I’m looking forward to getting to know you by way of our active commenting community. And just so you know what to expect, I almost always post on Mondays and occasionally will add a second post some weeks.
I started blogging in January of 2003 and am amazed at the number of readers who have been with me since the beginning. That’s a long time to hang out with one family and I am incredibly honored to have them (as well as my newer friends) along for the journey.
Part of my journey has included some health challenges including breast cancer and a bilateral mastectomy in 2010. After being treated eight years for rheumatoid arthritis, the diagnosis was changed to erosive osteoarthritis. And after being treated for COPD for ten years, that diagnosis was changed to obstructive bronchiolitis, a disease that may eventually lead to a double lung transplant.
But health challenges aside, I love getting up each morning and living each day. I have a strong faith in God, a deep love for my family, and a blog that connects me to friends all over the world. Thanks for being one of those friends.
The man in this picture keeps trying to tell me that we have been married for forty-two years but that can’t possibly be true since I’m nowhere near old enough.
Steve is an amazing husband, a pro-level bass guitar player, a retired pastor, a book lover, a word aficionado, an outstanding communicator, a handyman extraordinaire, and a repairer of just about anything. (Up to, but not including nuclear reactors.)
Nathan and Meagan and their family live in Mooresville, NC. Nathan works for Duke Power and Meagan is a teacher.
They have given us four fabulous grandchildren. From left to right the kids are: Andrew, Madison, Grayson, Noah.
So thankful that I have a second daughter and Sarah finally got a sister.
Our daughter, Sarah, married Gage Long on May 22, 2021.
Sarah and Gage live in Charlotte, NC. Gage is a teacher and a star Trader Joe’s employee. Sarah does video editing from home.
Sarah was diagnosed with Stage IV Neuroblastoma in 2002; her story is at her cancer website at Sarah Smith’s Spot.
Just two months Sarah and Gage’s wedding, she was diagnosed with a rare tumor called a desmoid tumor and spent a week inpatient at Duke University Hospital due to a severe case of mono hitting her at the same time as the tumor diagnosis. She is currently being followed by Duke and we are thankful that the tumor has shrunk without any medical intervention.
I had always wanted two daughters and two sons. It took a while, but I finally got them. Steve and I are blessed!
Although our family looks sort of normal, for fifteen years we lived full time in an RV and did concerts in churches in thirty-five states. I traveled through both pregnancies and homeschooled the kids.
During our road years, Steve and I wrote our own music, sang, played instruments, and did about a dozen recording projects. We left that traveling lifestyle soon after Sarah’s cancer diagnosis; Steve pastored in Smithfield, NC and Manteo, NC before retiring to Charlotte in 2022. I write my blog posts from the house Steve’s family has owned since 1975. We purchased and renovated it after Steve retired and are finding lots of memories in the walls. I love it when life comes full circle.
