Here goes....

I am an artist, designer, educator, historic preservation professional and author - most recently of "Warren" in the Images of America series for Arcadia Publiching. As the third largest city in Michigan and as popuular as this book series is, I was surprised no one had done this before now! Hope it will "fly off the shelves" beginning on April 5, 2010!

I was writing the book proposal when my mother passed away in June 2008 and decided to use my full middle name on the cover (her first name) in her honor. Another surprising tribute to her is the publication date just two days after her birthday.

Other work has included on-ground and online teaching (interior design), preservation writing for individuals and municipalities in Michigan, ongoing artistic exploration, and short-story writing.

I spent 23 years in New York City and a shared experience with those of us who made our lives there, is that it can be (and was for me) an education at the highest level - the good, bad, and ugly in evidence every day at one's fingertips. In the arts, all related arts are available as if "knowing" is just understood. For instance, work in television production introduced me to others in production, aspiring talent of all kinds, and freelancers moonlighting on Broadway productions or Carnegie Hall events, or high-profile special events. It was just a daily occurrence to visit this one backstage during a production, or that New York Philharmonic rehearsal... So easy .... and so taken for granted!

1999 saw me packing my earthly goods and heading to Michigan to be there for my parents as their need for care was just beginning to show. Proud of my acocmplishments over the years in a number of areas, I was sure there would never be a lack of work... not me, not with my skills....

2009 - ten years later, there have been credentials gained here that rounded out my experiences on the east coast. But the 2009 economic conditions in America have made work almost as challenging as caregiving on a more-than-full-time basis. I suppose I needed to be as strong in myself as a person physically, spiritually, financially to "go home again," I am now updating Thomas Wolfe's classic to pose some questions and theories posed by Wolfe long ago. I will never regret being here when my parents needed someone to advocate and oversee the details of their lives.

I am ready to give care, to create, and to push forward in 2010 - "the year to begin again" ! But I ask you... CAN one go home again? As babies are brought into the world in which they are born, doesn't it perhaps make more sense to bring parents into the lives we adults have established?

What are your thoughts?