I grew up in Carmichaels and McKeesport, Pennsylvania during a time when the American cultural norm was to ridicule anything that wasn’t “normal.” Mystical experiences were considered to be on the far side of abnormal. My mother was clairvoyant but she kept her gift undercover for fear of being ostracized. When I had a life-changing near-death experience at age eighteen I had to keep it locked within myself. I was even afraid to even think about it, even though it had been life-changing and a catalyst for mind-boggling mystical events that streamed into my life afterwards.
After high school, I started college, but didn’t finish. After two years I left to marry a man seven years my senior. The marriage ended in divorce.
Later, a single mom of three children, I graduated from Waynesburg University in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania where I received my B.A. and a certificate for teaching secondary English. Struggling to survive, I thought of that period as my “dark night of the soul,” but in my maturity I value it as a major time of spiritual growth.
Jobs for English teachers were extremely scarce during the seventies. The four of us were living with my parents, and as the summer of 1973 was heading into mid-August, our future looked mighty bleak. Then good fortune struck like a whirlwind, and changed our lives in about 2 days. First, I received a call from a friend that the McGuffey School District needed to replace an secondary English teacher immediately. I called for a job interview which happened the following day and was hired on the spot by the principal and superintendent. The following day, my children and I found a place to live in the small town of Claysville and we were able to move in several days before the start of school. My three children graduated from McGuffey High School. During my years there, I patented a hands-on methodology, for teaching the parts of speech and sentence structures. called Language Graphics.
I didn’t talk about my NDE or my mystical events until at least 10 years after retirement. Once I began thinking and talking about them, I came to the realization that they were not to be ignored, as I had been indoctrinated to believe, but had been of great value in the ways they influenced my life and had guided some of my most important decisions. I began talking about them as much as I could, and emphasizing that such experiences should be embraced and shared.
I was encouraged to write about them. Although I had taught English (mainly American Literature) I did not enjoy writing, and certainly had no ambition to write a book. My husband insisted that I at least describe them in writing as a legacy for my descendants. Eventually I began writing about some of my events for my family. After describing about 12 experiences, I started receiving mystical “nudges” to publish, which I ignored until I couldn’t sleep at night. One day I woke up pondering where to begin if I were actually to publish. The logical answer was to search for an editor. What happened next was almost laughable.
Synchronicities rushed in to assist me! That very day, I had lunch with a friend who just happened to have the phone number of a woman in Florida who worked for a publishing house and also free-lanced as an editor. That same afternoon I had an editor named Penelope Love. By the time the manuscript was ready for publishing, Penelope called to announce that she was starting her own company by the name of Citrine Publishing. As it turned out, the company’s first published book was my first book. My memoir, Mystical Interludes, appeared on Amazon on July first, the date of my birthday.
While waiting for the book to come out I was terrified because my extended family members, friends and colleagues were oblivious to my mystical side. It felt as though I were about to stand naked on a public stage. But that isn’t what happened. My closest friend, Nancy Aloi Edmonds, hosted an outstanding book-launch event which attracted a better-than- expected crowd along with newspaper coverage. The enthusiastic reception of the book ushered me into the role of speaking to live and on-line audiences. Individuals approached me wanting to talk about their mystical experiences. As a result, I formed the Mystical Interludes Discussion Group (MIDG) that is not only thriving, but growing to this day. Convinced that everybody has mystical interludes, I put out a call for mystical story submissions and later published Mystical Interludes II, an anthology of other persons’ mystical events.
Growing up, I dreamed of traveling to far-off places. The first country on my bucket list was Egypt because it was wrapped in so many mysteries. 
My childhood wish was to explore the pyramids and ride a camel. I doubted that it would ever come true, but it did. After that I was blessed to travel to parts of the United States, Europe, and to other far-off places like China. We were there in 2008 as the country prepared to host the summer Olympics. My incentive to travel grew because I wanted to explore spiritual, religious, and supernatural mysteries, and also to discover who I am. That quest took me to Thailand, the place I visited during my vision of a past life. What I learned from there and all my travels is that I felt at home in every country.
Regardless of their political structure or laws, people are the same. All of us share the same kinds of thoughts, feelings and emotions. All of us wonder what life is all about and about who we truly are.
A large part of who I am is mother to three adult children and grandmother to two grandsons and two granddaughters, all of whom are loving and talented. Among them are musicians and singer/song writers.
Another large part of who I am is a believer that my mission is to amplify my message. We are so much more than we think we are, and death is an illusion.
With the help and support of very special friends, our MIDG membership is expanding. Re-entering the speaking circuit after my necessary hiatus, I am now delivering talks for a variety of audiences, both live and online.
If you would like to invite me to speak to your group or appear on your podcast, click on contact us.