: About Me

I am a semi-retired 66 year old grandmother of 3 young granddaughters. I have 3 grown daughters; my best accomplishment to date.

I survived a long, unhealthy marriage, and now have been divorced for the past 14 years. I spent about 30 years in the Pacific Northwest, which is a beautiful place, but I had enough of the rain and the icy, snowy winters. With nothing to keep me there, I made a big move and relocated to the California Central Coast. Actually, I am a native Californian, but not from the Central Coast. During several drive-throughs while on vacation, I fell in love with San Luis Obispo and Pismo Beach. That's where I wanted to be and I made it happen.

I have loved to write ever since I was a young child, but it has taken the form - mostly - of journal writing and compelling letters (before email, but I have written a few good emails too!). To tell you the truth, while I enjoy writing and feel that I am a "creative" person, I have never been able to discipline myself to write every day, and I have never seriously tried to "get published". I shied away from taking writing "classes" because then it seemed to take the joy out of it - getting mired in grammar, the right words to use, etc. I wanted it to come naturally, spontaneously. Then- quite by accident - I stumbled upon the Helium website, which I came upon after I actually found the Freelance Writers Organization website first! These seem to be resources that I can relate to and I think they will help me and inspire me to share some of my writing and learn from others who are doing the same thing.

I am sure I will be updating this "About Me" section, as soon as I figure out who I really am.

My passion is ...

other than writing, I wish I knew.

I know too much about ...

surviving, struggling - not necessarily in that order.

My parents always told me ...

Never Give Up! (on anything)

My childhood ambition ...

was to become a housewife like June Cleaver

My favorite memory ...

One rainy Christmas Eve, with no Christmas tree, I took my 2 little kids out with me to find us a tree, and I did! The best part was it was like a scene out of a movie; Came upon a Christmas Tree lot with only a few scrawny trees left, and the lot had a string of those bare light bulbs surrounding the perimeter.

Why I write ...

to connect with my inner self; to get my thoughts down on paper and exorcise them from my head.

What I am reading/watching/listening to ...

fiction about contemporary women; on TV, I love LOST, LAW & ORDER , and occasionally WIFE SWAP; Listening to Soft Jazz, Soft Rock, the Oldies, Elvis anytime.

My first job ...

Clerk at an Insurance Co in San Francisco's Financial District

My best moment ...

Giving birth to my first child

My inspiration ...

That's what I'm looking for

Relationships & Family > Family Bonding Family bonding: The best road trips are the unplanned ones

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About five years ago, my youngest daughter, Amy, and I attended the wedding of one my co-workers. It was held at a beautiful rural area of southwest Washington, about 30 minutes from where we lived. The wedding was lovely and after the reception, my daughter and I set off to go home. I knew how I got there, so I was going to return home the same way I came. One of the other guests told me that I could get home much quicker, if I just took the "back way" and not go all the way out to the freeway. The directions sounded simple enough, so I decided to be adventurous and take the shortcut. It ...

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