matter. I come home from my job, brain-dead, frazzled, stressed out. Yet there's something about walking in the front door at the end of the day, and these children of mine rush up to me as if I've got static cling. "MOM, GUESS WHAT!" "WAIT A MINUTE! I WAS HERE FIRST!" "DID YOU HAVE A GOOD DAY?" "ROBERT SPIT ON ME AT RECESS!" And I'm just cracking up over this glorious cacophony. Love is loud, you know.

2. I'm an avid lip-reader due to a lifelong profound hearing loss in both ears. One time, upon introducing myself to a nurse-practitioner, I informed her of my hearing loss. She replied, "I'm so glad you told me that because I tend to speak very fast." "Don't worry," I said. "I'm a speed-reader."

3. I've been writing since the third grade. I have stories published in several Chicken Soup books and other inspirational publications. However, nothing rivals the first time I was published. When I was 20, one of my poems appeared in a magazine called "Gallaudet Today," for which I was not paid. As a result of this priceless experience, I received beautiful letters from deaf high school students from Tallahassee, Florida, who had enjoyed my funny little poem about a teenaged girl with hearing aids on her first date.

4. Looking back at the total sum of my experiences as an Army brat, I feel blessed to have traveled as far and wide as I have. I learned about diversity, courage in making new friends, and the art of adapting to any environment. When I was in elementary school, one of my sisters gave me a plastic lunchbox in the shape of a giant pickle. It had room for a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich, a bag of chips, and a soda. It turned out to be my breaking-the-ice buddy for each new school I attended. Other kids gravitated to my quirky lunchbox, thus meeting the new kid on the block with owl-like glasses with stems that shoved hearing aids through her hair.

5. I'm a veteran NICU mom three times over, starting with the birth of my oldest son who was born the week of Christmas, weighing 1 lb, 6 ounces. My other two sons were born a month early and stayed in the NICU for immature lungs. My last baby, a girl, was blessedly free of any problems to warrant a pass to the NICU. After six heart-rending years of infertility prior to the birth of my first child, I am thankful for each and every one of my blessings.

My life overflows.

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