I grew up in rural Northeastern Pennsylvania, tucked into a scenic bend of the Susquehanna River. Early in our marriage Jerry, my husband worked for Proctor & Gamble in Mehoopany PA, and I owned and operated a little specialty gift shop called, “The Spice Shop,” which sadly the present owners just closed this year. In 1998 we bought the vacant Billings Building, address 1 East Tioga Street Tunkhannock, PA., which was unoccupied. A lot of storefronts were empty at the time, and the now thriving historic Dietrich Theater was still abandoned. Hildy Morgan and others were just starting their journey to reopen which it did in 2001. In 1999 Jerry and I opened Twigs Café to generate income and bring new life to the area. Today Twigs gainfully employs around 30 people and is our life. As I have seen needs in my own life and our town, my answer has been to start businesses to fill them. Some have done well, others not so much, but never without having the fun of trying.
Married in 1990 my husband and I have had the great fortune to live in some very historic homes in Tunkhannock. Our first being a real “fixer-upper” which we were told had been the original town’s post office. The built-in desk with, if my memory is correct around, 30 small numbered slots. We later had the privilege to purchase what was then the late Dr. Tewksbury’s home from his beautiful wife, Betty. We were the first family outside of the Tewksbury family to live in the grand house with so much history, another story for another time. We now live in La Plume, PA on 39 beautiful wooded acres. When our son went off to college, we had a chance to adopt three teenage girls from Russia. The girls are now 22, 25, and 26, and our son has two children, Avery 4 and Emily almost 2, all are both our pride and joy!
Over the past few years, I have begun writing. My first story was chosen for Brian Weiss’s 2012 book “Miracles Happen.” When my grandson was born, I wrote a book called “Warm Fuzzies” so my grandson would always know and remember my love for him. I also wrote a story about my girls published by Story Shelter. I have just recently put out a book called “Spiral Blueprint ~ A Moving Meditation,” all my books are available on Amazon.