I’m a ‘country girl’, born and raised in the flat wonderland of northern Minnesota. My father was a farmer and my mother was a housewife…and I didn’t know there was a world beyond our tiny community until I left for college. What an eye opening experiencing!
Living is a small farming community in the ‘50’s and 60’s didn’t provide many cultural opportunities other than families gathering together, church dinners and holiday events. Don’t get me wrong – these are all good but visiting art galleries, exploring museums and being blown away by the Minneapolis Symphony was definitely a change.
Life seemed to move so fast…college with a degree in theater and visual arts, a wedding, careers, the birth of our daughter, a master’s degree, a growing family with son in law and grandson, teaching and here I am, retired.
I am a mixture of so many things…a wife, mother, grandmother – an art educator for students of all ages and abilities, from very young to college classes. My husband and I have been married for 53 years and are enjoying retirement immensely. He was a clergyperson who was Director of Chaplaincy Services in southern Ohio which provided opportunities to meet so many and varied individuals. We are blessed in our retirement to be living close to our family…and that means close to our grandson who fills our hearts to overflowing.
I began to understand the importance of my creative interests when I was diagnosed with breast cancer at age fifty. I began to write and make art…all kinds of art. There is no question in my mind that both experiences made the journey with significant cancer a journey of learning and growing…and surviving.
Because of that experience I reviewed all my writing and put the words together into a book entitled “God Blessed Them for the Journey” After it was published it became my gift to others traveling through their own challenging journeys. It was recently republished with new visual images that add to my story.
I have been a most ordinary person all my life with some extraordinary experiences…blessed in so many ways. My creative passion right now is working with wood and batik. And watercolor and drawing. It’s difficult to get the laundry done. We love to travel and so enjoy the outdoors. Our home is nestled in the woods near a lake which also fills my soul. My faith is sometimes filled with questions but then I ponder the simple things of just one ordinary day and I know that my journey has been in the company of an amazing Creator God, a God who have been patient with me. Life is good. God is good.