I grew up as an only child in south Kansas City, Missouri. I graduated from Ruskin High School, the University of Central Missouri-Warrensburg with a Bachelor of Music Education degree, and the University of Missouri-Columbia with a Master of Education degree in Instructional Science and Learning Technologies. I now reside in south St. Louis County, MO. I was a public school educator and librarian for 25 years, retiring in 2011. My husband, Tony, and I have been married since 1979. We have 2 children, Jeffrey (Emily) and Allison (ex-Max), and 4 grandchildren, Avery (b. 2009), Nora (b. 2010), Coen (b. 2012), and Cal (b. 2015). My hobbies are reading, watching TV and sports, playing the flute and piccolo in a community band, volunteering as an usher at the 560 Music Center on the Washington University campus, volunteering for the St. Louis Symphony, transcribing documents for the National Archives, following current events, and researching family history.