Welcome to Unique Life Stories

These past few months have brought dramatic changes in my life. My parents' generation passed away with the death of my father in November, just before Thanksgiving. My younger daughter eloped with the love of her life. In addition, changes have enveloped us with divorces, sicknesses, and just changes in general. Now, more than ever, I am convinced that our lives are short and our personal stories connect us from generation to generation. My passion is still to connect families through these stories and shared experiences. If we don't share our stories, the stories will disappear, and a vital connection will be irretrievably lost--a voice silenced.    My life experiences--journalist, teacher, writer, and editor--as well as daughter, sister, wife, mother fuel my passion to help you tell your stories. 

Living in many different places throughout my life has given me a great perspective on the importance of stories to our lives. Sometimes, our stories help preserve a culture or a way of living or, maybe, even sharing an inspirational experience that needs to be remembered. Attending schools in Mexico, Europe, Japan, Paraguay as well as in Texas. I have worked with refugees and taught in several countries, including the United States. Right now, my husband, Don, and I live in Northeastern Arizona with our little rescue dog Charlie. 

Sometimes people ask me why I am so serious about the importance of our life stories. Soon after Don and I married, my mother became ill and died about a year later. With her loss and, now that my father also is gone, I am acutely aware of how important it is to "capture" our family stories--once the storyteller is gone, the stories evaporate. Pictures lose their significance because we no longer know the stories behind the scene. Nameless faces smile but their names are gone and the joke all are enjoying in the snapshot are lost to us today. Capturing those moments is more than a cliche, it is also important as we find our own story today.