Family
I was born in a small town in Massachusetts, the youngest of six children born to parents who were completely devoted to us. While our family valued relationships, we were also brought up to be independent and responsible. Our parents taught us that, while we cannot control everything, complaining doesn’t change anything. When events did not go our way, my mom would say, It wasn’t meant to be. If I complained to dad, I hope it stops raining, he would reply, It always has. Dad died of cancer when I was twenty-one. Mom died in 1993.
My siblings and I have been able to keep up close relationships throughout the years. We have had family vacations and celebrated the weddings of our nieces and nephews. My brother Ted died of pancreatic cancer in 2012. My brother Bill died of heart failure in July 2022.
Friends
I have a wide circle of friends, many of them life-long, who love and support me. My college friends entered the Sisters of Mercy with me and we still get together several times a year. We stand by one another through the joys and sorrows of life.
They are like a second family.
Interests
I love to read and write and began a book club twenty years ago. Although some of the members have died, four of us continue to meet. I have been attending a poetry workshop for published poets for ten years. Three of my poems have been accepted for publication: The Convent Laundry in South Florida Poetry Journal; Elegy for my Brother in Paterson Literary Review; and My Best Friend Left the Convent in Speckled Trout Review.
Health and Fitness
Beginning in 1990 I became much more health conscious. At that time, I began having digestive track issues that led me to seek the help of a nutritionist, Mark Mincolla. Through my work with Mark, I was able to come off all medications. I learned to manage my health issues through nutritional interventions. I discovered that I had food sensitivities and felt much better when I learned the foods that worked best for me. I credit diet and regular physical activities, including swimming, walking, and stretching for my general good health. My doctors note that although I am diagnosed with chronic kidney disease, I am healthy in every other way. They think that the transplant surgery will go relatively well.
Are you a possible donor?
Call RI Hospital Kidney Transplant Center at 401-444-8562 or call Sarah Gibbs, Transplant Coordinator at 401-444-3091
You will need to know my DOB: 5/17/1947