Growing up I had three goals.  Work in SE Asia, adopt a child, and write a book.  I graduated from nursing school in 1970, went to West Kalimantan, Indonesia in 1976, accumulated five children while I was nursing in a Christian hospital until I lost my visa in 1982, and have parented them long-distance since then.  I have 18 grandchildren in Indonesia. I adopted my first US child as a single parent in 1984 and have since adopted five more, who are now between the ages of 11 and 31.  I have had a dozen US foster children and eight foster children from outside the US through "Healing the Children."  My 13 year old son died of heart failure in 1996, and in 2000 I started a free monthly newsletter for bereaved families, which now reaches about 250 families in the US and around the world. I write for the newsletter, I write for myself, I write to share my faith and my incredible journey through life.  Will I ever write a book?  That still remains to be seen.

My greatest achievement has been/will be raising my children, both here and abroad, adopted and a few others, to responsible, productive adulthood.