I was born of Portuguese and German decent. My parents met as neighbors. Mom had arrived from the Midwest to be with her sister and new brother-n-law,who was in the navy; Dad was from up north and was here because of his air-force duties, by the time they met he had served his four years and was now going to college. The only thing they had in common was that they were both raised on a farm, one dairy, and one fruit. Funny, now you're saying I am a German fruitcake? They fell in love 42 years ago and had me almost 10 years and 4 children later. I was the next to the youngest. My baby brother Brad Lee died of SID's at 9 weeks. I remember alot of unexplained pain and unhappiness surrounding my little life: However, these are the deeper things I probably will never get rid of until the new system. Back to the story; We were of a Roman Catholic background with a 'luke-warm' faith , as Mom use to call it. We followed suit with the rest of society's pattern of behavior when a Jehovah's' Witness came knocking at our door; What else? We ran and hid like a bunch of scared rabbits. Little did we know, we were actually not scared little rabbits but, meek little sheep waiting to be found. My parents didn't really listen to my Aunt Virginia who had been a sister for a few years already, until my brother died, because many of their questions about death had been left unanswered. The Priest said That since the baby was not baptized he would reside in a place called "Limbo", of course this was TOTALLY unacceptable to my parents, who were a thinking people. They learned early on that a resurrection hope would be in store for their precious little baby boy.

From then on, they studied for 3 years then were baptized together. We had a terrible transition from having Christmas one year and then not the next, being from a very socially and traditionally set German family, Mom had a hard time letting go of her religion. For the longest time she had a keepsake, silver-plated Rosary beads and box set, once she got rid of it, she could fully give her life to Jehovah. I began publishing when I was 8 years old. I went at it with great zeal and enthusiasm; it was sort of a game to see who was the quickest I soon learned what the 'Pioneer Pace' would do to help me tune down my youthful vim and vigor. I grew up a regular child, although I was fascinated with The science of living things, I did not really know what I would do as an adult. When I was 14 1/2 a group of friends and I went sledding in the Laguna Mountains. It was my turn to get on the sled. The ice had melted somewhat from the morning sun; the snow was slippery at some spots. A person who was drinking peach liqueur that day, which was brought to my attention after the accident, assisted me onto the sled. I was on the thing straight and was not quite ready for push off. I said " Wait, I'm not on yet" before I knew it I was sailing down half way on and half way off, it was too late. My body slumped, I couldn't breathe, I thought,"somebody help me please!" I saw the tree, I knew if I hit it head on, that would be the end of me, so many thoughts flashed through my mind, so I quickly pulled myself into a fetal position wrapping my poor unsuspecting body around that old pine. The Carter girl said, "She's fine, just leave her,she's not hurt", man was I in pain, it felt like somebody had taken a tire pump and blew up my body. My brother Ron is the hero. He said, " No! she's hurt get her to the hospital" When they unhooked my jeans, I could see an instant bruise on my stomach. A kind brother named Richard said, " She can go in my van". Richard held my hand the whole time reassuring me that things would be all right, I felt so tired, and everything went dim. Richard if your out there, I want to personally thank you for being there for me. I have not seen him since that day. My parents had such a deep love for Jehovah, they showed me what it really y was to fight with all your might. The first hospital I went to said " We will not perform surgery on her ruptured kidney here, I will not allow a 15 year old die on my table" back then bloodless surgery was not an option for me, just now is it starting to become less controversial. I was sent to UCSD medical, where a fine Surgeon whose name I will mention only if he so desires, performed a Laperotomy, because the internal bleeding that had occurred in my stomach wall was so intense he didn't yet know that my kidney had actually exploded upon impact. It was in small pieces all around my stomach wall. 9 hours later and a lot of pushing on my Dad's part, I was led into OR. I almost died my HCT and Hgb had gone down to 0. I remember feeling so weak; it would have been a very painless death. I believe Jehovah kept me in his care and keeping, because earlier, the nurse came into the X-ray room to ask me again if I would take blood, after I vomited blood, I reached up and said " I will not take blood, so let me sign your disclaimer". I want to thank my parents for standing firm for Jehovah's pure law and giving me the tools early on to to take a stand for him. I urge each and every one of you to PLEASE, PLEASE keep your blood cards current and signed. Those of you who are not one of Jehovah's Witnesses and understand why or would like to know why we do not take blood please click on the bloodless surgery network link and the official Watchtower and Bible Tract Society page for more information. Thank you to all the brothers and sisters, who supported me during that most difficult time, I felt all your prayers were with me. May Jehovah bless you everyday!

Well, Mom was concerned I wouldn't be able to have children, O.K., Mom did I deliver the goods or what? Continuing on ,I had lost alot of weight from the accident, so I felt like a new person in more ways than one. It was the strangest experience to have happened, the whole thing showed me how quickly a life can be lost. I went on to live as normal a teenage life as I could: I found love, I lost love, all the while just trying to be me, Well, I finally found that someone who I just " Clicked" with. They say you'll know love when you experience it..this is very true. My husband was 18 when we met I was 23. His parents were very supportive of me until we announced we were getting married, then they realized their young son was now serious. For all of you out there that think a man can get married at 18 (think twice) my husband is and was an exceptionally mature and intellegent 18. We have been married now for almost 10 years and like any other marriage we have had our disagreements. But I can say without a doubt that we have never stopped loving one another. If you have the guts to admit when your wrong, then half of the battle is already won. For those who are contiplating marriage, get ready to say "I'm sorry alot" but make sure you truely mean it, because your mate can tell when you are not sincere. I have to say, Love IS saying " I'm sorry", because it's good to hear the words as well as the actions, it's no different when someone says, " I love you". These common marrital issuse are all covered in the Family Happiness book which we will be starting this week. I was for the longest time a ' Jack of all trades, master of none' until I decided to go to nursing school. Check out the link to my profession (besides my main Domesticate duties)