I visited Eastrose for the first time a little over 8-years ago. At that time, I had not visited a Church in decades and was not raised in any particular religious or spiritual tradition. Nonetheless, life’s circumstances had left me gutted and searching for meaning. I had recently retired and was looking forward to travel and adventure when Lloyd, my husband of 37-years, died unexpectedly. I walked into Eastrose an open wound and here I found a place of healing.  

A web search had led me to Eastrose, which proclaimed it was a Church open to all, including pagans, Christians, atheist, etc. The Church’s proud proclamation that it created spirituality and community beyond boundaries appealed to me. I did not want to be told what to think. Rather, I wanted to explore with others the mysteries of life. What is a good life? What do we owe one another? How do we transcend suffering? How do we live so we are prepared to die? Here, I found others comfortable in not knowing answers but loving the questions and embracing the mystery. I found a spiritual community, a home.  

A little bit about myself. In 1974, I became the first person in my family to graduate from high school. Upon graduating from Roseburg High in Oregon, I joined the US Army as an Information Specialist and spent the majority of my service stationed at Ft. Devens, Massachusetts. After 3-years active duty, I used the G.I. Bill to attend college at the University of South Florida. Lloyd and I met in the Army reserves and married in Florida where he began his journalism career working for the Tampa Times newspaper.  

We moved to Oregon in 1981 so I could attend law school at the University of Oregon. While in law school, I clerked for the Oregon Attorney General Dave Frohnmayer and Lloyd continued his journalism career working for the Corvallis Gazette Times newspaper. Upon graduation, we traveled to Washington D.C. where Lloyd continued to work in journalism and I served as the Senator Bob Packwood Law Fellow. After two years, we returned to Oregon and Lloyd began working for the Gresham Outlook newspaper while I worked in the Appellate Division of the Oregon Attorney General’s office. After a year I began working for the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office where I stayed for close to 30-years, retiring as a Chief Deputy District Attorney. The majority of that time I specialized in child abuse prosecution.

I am enjoying the less frenetic life of a retiree. I share my home with my kitty Boots, who is also known as my “bad boyfriend,” because of his habit of disappearing for lengthy periods of time. He has become the neighborhood cat and his lifestyle is celebrated in this cartoon:

I love my Mahjong group, book club, Eastrose Speech Choir and my boxing 🥊 class for Parkinson’s. I also enjoy listening to podcasts and would recommend: Poetry for All, interesting discussions about specific poems, and Pod Save America, political conversations hosted by former Obama aides Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett, Dan Pfeiffer, and Tommy Vietor.

My favorite vacation spot is the Oregon coast and I am fortunate to share special times there with my wonderful cousin Sharon and her husband, Michael. Oops – now cocktail time is calling my name! I look forward to meeting you in person.