Booring! Let's try this again. Background and Major Influences: I was the eldest child of three. My two siblings were brothers, so I guess I was the princess of the household. I lost my youngest brother when he was 18 on my fathers birthday. (That really sucked) he was killed in an auto accident - for more information it's in my book.  I would say that my biggest influences were my parents and my gandparents. My Grandmother taught us old fashioned comfort food values. My mother took that up a notch and taught us about ethnic foods, and supported us with a more liberal sense of values. I lost my mother when she was 52, that impacted my life and my childrens life. It also inspired me to write my book. Becoming a parent was a major influence in my life, it's amazing how those innocent and trusting faces can force you into an alternate reality. Children put pressure on us to be more than we ever expected we could be. Being a parent was a good thing. It's a job that never ends. Even as adults I find my children need me, maybe even more now than before. The funny part is they now realize that also. Perfect I am not. But I do the best I can with what was given to me, or I have learned along the way.  I tell them that as a family we have roots that are strong and go deep, we have branches that are strong enough to bend  in the storms that effect our lives,  as we continue to grow and learn.

Community Volunteer work, again I'm no angel. I just felt something needed to be done, and stepped up when asked.

My greatest achievement, surviving raising four children, and they still like me...