  |
|
|
|
I am 48 years young (DOB 5/6/53) and own a small "healing" farm in southwestern Maine. Our 6 1/2-acre farm consists of a menagerie of critters. I am a college graduate with a liberal arts degree (English and Science, major and minor) with extra science credits. My life consists of a delicate balance between the children and creatures of the earth that God presents in my path. I was a foster parent for over 15 years, the last 4 were therapeutic care (I took in teen boys from our juvenile penal system - to help them get ready to rejoin society as we know it), I am single parent of two wonderful boys (both of whom were home births) - Clayton, 15 and Jason, 21, surrogate grammie of Elijah, 5 (whose Mom was one of my foster kids), and second Mom to many of the kids living in town. I teach Sunday school at our local Methodist Church. I have a commercial sewing machine and do custom design and manufacturing of stitched items under the name of "OFF THE WALL". I love to do crafty things. I have a class 2 drivers' license and learned to operate various pieces of heavy equipment working in an apple orchard. I was Executive Director and riding instructor of a therapeutic riding program for 6 years, until it closed due to lack of volunteers. I am a licensed (state and Federal) wildlife rehabilitator (over 25 yrs). The following awards were presented to me:"1990 Volunteer Award for Outstanding Contributions to Community Service" (national recognition), "News 8 New England Person of the Week" for March 4th, 1994 (being selected by the Bridgton's townspeople), "Certificate of Recognition" presented by The People's Regional Opportunity Program in October1994, and I was also a nominee for the Jefferson Award in 1992. I am a freelance writer, having numerous articles published and I have a good portion of a manuscript finished but need to find a few spare seconds to complete it and send it out for publication. I taught myself HTML coding and made my own website, found at http://www.offthewallemporium.com. I also design and maintain other websites. I am the caretaker of Mookie, an incorrigible, hyperactive 6 yr. brown capuchin (Cebus apella) who graces our home with his presence. We visited group and nursing homes (doing animal-assisted activities) and did school presentations (kindergarten through college) when he was younger. Milo, an 8 yr. brown capuchin (Cebus apella) joined our family as a companion for Mookie several years ago. I have to say in closing...I am on a spiritual journey to perfection and believe I have a very old soul that just keeps coming back because it is a glutton for punishment!!! I feel I am one of the most blessed people that have ever lived!!! I love all that I do and hope that what I do is an inspiration to others that they too can share their gifts with the world. If I had only one wish it would be for everyone to realize they each have been given gifts and the best way to enjoy these gifts is to share them with others!!! |
|
|
|