Name:

Which generation do you belong to?  Greatest (1901 - 1924), Silent (1925-1945), Baby Boomer (1946-1964), X (1965 - 1982), Y (1983 - 2000) or Z (2000 to 2011)?

Silent generation - although I often think I don't comply with that!!!

Age you are on the inside:
It varies from day to day and with what I am doing.  When I am "playing", I can feel 8 years old, loving the abandon and the freedom.  But most of the time I feel about 45 or so.  (What a fantasy!)

Birth city or where your would say your roots are from:
My birth city - really a town is Phillipsburg, New Jersey.  And yes, for those of you who are turning up your noses about New Jersey - you need to get away from the turnpike, the scrub grass in the south, and the onerous NYC metropolitan crush to see how absolutely beautiful it is.  And they grow the best tomatoes I have ever eaten in my life.  (Sorry Wisconsin!)

Member of Grace since:  About 2007.

Early Bird or Night Owl? - Yes!  Frequently both!  I have never needed 8 hours of sleep.

Favorite childhood memory: After dinner, all of the neighborhood kids gathered, as usual, to play.  We met in "the field", which was one of the empty lots in this residential area.  We had a well-worn baseball diamond there, and this particular evening, that was our activity.  Boys and girls always played together, and a friend's father took over the pitching.  (Never did a parent join us.)  I had my own Louisville slugger, which I had asked for - for my birthday.  It was one of those magic moments when the ball and the bat came together just perfectly, and I felt it as soon as I hit the ball.  I was thrilled.  It winged back at my friend's father and hit him in his hand - and he was off to the hospital.  What a moment - one of ultimate satisfaction mixed with such mortification that I had injured him.  The next day, I visited him - to see his finger swollen and well bandaged - but only "stoved", not broken.  It was a lesson how so often in life good things and bad things can be mixed up all together, and those feelings can all reside together at the same time.  

Me with my sister Carol.  She has the straight hair, and I have the curls.  In this photo, we were set to shelling peas for dinner.  I guess I really did start cooking very early in life - and I still love working in the kitchen!

I knew I was an adult when: 

When I would look at teenagers and thought of them as "them" instead of "me".   It surprised me when it happened.  I was in my 20's.

Beloved blog, website or TV/radio program:
I don't read many blogs, but *always* read Jonathan's.  Television?  I don't watch much but I do turn to the Food Channel when I have a few minutes, and I can't wait for the next episodes of "Downton Abbey" to begin.  And with Shirley MacLaine as an addition?  What fun!

Favorite book to foist on all of your friends:

Usually the one I am reading if I'm captured by it.  But my all time favorite is David Schnarch's "Passionate Marriage".

Go-to comfort food:  

Pasta - gluten free, of course.  Favorite brand:  Tinkyada - and it is available everywhere!

#1 item on your Bucket List
(Things to do before you "kick the bucket".):

Always - my next trip.  Right now, that is a trip to Pienza, Italy to celebrate very dear friends' 45th wedding anniversary there - where they met! 

Physical object that represents your life's work or passion:

For my life's work - see my answer about my favorite book.  But far more important than that -- for my life's passion - my wedding ring and my children and grandchildren.

What is your first memory of God?   

"Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep, Angels guard me through the night, And wake me with the morning light."  That is the first awareness of God that was taught to me.  But even more important was looking at the night stars and imagining how the universe was created, where the universe ends and the physical impossibility of that.  That convinced me there has to be a God, more than anything that was taught to me. 

What inspires you?

Open minds and open hearts.

One thing no one would guess about you:

I hated sweets as a child.  I gave all my Halloween candy to my sister and never ate my ice cream at friends' birthday parties.  In fact, I would take my slice of cake home to my family.  I still don't crave sweets, but have learned to enjoy them a little bit.  I actually love sour and bitter tastes better than sweet.

Here I am (on the right) just past crying, because I thought we were lost in the woods.  In truth, we were never out of sight of our trailer, but I couldn't/didn't see it as was terrified.  Obviously, my sister did not share my terror!  (She is older by nineteen months.)

Why Grace?