Since leaving Goshen College, I've lived in the hills of eastern KY, near the beach in Long Beach, MS, at
Camp Landon (a former VS center north of Gulfport, MS, in army barracks dating back to WW II), and presently in a "Cajun"
style 3-room cabin in the backwoods of LA.
While in Mississippi I taught 7th and 8th English for 27 years. James, Jennifer, and I became
a family in '92 which meant big changes for me after 20 years of living single. At the time I was very involved in Gulfhaven
Mennonite Church, Gulfport, MS, as minister of worship, music leader, small group leader, and with a ladies singing group.
In '99 I retired from teaching and less than a year later we moved to LA for my husband's job -- he makes
cranes for oil rigs. I again had a drastic change of lifestyle, spending many hours each day alone in our cabin in the
woods about 70 miles north of New Orleans. Editing a quarterly newsletter for Gulf States Mennonite Conference has helped
me keep in touch with Mennonite congregations in Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana. We also support Pine Lake Fellowship
Camp, a Mennonite camp in Meridian, MS.
Last month we took Jennifer to Denver where she is beginning study in a two-year veterinary technology program,
and I ventured back into the classroom full time, this time teaching 9th English and World Geography.
One of the fun things I've done here in the woods is live with a squirrel; the most terrifying has been
living through Katrina and her aftermath.
