Who are you? My name is Patty, that’s with a ‘y’.
How old are you? I am just over five feet tall. Next question please.
Where do you live? Near Gettysburg Pennsylvania and have for almost 29 years. Before that I lived in Illinois, New York, and New Hampshire. I was born and raised in Boulder, Colorado.
Can you share a little about your family? I have been married for 43 years. We have two awesome children who live at opposite ends of the country. My three older brothers and younger sister are also spread across the country. I’ll talk about my mom and my dad in other blogs.
Why do you have a website? I write to offer my support for caregivers. I cared for my mom and dad for almost 15 years. It is often a very lonely life and support is always needed and almost always difficult to find. I hope my words can help, even if they just make someone laugh.
What are your books called? The first is a memoir, Grace on the Ledge, the second is a children’s picture book, Grammy’s Eyes. My latest book is One Simple Breath: A caregiver’s guide.
What will you write about on this blog? I write about anything I find interesting, sad, funny, helpful, or perplexing. This blog is a place to store some writing so I have more room in my file cabinet.
Have you always been a writer? No, I started writing chapter books when I was eight. The Girl Who Loved Adventures was the series title. I still have an original composition, complete with illustration. I took about 50 years o to grow up, go to school, raise a family, and teach sociology courses to undergrads.
Do you have any other interests? Should I list them in alphabetical order or by major heading?
How do you spend time when you are not writing? Practicing mindfulness is a full-time ambition. Oh, and I read. A lot. My family thinks I may have a problem there, so I’m trying to cut back. I hike the tallest hills I can find wherever I go and ride my bike through town and on rail trails every chance I get.
Do you like music? YES! I play the Celtic harp. It puts people to sleep, so they don’t hear my mistakes. I play my mother’s baby grand every day and I am trying to learn to play the guitar when my fingers don’t hurt so bad.
Have any pets? Yes, probably because I watch those ASPCA commercials. We rescued a dog, Riley, from South Carolina in 2020. He was an adorable lil’ pup. Now he’s HUGE! He’s my best friend. We rescued the mean cat Cricket from a friend’s driveway in the middle of the night. We adopted 2 black kittens, Pluto and Parker from a “hoarding situation” last June. Every piece of furniture in the house is still covered with towels.
Favorite food? Right now, anything green and garlic hummus. I don’t eat meat, probably a yoga thing.
Do you have any goals? For the next five minutes, this week, this month, or the next five years?
Does anything scare you? Running over a mean black snake with a mouth on a bike trail. Having this pretend conversation with myself might be cause for concern. Sharing my writing on this blog would be next on that list.
Thanks for your time. We look forward to reading more on this blog of yours.
Me too!
