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I moved to Houston and attended University of Houston to obtain a BS in Interdisciplinary Studies. From there, I married a Carolina boy (Ben Herring). I taught school in Houston and we had our first son, Simms (Ben Jr.). Shortly thereafter, we moved to North Carolina where we lived near Wrightsville Beach in Wilmington, NC for twenty years.
During that time, I raised my boys and taught English as a Second Language, pursued various business ventures and helped my husband with his real estate business. When summers rolled around, I set out for the mountains to hike...with the Appalachian Trail being my go-to summer destination.
In addition to hiking, I enjoyed blogging about health and wellness, experimenting with essential oils, juicing, etc. Not only did I enjoy being a health nut, I also spent time hanging with my friends on the beach, boating, dancing, and trying to explore every nook and cranny of life as opportunities presented themselves. Eventually, I decided to go back to school and earned my master's degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders with plans to practice Speech Language Pathology in a medical or private setting (as I wanted to get away from North Carolina Schools). I specialized in acute care and gained experience with neonatal feeding along with traumatic brain injury, swallowing, etc.
In April of 2015, after 24 years of marriage and a 27 year love affair, my husband, Ben died suddenly of cardiac arrest. At the time, Shel (our second son who was born in Wilmington) was 17 and still in high school. It was a challenge to remain in graduate school after his death, but I knew I must finish - of course! Upon completion of my master's, I focused on helping my sons through the loss of their father and trying to fake sanity as best I could.
After my youngest son graduated high school, it was time to relocate to the mountains of North Carolina so that I could hike more often and start a new chapter in my life (while literally starting a new chapter in Writing My First Novel). Having dreamed of publishing a book from the time I was 22, it was time for me to "gitterdun." Now, I have settled into small town life, but enjoy going to the cities of Charlotte and Asheville for music, dancing, and shopping. Additionally, I dabble in exotic hobbies like pole fitness, aerial silks, and Latin dancing among other things.
My new home has fostered my renewed interest in gardening since I have blueberries, a vegetable garden, pecan trees, and a small pond. In order to care for my new place properly, I have tentative plans to participate in a Master Gardener course in the spring of 2017. Keeping busy is my strategy...with only one life, I'm trying to fit in every little bit that I can.
I look forward to catching up with everyone and truly appreciate all the work that has been done on making this event (our reunion) possible. Thanks to all who have contributed to its success! See you in October!