I am a seventy-six-year-old mother, grandmother, and matriarch of my family. I try to lead with a caring heart and a poet’s soul. I find joy in choosing to write about the smallest to the most impactful matters of life that are truly the fabric of our existence. When I’m not writing poetry and essays I volunteer for several organizations including: 1-2-3 Read Program for the Cuyahoga County Library System, St. Michael’s Church, and as secretary for the Independence Historical Society where I work to preserve and share the history of my city. Since an early age I have written wherever and however I could including school plays and for my high school journal. As a young mother I was a reporter for the local newspaper The Gazette which covers Brecksville, Independence, and Broadview Heights. I have contributed my writing skills to various newsletters for many local organizations and churches throughout the years. I truly did not begin writing for myself until my retirement as a medical administrative assistant in 2020. Since my retirement I have had an essay published in Gordon Square Review titled “Not Ready” and an essay titled “The Campbell Soup God” presented at the Cleveland Humanities Festival. I attended an open mic night at Literary Cleveland, and the editor of Shad Connection published the piece I read, “People Say the Darndest Things.” At University Heights Library by the invitation of Heights Poet Laureate Michelle Smith and sponsored by Heights Art, I had the honor of reading a sample of my poetry in the “Brave New Voices Poetry Showcase.” I never thought that I would write the words that I carried in my soul, now I feel as though my voice has taken flight.