I was born in South Carolina.  My parents moved our family to Mobile when I was 5 years old when my father began work at Brookley Air Force base.  I completed elementary school at St. Joseph’s in Maysville and graduated from Toulminville High school in 1969.  I graduated from Clark college in Atlanta in 1973. 

I worked in Atlanta for 6 years before returning to school and work in Cincinnati, Ohio in title 20 programs. I finished my Master of Art degree in Art Therapy from the University of Louisville in 1978. I began a career after graduation working with adolescent clients in community-based art programs and halfway houses in Louisville, Kentucky. Later in my career I worked in several hospital-based psychiatric and addiction programs as an expressive therapist working with adults, adolescents and children. At the end of my career, I worked for the Louisville Metro Department of Public Health and Wellness, supervising an Opioid Medication treatment program retiring in 2011. 

I have been happily married for 42 years. We have one son who lives in New York City and works in advertising. My love of jazz started in my college years and has grown over time.