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Growing Up

After Marriage

Life hasn’t always been easy, but I’ve managed through fifty-nine years of it so far.

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I’ve been a daughter, a sister, a friend, a wife, and a mother.

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Music shaped me, photography opened my eyes, and now I write what I imagine.

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My fur babies inspire me.

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I find kindness in others. My faith, in love, hope and the goodness in others, guides me as I journey my final thirty or forty years on this earth.

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Before Marriage

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     I look back at all these pictures and wonder, "Why was I picked on?  Why was I teased so relentlessly? Why did I not defend myself?" 

    I was a cute little girl, but awkward and definitely not athletic.  I could swim rather well, but never had the stamina to go very long. 

     School after 2nd grade was awful.  Academically, I poured my soul into doing well so that: 1. My mother wouldn't yell at me and 2. I could say I was good at something. 

     Every Sunday, wearing itchy tights, ill-fitting shoes, and hand-me-down clothes, I marched to Sunday school with my sisters.  Though it was a reprieve from the teasing, I still got the feeling that I, (we)  weren't quite up to snuff. 

    

     

    

     

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     Before I graduated from High School, my two older sisters and I joined the Army Reserves. 

     I joined under the split option program.  I did basic training at Fort Jackson, SC. After that, I began my first year as a music student at WVU.  My reserve unit let me work in the office answering phones since I had no formal training. I completed my AIT the following summer in Indiana.  I returned to my unit ready to do what I learned but they had filled my office spot. So I learned how to drive forklifts. One summer during our AT, I lifted a freight car. 

     I did that for three years before learning there was a National Guard band in Fairmont that needed a piano player. 

 

     Despite my affinity for playing rather than studying in college, I did obtain my degree in piano pedagogy. I have many crazy college stories to tell, but that's its own book. 

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     I started my master's at Temple University and ended up Marrying the love of my life instead. I followed him around on his 25-year military career in the United States Army Band.  Two tours in Heidelberg, Germany turned my daughter into a world traveler. My son Ryan learned to cook. 

     The kids have their own lives now.  I am to be a granny soon.  

       I spend my time taking pictures, writing books, and basically trying new ways of doing more writing.

     I have several short stories almost ready to publish and three novels at various stages of completion. 

     You can check out my kids books at 

https://www.jazzysbooks.com/

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