My first book published was about my growing up years and part of those growing up years were synonymous with drama. Describing as briefly as I can I want to vitally stress that being in tune to your teenage daughter is vital to their well-being and to their maturity. Being raised by a mother who was 41 when I was born and a dad who was 46 had to be different than say my first sister who was born when my mother was 26 and my dad who was 31 although that is even late by some standards to start a family. Being the youngest of 4 girls and all of them having left home by the time I was in the fourth grade I felt so alone and misunderstood. I loved my parents but I really felt they were too old to understand me. I didn't think they understood the things I needed and wanted to do with my life.

We had no automobile so I was always at someone else's mercy in going somewhere. I wanted to be in the band but had to either buy or rent an instrument. My parents could not afford it. A friend loaned me his sister's clarinet and I kept it for one year and then gave it back and went to playing a snare drum for the school and cymbals because they were extra instruments that no one else was using. There were more drum players but how many sets of cymbals does a small band need to clang at the wrong time.

I was in home-ec and loved it. I had been in plays and performances as extracurricular activities in 4-H club etc. and loved all of that. I went out for cheerleader and made the squad. Then life happened, real life. I had always made good grades and had hoped I'd be a teacher someday, then I fell in love with a young man. Thought it was the real thing and still do as I have been married to him for nearly 40 years, but the pressure of those hormonal years, with no one to turn to and not being able to talk with my parents about things for they were very old-fashioned and strict I saw that I would not be going on to college as I had thought.

I had been going to the vocational school at the time. It was eleventh grade and one coudl go to the school even if they had plans for college. The economics teacher I had was a wonderful woman who I respected a great deal and she gave out an assignment for the next day to tell what our plans were upon graduating. We were to get up the next day and talk about our plans. I became petrified. Knowing that the teachers had high expectations of me to do something with my life and to tell them I'd probably marry and be a stay at home mom

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